In a press release on Friday, July 24, the Nashville Wine Auction announced that it will be cancelling its planned, in-person fall fundraising event, the Music City Harvest Party, amid concerns surrounding the safety of hosting a large-scale event during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We waited to cancel this highly anticipated first-time event because it was going to take place outside, giving us fresh air and room to socially distance,” said Nashville Wine Auction CEO Holly Whaley.
“Of course, our board and staff have been keeping an eye on this ever-changing situation since the pandemic began. We cancelled our biggest event earlier this year, l’Eté du Vin, but we had hopes that an outdoor event in October might still be a possibility. However, given the current situation surrounding this virus, we believe it is best for our supporters, organization and community as a whole, that we cancel the in-person event and replace it with an online version of our popular wine auction.”
In place of the in-person fundraising event, Nashville Wine Auction will host a live, online auction in addition to smaller online fundraising initiatives before and after the main auction event.
The main online event this fall will be The Virtual Nashville Wine Auction, which will take place on Saturday, October 10. The live streaming event will consist of both silent and live auctions featuring both premium wine and luxury lots. In addition to the always-popular auction lots, the event will have entertainment and education components, celebrity guests, live music, and more.
Additionally, a few supporting online initiatives and events will be conducted in the weeks and months before and after the main fundraising event. This will consist of a combination of online cocktail hours, small-scale dinner events, social media initiatives, and more. The goal of these smaller supporting events is to continue to raise money to help fund the fight against cancer.
“We are known for loving wine and hating cancer,” said Whaley. “Even during a pandemic, our mission to unite the wine community to fund the fight against cancer stays consistent. We just have to amend our traditional approach to raising money, and that is what we are committed to doing.”