Bertram Art, Herb and Wine Festival – big time for a small town | News Leave a comment
BERTRAM — Many small towns in Texas host big festivals, but the 3rd Annual Bertram Art, Herb and Wine Festival April 30-May 1 was a relief after festivals were canceled or down sized during COVID.
Visitors returned to Bertram this year to enjoy that small-town feel, fun local merchants, great food, live music, interesting seminars, a 5K run and beautiful weather.
The free family event was held on downtown Bertram’s Vaughan and Grange streets. Presented by the Bertram Chamber of Commerce, this year’s festival had lots of the usual fun activities to offer and as an added attraction, a 5K run and informational seminars.
Lori Ringstaff, president of the Bertram Chamber, says providing this exciting and profitable annual festival takes months of preparation and work by the festival committee but it’s definitely worth it.
“We started making plans in January to make sure we got excellent artisans, food and entertaining musicians and live music, which is always a big draw,” she said.
Live music artists this year included Oatmeal Sound Co., Paulene Reese, The Steel Belts, Eley Buck-Davis and John Arthur Martinez. The festival attracts thousands of visitors, helping the local economy. Ringstaff said the Chamber is very thankful for the hard-working volunteers, sponsors, vendors and festival committee members for making this year’s event a success.
The festival included 75 vendors with hand-crafted items, 10 food trucks, five wineries for wine tasting and “The Beer Booth” serving beer from the Save the World Brewery. Festival goers could get a $12 mug, $6 refill or $5 cup of beer throughout the day. Visitors enjoyed wine tasting as well. Wineries participating were 7 Creeks Vineyard, Decadent Saint Winery, Packsaddle Nectars, Hamilton Pool Vineyards, Farm Texas Legato Winery, and Texas Exits Wine.
The Austin Steam train, “The Hill Country Flyer” brought people in from the Cedar Park location, arriving in Bertram at noon and allowing its riders to enjoy the festival for a few hours and then a ride back. Festival vendors and artisans included handmade soaps, painted oyster shells, candles, stain glass, leather products, wildflower seed balls and herbs to take home and grow.
Informational seminars offered instruction for making beer and wine, as well as information about raising honey bees and using herbs in cooking and medicine. The seminars were taught by local experts and Texas A&M University faculty members sharing their research, knowledge, and experiences related to the topic.
Sunday’s activities included the first annual Wine Thyme 5K Run. Cassey Allen, organizer of the run and an avid runner was thrilled when the Chamber suggested a 5K run be added to the 2022 festival.
“It went very well for a first-year run, even though there were other significant 5K runs in the area on the same day, we had a good turnout. We plan on doing it again next year, for sure,” Allen said
Donald Loewe was awarded first place in the men’s race and Betsy Post won first place for the women. Proceeds from the run go to the Chamber for scholarships for Bertram students.
