Island Wine Festival arrives on Sept. 16

Enjoy an afternoon of wine tasting, appetizers, and soothing live music where the sand meets the sea on South Beach on Sept. 16 from 2 to 5 p.m. for the annual Catalina Island Wine Festival.

Enjoy an afternoon of wine tasting, appetizers, and soothing live music where the sand meets the sea on South Beach on Sept. 16 from 2 to 5 p.m. for the annual Catalina Island Wine Festival.

Held in concert with the Catalina Art Festival, the wine festival will include a special ceremony at 4 p.m. where a STEM grant will be presented for mentoring and scholarship programs on the Island. The funds will go towards graduating seniors in the 2018 year studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). In 2016, Edison International donated $5,000 towards the local efforts in STEM education.

This made a large impact on the $12,000 in scholarships the Catalina Island Women’s Forum awarded in 2017 to 11, very talented and motivated young graduates. By inspiring girls to excel in school while receiving recognition for their accomplishments, donations like the one from Edison keeps vital programs alive which provide much-needed funds to students for college.

Also at the festival, there will be a silent auction for additional excitement.

Tickets for the festival are $80 each, or $70 each for groups of 10 or more. Contact www.catalinawinefest.com for tickets and information.

The Catalina Island Women’s Forum is a nonprofit organization assisting women’s wellness domestic violence prevention, educational scholarships and mentoring for high school girls living on Catalina. All proceeds from the upcoming event furthers its mission of supporting women on Avalon, as the annual Wine Festival is its primary source of scholarship funds. For more information email info@theciwf.org or call 323-686-CIWF.