The online voters have spoken and the there’s a winner in the annual Colorado Mountain Winefest Art Contest.
Three finalists were selected from 22 entrants from around the state, and the winner is “It’s Pouring in the Desert” by Pavia Justinian.
Second place went to Gayle Gerson for her work ”Hopeful Harvest.” Third place was “Wine Not?” by Dianna Fritzler.
The 2021 winning piece of artwork was selected by the public through online voting and the winner was announced on Friday through the Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology and Colorado Winefest social media channels.
“It’s Pouring in the Desert” will represent the 30th Colorado Mountain Winefest in this year’s event Sept. 16-19 in Palisade.
Justinian also received a cash prize of $700 and “It’s Pouring in the Desert” will be featured on wine totes, T-shirts, posters, brochures as well as local and nationwide print and digital marketing.
After last year’s Winefest was canceled due to COVID-19, organizers put together a new plan for the 2021 event.
CAVE announced in November plans to expand the 2021 Festival in the Park to a two-day event. In past years, the Festival in the Park was held only on Saturday but will now take place on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 18-19 at Palisade’s Riverbend Park.
Both days will feature identical events, including wine tasting, and other events from previous years, including chef demos, educational seminars and live music.
One of the reasons for the addition of the second day is to limit the number of attendees per day.
“To help maintain a safe and satisfying experience for all of our guests, attendance for the Festival in the Park will be lowered to 2,300 attendees per day,” Cassidee Shull, CAVE Executive Director said in a news release at the time.
Festival hours for both days will also be adjusted to 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. VIP ticket holders will have exclusive early access to the Festival in the Park from 11 a.m. to noon. General admission and non-drinking ticket holders will be able to enter the festival beginning at noon.
Tickets will be available in the near future at www.ColoradoWinefest.com. Festival in the Park tickets will be valid for one day only, with guests having the option to purchase tickets for either Saturday or Sunday.
Ticket holders from the 2020 festival will be granted early access to purchase tickets to the 2021 festival, and will be the first to be notified when festival tickets go on sale.
For more information about Colorado Mountain Winefest, visit www.coloradowinefest.com.