-Weston, Fla.
-The struggling little culinary festival was a former powerhouse that had fallen hard on unfortunate economic times.
The annual Florida Feast in Weston, Fla. used to draw attendance in the thousands, all coming to sample gourmet foods from over one hundred countries. But economic cutbacks saddled the Labor Day weekend event, such that in 2011, a mere 700 people per day visited. "We thought we'd be shuttering extremely soon," said Micah Bulfoiszka, an event manager. Then came an intern.
As in, an intern who mistakenly forgot to renew the tented event's lease of a parking lot, delaying it from its usual date in 2012--and opening it up to a drop in from some of Feast Fest's top culinary masters.
The lease ballyhoo caused the three-day event to be moved to Oct. 27-29, and, with the Feast Fest chefs mere miles away in Punta Gorda for their final exhibition before Thanksgiving, well, a few decided to drop by.
Jim McAllister, Jan Stephan, Lynn Avi, Daniel Mettling, and Joe Pasik dropped in on Monday. Word leaked of their appearance, and attendance swelled to 5,000, the event's best in seven years. And the quintuple didn't ask any money of the event for appearing; they were just happy to help boost the faltering annual bash. "We need more events like this," McAllister said. "We need to keep them thriving, and we're glad we are able to help this one in any way."
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