Rules and Tips for a Great WineFest Experience!

The 19th year of WineFest will be held on September 17 & 18, 2022. Our goal is always to make this event more fun, more entertaining, and more comfortable for our families and guests. Below is a list of policies that have been put in place to ensure the greatest number of visitors have the best possible experience. Please follow this advice to have the best possible experience at WineFestNJ 2022. We look forward to your visit!

Tickets must be purchased in advance.  In order to control the crowds and for guest comfort – there will be no sales at the gate the day of the event.  A limited number of tickets will be sold for Saturday and for Sunday.  Tickets are day specific.  Once they are sold out – no more tickets will be issued. 

• If it is sunny do not forget sunscreen and a personal shade umbrella.
• Bring a corkscrew if you plan to pop a bottle.  A.B.C. regulations prohibit wineries from opening bottles or allowing customers the use of their corkscrews.
• Bring a lawn chair (this is a great chair that has shade built into it) – lawn blankets are discouraged. We have no problem with lawn blankets if they are being used. Our customers do have a problem with unattended lawn blankets laid all over the property.
• Please bring an umbrella if rain is forecasted.  Large beach umbrellas and pop-up tents are not permitted.  Having a poncho handy may be a good idea as well. 
• Wineries will stop sampling wine and will stop selling wine to anyone who appears to be intoxicated or for any other reason we feel is necessary to ensure public safety.  If you appear drunk – you will immediately be flagged, and your wrist band will be removed by security.  Again, our goal is to provide a safe, fun, and family friendly atmosphere.  We will do what is necessary to ensure that happens.
• Designate a driver or Uber!  
• If you have questions about our rain policy, please read the ‘IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER’ on the on the WineFest ticketing site.  This disclaimer is also attached to your purplepass.com ticket which requires your acknowledgement for you to make your ticket purchase.  Please do not purchase tickets if you do not agree with this policy.
• WineFest is a ‘rain or shine’ event.  We don’t let the chance of a few showers ruin our plans.  You shouldn’t either.  However we may change our mind if the forecast is calling for tropical storms or heavy sustaining winds.  If this happens your ticket will be converted to a winery credit voucher.  Details of how to redeem this voucher will be posted at www.winefestnj.com if a cancellation is determined.
• The only way to purchase tickets to this year’s event is at www.winefestnj.com .  We will not be selling tickets at the winery.
• We have parking but it is limited. We do not charge for parking at our property. If our lot fills up – and it might- you may park at neighboring fields. These fields are not owned by us and will charge a small fee for parking.
• Getting to our festival site from the south end of Old Indian Mills Rd. is always the quicker route. Tuckerton road is the route most traveled.
• Gates will open when our safety inspector ensures all vehicles are removed from setup and the grounds are safe for the public to enter.  This may happen around 11:00am-11:45am.
•  Busses, limos, Uber & Lyft – Pull down the main driveway (even if the lot is filled up). If you arrive after 1:00pm this entrance will be 100x’s more convenient for your guests and will be much quicker access to the festival. Please do not drop your guests off on the road!
•  There are 2 entrances. One is by our main parking lot. This can only be accessed by customers parking in our main lot. The second entrance is just off Old Indian Mills Rd. Only visitors parking at our neighbor’s lots can access this entrance. No pedestrians will be permitted to walk down our main driveway. If you park north of our farm you must walk to the southern roadside entrance – not down the main driveway. Do not park on the side of the street. Parking on the street will cause an unnecessary long walk and will take you longer to get onto the property.
•  Even though our family and staff are pet friendly; pets are not permitted at this event due to incidents at past events.
• Service Animals are permitted: “a service animal is defined as an animal (most often a dog) that has been individually trained to work or perform one or more tasks for a person with a disability. The task must be related to the person’s particular disability.” www.anythingpawsable.com/things-service-dogs-public/ Some people pretend their dog is a service animal, so they can bring their dog to locations where it would otherwise be prohibited.  People who depend on a service animal are the ones that suffer the consequences when an improperly trained pet is presented as a service animal.  Please don’t be the person who does that.
• Remember wine tasting is offered gratuitously by our participating wineries. Your ticket is for entrance to the festival grounds and entertainment. Wineries decide when they will stop serving.
• Outside alcohol is not permitted. Coolers and bags will be searched by security prior to entering the festival.  Anyone caught with outside alcohol will forfeit their ticket and be asked to leave the festival property.
• We will have a large tent with a full staff and multiple cash registers for wine purchases.
• We do not expect to have an ATM available at this year’s event and the nearest ATM will take you about 30 minutes to drive to.  Most food vendors and crafters will only accept cash.
• Tents are not permitted.  We are aware how much everyone loves their pop-up tent.  Unfortunately tents on public grounds require a fire permit and insurance.  Every year an issue arises due to someone who tries to smuggle in a pop-up tent.  They set it up and then dozens of people complain to management causing us to have to address the issue.  Like most others, we don’t like stupid rules – but we also don’t like being sued when a tent blows over and hits someone in the face.  Please do not put us in this situation!!! 
• Any structure that blocks the view of the ‘main stage’ and ‘pavilion stage’ from the people around them is not permitted.
• Tables larger than 30″x 30″ are not permitted.
• All visitors over 21 must have valid state driver’s license, passport or military ID. Over-21 guests will be given a designated wrist band indicating their age.
• NJ State Troopers will be patrolling the festival to ensure that only visitors with an over-21 wrist band are consuming wine. NJ State Police ensure us that there will be no tolerance for underage drinking.
• Any non-alcoholic beverage brought into the festival grounds must be in its original sealed container.  If you intended on bringing a cooler for water or juice, bring them with ice only.  There is a water station you can use to fill them on site.  We will not allow beverage coolers of unknown contents brought onto the property!
• Guests are permitted to bring their own picnic, and prepared food items. 
• There will be a large and diverse selection of food trucks.  Purchasing from the food trucks is the best way to ensure they keep coming back.
• Keep hydrated.  You can purchase bottled water for $2.00 at our wine sales tent.   You are permitted to bring sealed water bottles.  

