NASHVILLE WINE AUCTION TO CANCEL LARGE-SCALE,IN-PERSON EVENTS FOR REMAINDER OF 2020
Inaugural Music City Harvest Party Postponed
The Nashville Wine Auction is cancelling its planned, in-person fall fundraising event, the Music City Harvest Party, amid concerns surrounding the safety of conducting 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.”
After several meetings of the board of directors and the Music City Harvest Party committee, the board voted this week to cancel the in-person fundraiser and replace it with a live, online auction event. There will be additional supporting online fundraising initiatives before and after the main auction event.
“We had to get creative when planning these new, responsible and safe events to help our beloved Nashville Wine Auction continue to thrive and raise money for the local cancer-related nonprofit organizations who benefit from our grants,” said Music City Harvest Party Co-Chairs and Board Members Amy Atkinson and Lisa Maki. “While we will miss hosting the amazing party we had planned at Green Door Gourmet, we are starting to get pretty excited about making these online initiatives fun and successful!”
The main online event this fall will be TheVirtual Nashville Wine Auction, and it will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. The live streaming event will consist of both silent and live auctions featuring premium wine and luxury lots. In addition to the always-popular auction lots, the event will have entertainment and educational components – a mix of celebrity guests, words from the nonprofit beneficiaries, special toasts, live music and more. But, the star of theshow is always the wine. In addition, these many online initiatives will offer the Nashville Wine Auction’s dedicated sponsors the opportunity for increased exposure and access to thousands of Nashville Wine Auction supporters.
Additionally, a few supporting online initiatives and events will be conducted in the weeks and months before and after TheVirtual Nashville Wine Auction. This will be a combination of online cocktail hours, small-scale dinner events, social media initiatives and other efforts that will be announced later. The goal of this series of supporting events is to continue to build on the comradery and relationships that exist amongst the Nashville Wine Auction wine-loving supporters, continue to invite first-time attendees to the organization’s events, and to raise money to help fight 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.”
Nashville Wine Auction 2020 Beneficiaries:
American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee, HopeKids, Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Middle Tennessee, PearlPoint Cancer Support, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Saint Thomas Cancer Network and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Sponsors of the Music City Harvest Party:
Mercedes-Benz of Music City, Pinnacle Financial Partners, Parker’s Paws Veterinary Hospital, Starling Davis Group, Clinical Solutions Pharmacy, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Scripps Howard Foundation, Avison Young, and Tara L. Mullaney
ABOUT NASHVILLE WINE AUCTION: Nashville Wine Auction’s mission is to unite the wine community to fund the fight against cancer. Throughout the year, Nashville Wine Auction hosts three major events – Pairings: The Ultimate Wine and Food Weekend; l’Eté du Vin: The Country’s Longest-Running Charity Wine Auction; and the brand-new (next year) Music City Harvest Party. Established in 1980, the Nashville Wine Auction has raised more than $26 million for organizations whose purpose is directly related to treatment, patient care and the eradication of cancer here in Middle Tennessee.