Hill Country Wine & Music Festival To Carry On Despite Same-Weekend Competition From Austin Food & Wine

Are these fightin' words? The Hill Country Wine & Music Festival is a "Texas-centric" alternative to the "celebrity chef-driven," $250-per-pass Austin Food & Wine Festival, writes Addie Broyles in the Statesman this week.

With the advent of the proper Food & Wine pedigree, the Hill Country festival has branched off from the Austin event, though both are happening on the same weekend. Total accident, apaprently: "organizer Ken Maxwell says they’d picked that date when the Austin Food & Wine Festival was still scheduled to take place in March." Broyles notes there's just one Texas wine panel at the Austin event, compared to several at Hill Country in this year and in years past. Another huge difference: price. There's a $100 kick-off dinner, but that's the most expensive part.

The big event — and this is where the music part really comes in — is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at Wildseed Farms. For $20, you can sample Texas wines and food from area restaurants, as well as a number of locally made products, including chocolates and olive oils. Musicians scheduled to play are Trevor La Bonte, John Arthur Martinez, the Almost Patsy Cline Band and Thomas Michael Riley.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: A commenter rightly points out that the Hill Country Wine & Music Festival is wholly different from the organization formerly known as the Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, which has morphed into the Austin Food & Wine Alliance which backs the new Austin Food & Wine Festival. Sorry for the confusion, y'all.

· Looking For A Texas-Centric Alternative To The Austin Food & Wine Festival? [Austin360]
· All Austin Food & Wine Festival Coverage On Eater Austin [-EATX-]

[Photo: Hill Country Wine & Music/Official]