Even under the cover of snow and rain, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Village drew crowds for both weekends running.
Despite rainy conditions on Saturday and Sunday last weekend, Queen Street saw some of its biggest crowds of the entire festival.
Volunteer Patricia Fraser thinks much of it was due to the popular food stands.
“People are still lined up for the grilled cheese from Cheese Secrets. I don’t know what their secret sauce is but it’s amazing,” Fraser told The Lake Report.
Crowds lined up along the street for food from Cheese Secrets, Doughvine, PigOut and Aura on the Lake.
The oh-so-popular grilled cheese at the Cheese Secrets booth featured a seven-cheese mix atop fresh sourdough bread and an icewine secret sauce.
Crista K. from Cheese Secrets was busy grilling the sandwiches on Sunday and said that around 250 were sold the day before.
“We ran out of bread and cheese,” she said. “We had to go get them this morning and grate them this morning.”
Fraser saw a large number of people from not only out of town, but all over the world while working the second weekend, she said.
“What I’m amazed at is how many people who said it’s their first time in Niagara-on-the-Lake and they all say they’re going to come back,” she said.
Jo-Ann and Tim Caron didn’t trek too far — coming from Niagara Falls — but enjoyed the main attractions just the same.
“These (grilled cheeses) are just amazing. The cheese and the icewine jelly,” said Tim Caron.
“We actually came from the Irish Harp: we weren’t even hungry but we had to get this,” added Jo-Ann Caron.
Fraser extended admiration for her fellow volunteers who helped make the event so special for the large crowds, even during the rain.
“This is the greatest group of volunteers ever,” she said. “Today I’ve been here since noon, I was here til five yesterday and the people are just amazing.”
