This holiday season, give the gift of SOBEWFF®

By Vanessa Vieites

With the holidays coming up, you may find yourself rushing to find gifts for your loved ones. Why not surprise them with tickets to EAT. DRINK. EDUCATE.—and be merry at the Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One (SOBEWFF®)? The Festival is offering the university community discounts on tickets to select events, where attendees can enjoy savory eats and boisterous beats.  

While your family and friends may benefit from these stocking stuffers, so will FIU students. The Festival started at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management on the Biscayne Bay Campus in 1997. Today, more than 1,200 students help run the Festival’s 3,200 plus shifts; Stefania Rivero, a senior hospitality management student who runs Stef’s Sweet Events, is one of them. This year, Rivero is not only the volunteer recruitment coordinator for one of the Festival’s biggest events, but for the first time, she will serve her desserts at the Goya Foods' Grand Tasting Village featuring Grand Tasting Tents & Publix Culinary and sponsored by Sub-Zero Group Southeast.

“Having this opportunity before graduating is quite exhilarating,” said Rivero, who is scheduled to graduate in Spring 2020 with a bachelor's hospitality management.

FIU alumni, staff and parents may use the codes FIUALUMNI20, FIUSTAFF20 and FIUPARENT20, respectively, to save 20 percent off the following events:

• Italian Bites on the Beach sponsored by HCP Media and the Miami Herald Media Company and hosted by Giada De Laurentiis & Dario Cecchini
• Chef Mash-up presented by HoneySpot App and hosted by The Naughty Fork
• Taste of Jamaica presented by Jamaica Tourist Board and Tourism Enhancement Fund and hosted by JJ Johnson and Andre Fowles
• Art of Tiki Cocktail Showdown presented by BACARDĺ Rum and Patrón Tequila
• Beachside BBQ hosted by Guy Fieri
• Croquetas & Cocktails hosted by Eileen & Jonathan Andrade
• Sweets & Beats hosted by Buddy Valastro
• Drag Brunch presented by My Fort Lauderdale Beach and hosted by Carson Kressley
• Goya Foods' Grand Tasting Village featuring Grand Tasting Tents & Publix Culinary and sponsored by Sub-Zero Group Southeast (Sunday only)
• BACARDI's Beach Carnival hosted by Andrew Zimmern

SOBEWFF® is a national, five-day event featuring world-renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary experts, attracting 65,000 guests annually. In its 19^th year, the Festival will showcase more than 100 drink- and food-related events across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties from Feb. 19–23.

To date, the Festival has raised more than $30 million, benefitting the Chaplin School. Tickets for the 2020 Festival are on sale now.