Friday, April 19, 2024
The festival had something for the entire family: A sunny afternoon, good food and wine.
Tim Brown, left, gets a pour at the Brennan Vineyards booth. Brown said he and his wife Tina came out because “we enjoy the wine.”
Kelly Blues of the Granbury-based band “The Jamigos” played the main stage at the festival.
Frank Jaime pulling his son Bryson Reed, who will be 2 in June, around the square.
Super Doodles Ricky, left, and Lucy walked around the square with owners Janet and Jerry Hershberger.
Bins of ice kept the wine chilled as the sun beamed down on the historic Granbury Square.
Vendors sold everything from wine bottle stoppers to soap to cigars.
Sean Cox in the Bogeys Stogies booth sampling the cigar shop’s inventory.
Hundreds of glasses of wine was poured at the Granbury Wine Walk.
A ticket at the festival got you a wine glass and a taste of wine from the participating wineries.
The wine glass holder was a popular accessory at the festival.
Artists sold paintings and photographs in booths in the shadow of the historic Hood County Courthouse.
The line for tickets snaked along the historic Hood County Courthouse.
The Historic Granbury Square was packed on Saturday’s warm and breezy afternoon for the 11th annual Granbury Wine Walk, which sold out of tickets on Thursday.
Since 2010, the Granbury Wine Walk has been a staple in Hood County, allowing residents to stroll downtown Granbury, sipping Texas wine and listening to good music.
It felt like a post-pandemic gate was flung open as hundreds of revelers flocked the charming square.
"Certainly, after COVID, I love being around other humans; it just feels like the world is right again," said Sheila Collier of Abilene. “I've been to Granbury quite a bit. I always have a good time here, meeting people and the music."
Under an unfettered sun, Granbury-based band "The Jamigos" rocked out classics from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Pink Floyd. Lead guitarist Kelly Blues' riffs could be heard around the square. To say festival goers were entertained would be an understatement.
RETURNING VISITORS
The wine walk was canceled last year due to COVID-19, but that didn’t stop Brenda Bredemeyer and Collier of Abilene from joining in the festivities this year.
“I was here the first year and I have not been back,” Bredemeyer said. “I wanted to come back and see how it changed.”
Even some visitors from out of state joined in the fun. Richard and Patricia LeBlanc from Lafayette, Louisianna, had no idea the wine walk was happening this weekend.
Needless to say, their timing was perfect and they were not disappointed.
Richard said the drive was seven-and-a-half hours long and it was their second trip to Granbury.
“We came in August of last year and our wedding anniversary was this weekend, so we decided to look it up,” he said. “Normally we just go to the lake house. When we came in August, it was all locked down, so this is nice, to be able to come out and not having to stay in the same place. It’s been a great time and we will definitely be back.”
NEW ARTISTS
Over 50 vendors were featured at this year’s wine walk, including Shelah Jaime of The Pampered Hen based out of Comanche.
The Pampered Hen is Jaime’s new business of two years, where she sells candles, bath bombs and goat’s milk soap. Her business was inspired by her mom, who owns Texas Handmade Suds.
“It’s the same genre of product — bath and beauty, and my mom started her business probably about eight years ago and I helped her with it growing up,” she said. “I’ve always loved anything pampering. She inspired me to start my own business.”
The first product she ever sold was bath bombs and that’s where her journey began.
She said her favorite scent is leather and describes herself as a “country girl.”
“I love the smell of horses and leather and it’s also our top-smelling scent,” she said.
Jaime said this was her first year of selling her own products at the Granbury Wine Walk, separate from her mom.
Another new vendor featured at the event was Rita Hall, a hair stylist and owner of Rita’s Salon and Spa based out of Weatherford.
At the festival, she was selling paintings of her abstract acrylic paint pouring, a hobby and new side business that she started doing two years ago.
“A couple of years back, I saw a video on YouTube and said, ‘I can do that.’ I started doing it and loved it,” she said. “I do an acrylic paint pour on a board and then it has to dry. I come back and I do resin and let the resin cure. It has to be sanded down and groomed and then I try to put my own spin on it.”
She said it’s a process and that she spends more time mixing up her paint colors than what it actually takes to do a paint pour.
Hall added, “This was my very first festival experience and it has been an experience.”
