Downtown Dinner Party

This description, written by Katie Mitchell of the ilovemyburg.com blog, is spot on: 

“What they were able to create using only locally-available resources was not ‘magical’. It was not lucky or superhuman or miraculous or even unbelievable. It was innovative. It was intelligent, creative, intentional, and inspired. It was meticulously planned and organized by a group of smart, dedicated individuals willing to commit to a large project and donate their time and goods and services to their community.” 

We proposed the idea of re-inventing non-profit Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance’s fundraising gala and then pulled together a team of creatives, vendors, staff, and volunteers to execute the idea. This is now an annual and much-anticipated event. We manage a budget of approximately $30,000 to transform the Farmer’s Market pavilion into a gorgeous event space that encourages interaction, engagement and dancing.

We work closely with restaurants to create tasting stations that highlight their chefs and push them to do something out of the ordinary while keeping an eye on the overall diversity of the menu offerings. We use renewable resources in the form of bamboo tasting plates and plant-based plastics and have contracted with SoilCycles to compost a large percentage of waste from the event.

Bars featured local beer, wine and cider which are carefully curated and managed along with passed creative cocktails and a separate coffee bar. We lead the recruitment of live auction items, consisting of hyper-local and food-centric experiences. A DJ plays original compositions during the event and then spins it into a dance party after the tasting stations closed to make for a fun and energizing night not only for attendees, but also for the organization. 

In 2022, the event generated over $50,000 in revenue through sponsorships, donations and ticket sales.