Franklin Wine Festival

I’ve volunteered for this event for two years and am so impressed! Why I love it:
— It is by far the best organized wine event I’ve been to and has the widest selection of high-​quality food and drinks. No need to eat or drink beforehand — plenty to try there!
— They probably have a hundred types of wines to try — and the attendees vary widely from people just looking to get drunk (definitely easy to do!!) to wine connoisseurs eager to find their new favorite.
— They have great entertainment, with several bands playing at all time.
— It’s inside in a cool space (weather can certainly be an issue with some of the outdoor festivals)
— It benefits an awesome charity!
Great for a date or a night out with friends!

This is a great event! This year was my second time and as always, I had a great time. They are not shy when it comes to their wine pours. Almost all of them will give you more if you ask! So many varieties of wine from different countries which I really enjoyed.
In terms of food, it ranges from BBQ to grits to cupcakes and to cheese. My favorite was Murray’s Cheese featured in Kroger and Sperry’s! Their food was really good!
This is a great event for a great cause. The venue is beautiful and the wines were fantastic!

This is hands down my favorite wine festival ever. First of all, it benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. Good wine for a good cause? Of course! Second of all, its held in the Factory in Franklin. No matter the weather, its beautiful inside this building. And third, the festival takes up the ENTIRE building.
300 wines to try and 30 restaurants with samples from their menu. At a lot of these festivals, the food is a separate thing for purchase. Not here. Here its part of the experience. So many amazing places from Nashville and Franklin offering tastings of what they have to offer paired with incredible wines from around the world. And you get a real wine glass with a plate containing a built-​in wine holder (whoever invented this is a rich rich person) to enjoy your evening. And what an evening you will have. It took the entire 3 hours to get through all the wines and food offered here. There was also a silent auction benefitting BBBS, with a lot of fantastic items. Live music (of course, because this is Nashville!) also adorned several sections of the Factory. And many of the shops were open to promote their business. One was even having an art show.
The entire experience is incredible, right down to the amazing volunteers pouring the wine for you. Everyone is excited to talk about what they have to offer, and its such a positive and fun event. A few FYIs: parking fills up FAST and if you’re coming from Nashville itself it’s a good 30 minute drive, so have a DD or cab lined up for transport. Don’t eat beforehand because you won’t need to. Indulge in the free water offered because you will want to. Overall this is one of my favorite events of the year and it’s a joy to be at from start to finish. The people running this event have got it down, and with the size of the venue you never feel too crowded. I can’t wait to go again next year. And every year after that.

My husband, friends and I had such a great time at the 2012 Franklin Wine Festival!
The only reason I docked 1 star was because it was P-​A-​C-​K-​E-​D which made moving around a little tricky, lines for food extremely long and at times, it didn’t seem like there was enough food. In the end, however, we left with a lil buzz (don’t worry, we had a designated driver) and comfortably satiated.
There was a great variety of wine (more than you’ll ever be able to drink in 1 night!) and lots of different restaurants. Be sure to wander around as much as you can because vendors are hidden all over the place.
I’m always happy to help out a great cause like BBBS and it’s a bonus when I get wine in exchange. Looking forward to the event next year!
Tip for those going in 2013: Get there early! Yes, the Factory parking lot is huge — but it fills up FAST! We arrived at 7:10 at it was a little tricky to find a spot.