Plateau Magazine Oct-Nov 2021
Get out and enjoy the fall weather with our Glamping feature, the latest trend in luxury camping. We also feature a conservation story on Panthertown Valley, an expansive area for hiking and observing nature. And we highlight several spoiled pets, the Highlands Food & Wine Festival, great fall recipes and a beautiful new home build.
Get out and enjoy the fall weather with our Glamping feature, the latest trend in luxury camping. We also feature a conservation story on Panthertown Valley, an expansive area for hiking and observing nature. And we highlight several spoiled pets, the Highlands Food & Wine Festival, great fall recipes and a beautiful new home build.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
local chatter<br />
Infamous Stringdusters create the<br />
perfect brunch experience at the<br />
Sunday Shindig in 2019.<br />
Highlands Food<br />
and Wine Festival<br />
A celebration rich in food, flavor and fun<br />
By MARIANNE LEEK » Photos by MAGGIE BRAUCHER<br />
NOTABLY ONE OF THE<br />
highest small towns east<br />
of the Rockies, there are<br />
few places as picturesque<br />
as the plateau in fall, the<br />
majestic Blue Ridge Mountains awash in<br />
fiery hues against a brilliant Carolina blue<br />
sky. With both Great Smoky Mountains<br />
National Park and the Blue Ridge<br />
Parkway practically in its backyard, the<br />
mountain respite of Highlands, NC, has<br />
always been a wildly popular destination<br />
spot for visitors in summer and early fall<br />
not only for its miles of trails, mountain<br />
vistas and abundance of waterfalls but<br />
also for its five-star inns, farm-to-table<br />
dining and charming downtown shopping<br />
opportunities. But perhaps no event is more<br />
representative of the best of Highlands and<br />
what this southern region has to offer than<br />
the finely curated and highly anticipated<br />
Highlands Food and Wine Festival, an<br />
annual celebration that affords patrons the<br />
chance to get up close and personal with<br />
some of the most exceptional chefs, vintners,<br />
mixologists and musicians in the Southeast.<br />
Since its inception in 2006 with the<br />
purpose of prolonging Highlands’ shoulder<br />
season, the originally named Highlands<br />
Culinary Weekend has undergone some<br />
significant changes. In 2016, it was rebranded<br />
in an effort to continue to promote<br />
the town of Highlands as a premier destination<br />
as well as provide a late-season<br />
economic boost to local business owners.<br />
Established in 2018 to oversee both the<br />
Highlands Food and Wine Festival and<br />
Bear Shadow music festival, Highlands<br />
Festivals, Inc. continues to be an asset<br />
to the broader plateau community giving<br />
over $45,000 to local charities such as the<br />
Highlands Food Pantry and Highlands-<br />
Cashiers Land Trust, as well as establishing<br />
a culinary scholarship to The Culinary<br />
Institute of America, with preference<br />
given to local students. They also remain<br />
fiercely committed to environmental sustainability,<br />
establishing a festival greening<br />
program and engaging in recycling<br />
and composting efforts which have thus<br />
far diverted over nine tons of waste from<br />
landfills. In the past six years, the festival<br />
has exploded in popularity and is consid-<br />
36 | The<strong>Plateau</strong>Mag.com
Change language