NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Before the tents go up for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, all the fun started at the Florida International University campus in North Miami Beach.
“The South Beach Wine and Food Festival has its roots here,” said FIU Communications Director Ivonee Yee. “This is where a professor in the hospitality school had the idea. He said, ‘Let’s make an event where students could run it and let’s get wine producers together with distributors together with food and let’s do one event,’ and it was called the Florida Extravaganza.”
FIU students at Thursday’s event learned everything from food to drinks to full event execution -- the same skills they’ll use out in the real world.
And with an event this big, sustainability is also part of the lesson.
For some students, the festival experience turns into a full-blown career, like it did for the owner of Temple Street Eatery Diego Ng, who started out as a student volunteer.
“I think it’s very valuable for a student to get involved in this,” said Ng. “You get a lot of different parts of hospitality and tourism. It brings so many aspects of hospitality.”
And while you’re enjoying the food and the fun, just know your ticket is also doing some real good behind the scenes.
“All the net proceeds go to the students’ scholarships, and also laboratories, like this restaurant right here was created from funds from the festival, and students really now get that learning experience,” said Yee.
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