Amherstburg's Shores of Erie International Wine Festival is cancelled for the second year in a row as a case against the corporation heads to trial.
Two years ago an 18-year-old working at a Sobeys tent inside the festival died in single-vehicle a car crash after leaving the event. A postmortem found alcohol in Emily Bernauer's system.
The festival is facing charges of permitting a person who appears to be under the age of 19 to have liquor and of failing to inspect identification of a person who appears to be under 19.
Festival chair Karen Gyorgy says this difficult decision was the only way to go.
"Our volunteer committee has made this decision because it would be impossible to plan and execute a quality festival this year," says Gyorgy.
Initially individual board members were charged, but those were dropped in August.
Moving forward Gyorgy says she wants to focus on the positive aspects of the festival's last ten years -- promoting local wineries, spurring economic growth and making Amherstburg a destination.
"I'm very proud that we did that and we will hold on to all of this and hopefully all this good will help us and get us through the next few months," she says.
Depending on what happens in court Gyorgy says it's difficult to say what the future holds, but she's confident the festival can move past this.
"We're going to take one step at a time and try and bring it back. Everyone seems to want it back," she says.
A trial is scheduled for November 3 and 4.
