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Taking a drink at the Central Alberta Co-op Wine and Spirits Festival

The 10th annual festival was held at Westerner Park in Red Deer Friday
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Shani Wilhelm (left) and Sara Schmidt clink glasses of wine at the 10th annual Central Alberta Co-op Wine and Spirits Festival Friday at Westerner Park’s Parkland Pavilion Friday. (Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff)

Central Alberta Co-op raised a glass for the products available in its liquor stores at the 10th annual Wine and Spirits Festival.

Babette Dorn, Central Alberta Co-op liquor division manager, said about 750 people were expected to attend the event at Westerner Park’s Parkland Pavilion Friday. The event featured 98 booths.

“It’s a great event to showcase all the products in our Co-op liquor stores,” she said. “It’s a fun day, everybody enjoys themselves and we have people from all over Central Alberta participating.”

About 125 people attended the first festival a decade ago in a much smaller space, Dorn added.

“It just skyrocketed after that and we grew every year.

“When we started 10 years ago we were worried about whether … it was going to work or not,” she said. “We only had three liquor stores at the time and now we’re up to seven.”

The event has now been held at Westerner Park for the past few years.

Dorn said this is the biggest Wine and Spirits Festival yet.

“There’s a lot of work building up to this with sending out invitations and getting the liquor brought here,” she said.



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Tom Dickson with Cellar Stock Importers pours a glass of wine at the 10th annual Central Alberta Co-op Wine and Spirits Festival Friday at Westerner Park’s Parkland Pavilion Friday. (Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff)


Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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