Miami Fine Chocolate and Food Show: Not Wonkaville

These events seem to be the latest craze - "let's have a beer/wine/dessert/food festival!"  But there's really no accountability when they don't deliver.   This is the problem with pop-up food/alcohol fairs.  Whether they oversell tickets or under deliver food/drinks - this is not the first time this has happened. I'd venture to say most tickets are likely being sold thru the discount sites (Groupon, Living Social, etc).  Hmm, if you've got to dump your tickets on those sites, then you're asking too much in the first place.   

Laine...at Pinecrest Gardens we completely agree with your insights.  This was a first time endeavor for the organizer of the show (they do the Chicago Chocolate show and a really good job with it).  As you are aware, we produce most of our shows ourselves...this time, we were approached by an outside show organizer who rented out the property.  Our market is quirky--nothing like Chicago, but more importantly, the organizer understands the issues, and in our post-show meeting today restated his comittment to making this show a great show for years to come by recognizing several issues;  1. ticket price (it was clearly too high) 2.  vendor numbers (there were too few) 3.  samples (not enough for the crowds that came, and in many cases too skimpy) & 4.  not enough entertainment or children's activities.  I believe that this will be rectified next year...and I encourage anyone who has further comments for him, to send him a message through the Miami Fine Chocolate and Food Show website or Facebook Page.