Bits of Bertram
It was “all things art, herb and wine” this past weekend in Bertram as the Bertram Chamber hosted the annual Bertram Art, Herb & Wine Festival. The downtown streets were lined with artisan and craft food vendors.
Wineries were located on every corner, offering a wonderful array of wines. Music flowed from the stage throughout the weekend, with musicians including Pauline Reese, Eley Buck Davis, Spicy Loops, Contrafact Jazz Group, Bryan Groce, and The Steel Belts.
Live art was painted in the streets by local artist, Kate Boyer, and the Bertram Visitor Center hosted an artist showcase, with exhibits from local artists from Burnet and Williamson counties.
The Bertram Chamber beer booth was a hit, and the food court offered a wide variety of tasty treats, cold beverages, and sweets. Attendees enjoyed a good variety of free seminars throughout both days featuring everything from Sourdough 101 to drying herbs, to fabric dying and basket weaving. Saturday evening ended with a concert at the Globe Theatre offering Western Fidelity’s Songs about Wine and featuring Joshua Hedley.
On Sunday morning, racers gathered for a 5K to start off the day. There were winners in numerous age categories. The overall female winner was Noelle Swartz, and the overall male winner was Isaias Zarate.
The local winery vendors were also judged on their wines on Sunday. The winners in the various categories were 7 Creeks Vineyard, 12 Fires Winery & Vineyard, Texas Exits Wine, Portree Cellars, Kfire Winery & Vineyard, and Rusty Hook Winery. The People’s Choice award went to Jerry and Creeks Vineyard for his Windstrewn sweet white.
The Bertram Art, Herb & Wine Festival committee wants to thank all the sponsors, vendors, seminar leaders, artists, musicians, and festival attendees that made for such a great weekend.
Next weekend, Bertram will be buzzing again with the Clucko de Mayo event hosted by Chickenbach. This event takes place May 3 from 4:30-9 p.m. and will include a live mariachi band followed by Los Funky Monkeys. There will be drinks and food available to purchase, and pinatas for both the kiddos and the adults, along with some other games and photo ops. You won’t want to miss the fun. Tickets can be found on the Chickenbach Facebook page.
The following week, you will want to visit the Prairie Flower Garden Club plant and bake sale Friday, May 9 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. They will have a wide variety of plants and sweet treats for sale at the Bertram Community Center located at 340 S. Gabriel St.
If you have news or events for this column, please email betty.predmore@ gmail.com.
