Why should you vote for Gastrofest at One Spark? The reasons are many. Here’s four of the things Gastrofest will do for Jacksonville.
Gastrofest will put Jacksonville on the culinary map & drive tourism. Jacksonville’s food scene is a debutante, ready to make her debut. It’s a debut that will include chicken and waffles, we’re pretty sure. National publications are starting to notice that we’re coming into our own, but Gastrofest will mean more media coverage and out-of-towners.
Gastrofest lets locals know what they’ve got! Not everyone who lives here knows about our great food and drink. At Gastrofest, locals can learn about our culinary heritage, local sources for home cooking, local breweries, and, of course, the best of eating out, fine dining and otherwise.
Gastrofest will make a positive economic impact. Charleston, SC has a food and wine festival that contributed $10.7 million to their economy in 2013 alone. That festival is less than 10 years old. Their population is just 335,000 people. Jacksonville’s population is over 800,000.
Gastrofest will make Jacksonville more awesome! Spreading the word about our food scene will attract more wonderful chefs, in turn making the city more attractive to movers-and-shakers, which will further drive restaurants to bring their A-game.
Gastrofest will have have local craft beer, fine dining, food trucks, and more. Sample sizes would be encouraged. The event itself would be free, but there will be VIP events, demos and tastings at a reasonable cost. The ultimate goal would be to make this a city-wide event, with food happenings all over the city, drawing tourists from throughout the country.
Email us at gastrojax@gmail.com for more information. We are project #20026 at One Spark.