From cooking classes and food bazaars to brunches and themed dinners, the 12th edition of the New York City Wine & Food Festival brought more than 80 culinary events to the city, providing a wide range of experiences for approximately 50,000 hungry fans.

For the second year in a row, presenting sponsor Capital One partnered with the NYCWFF to provide cardholders 30-minute early access, priority entry and reserved priority seating at select events, plus cardholder-only events throughout the four-day festival.

At the Grand Tasting, Capital One invited cardholders to participate in kitchen classes and relax in an exclusive cardholder lounge. All attendees were encouraged to share their favorite foods from the festival at the Best Bites wall, which were then illustrated by an artist to create a communal art mural.

Guests were also invited to share their favorite local eats and restaurants at an interactive New York map, where attendees could write the name of the restaurants on flags and then place them on their neighborhoods.

At Pier 97 events during the festival, Capital One had a blind taste test activation that put cardholders in the spotlight. The booth also had a candy wall where guests could do their own self-serve taste test by grabbing colorful candies and guessing the flavor at an iPad station.

Other Capital One exclusive events included a cookie dough making class with DŌ, Cookie Dough Confections founder Kristen Tomlan, dinner with Cedric and Jean-Georges Vongerichten and a master sushi rolling class with Iron Chef Morimoto.

Featured on BizBash’s 25 Event Highlights of NYCWFF 2019 and again a year later on BizBash’s 10 Tasty Brand Activations From Past NYCWFF Events.

Role: Creative Lead