BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Raise your glasses to Brooklyn as Bed-Stuy transforms into wine country with its annual food and drink celebration.
The Toast of Brooklyn Wine, Food and Arts Festival features vendors from around the world who are set to offer their varieties of reds and whites, along with a mix of liquors and snacks.
The event returns to the neighborhood for its seventh year on Nov. 7, according to creator and organizer Edmon Braithwaite.
Braithwaite, who helped found the Bedford-Stuyvesant Gateway BID and owns Nostrand Wines and Liquors, launched the festival in 2007 to support the neighborhood’s small businesses and represent the African-American community in the wines and spirits industry, he said.
“Whatever event we do, you’ve got to create some type of mechanism that will help local businesses and create opportunities for them,” Braithwaite said.
More than 50 wineries will be on scene at Brooklyn Industrial Studios, a new venue for the celebration. In previous years, the festival has been hosted at Restoration Plaza and the former Carver Bank site on Fulton Street.
Dozens of New York state businesses are also expected to attend, and Toast of Brooklyn will be a designated “farmer’s market” where visitors can buy products that they’ve sampled, according to the organizer.
“It’s part of our effort to support the program of buying local,” Braithwaite said.
Patrons can also grab a bite from participating dessert vendors and neighborhood restaurants.
A new addition this year will be the “Bartender’s Challenge,” where local bars and lounges prepare their signature cocktails for drinkers to enjoy.
Tickets for Toast of Brooklyn are $50, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward neighborhood nonprofits and charities, Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger and Jericho Road.
Toast of Brooklyn will be held on Nov. 7 with two sessions, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The festival is hosted at Brooklyn Industrial Studios, 1260 Atlantic Ave. For tickets and more information, visit the Toast of Brooklyn website here.