• Customers caught smuggling prohibited items into this year’s event will forfeit their tickets and be asked to leave the festival.  Security will be patrolling the festival grounds looking for beer, liquor and other alcohol that may have been missed at the gate. NJ State Police will remove any violators from the festival grounds with no refunds.
• Valenzano Winery has been hosting this event for 19 years and our crowds are always the best! Please continue this tradition of responsible beverage consumption. Our trained staff will do its best to ensure that there are no incidents, but that can only be done if our customers are drinking responsibly as well as looking after their friends and family.
• Please post pictures to #winefestnj and #valenzanowinery You may win a prize or possibly a VIP tent for next year’s event.

In Summary:

BRING WITH YOU
1) corkscrew
2) sunblock and a hat
3) lawn chair

4) personal umbrella
4) designated driver
5) cash (most vendors will not be able to accept credit cards)
6) printed ticket (this makes entrance much quicker)
7) valid driver’s license, military ID or passport

DON’T BRING WITH YOU
1) pop-up tents
2) outside alcohol
3) pets
4) large tables
5) large beach umbrellas

Our staff at Valenzano Family Winery puts an enormous amount of effort into planning our festivals. Our goal is always ‘to provide the best possible experience for the largest number of visitors’. We are not perfect; we will anticipate incorrectly or forget something that should have been obvious. We assure you that when these things become evident – we will recognize our mistakes and plan for it the following year. One thing we are very proud if is the fact that every event we do is better managed, more entertaining, and more comfortable than the previous year’s event. This is only possible because our amazing customers consistently give us the benefit of the doubt, and understand their best interest is our goal. We have had 19 years to perfect WineFest – and it is going to be a wonderful event! 

Cheers!

Valenzano Family Winery