Vendemmia Festival set for Sunday

This weekend probably ranks among the calendar year’s five busiest when you look at events involving wine across the region.

One of those will take place Sunday in South Philly, a few blocks up from where the Phillies will be playing their final game of the season. It’s the 12th annual Vendemmia Festival at Vendemmia Square, located between Pattison Avenue and Hartranft Street at South Broad and South 20th streets, just north of FDR Park. Billed as a fall festival of wine and food, the event will begin at 2 in the afternoon and continue until 6. The entry fee is $40.

For that investment, you are given a wine glass and the freedom to not only taste as many wines as you want but the freedom to sample a number of foods that have been donated by restaurants across the city. The attraction of this event is the access to so many homemade wines: A spokesperson said yesterday that organizers were expecting between 125 and 150 winemakers to enter their wines in the competition. “A lot of them are local,” she said. “They make it in their basement. All we ask [of them] is to donate some of their wines for consumption at the festival.”

This event is held either the last Sunday of September or the first Sunday in October. Tickets are available only in advance; you can pay by cash, check or money order at 1841 S. Broad St. A table for 10 can be reserved for $400. You can call the Vendemmia Foundation at 215.551.3859 for more information.

This might have been a secret its first couple of years, but no longer. Organizers are expecting around 5,000 people to attend.