Lana Allen (left), of Sunflower Dream Promotions, and Sara Gross, of Maine Tasting Center, have created a partnership between their companies to bring a full lineup of food events and workshops to the Midcoast this summer. Courtesy of Patricia Cloutier
Sunflower Dream Promotions, a Bath-based promotional events company, has found a perfect match in Maine Tasting Center, located in Wiscasset. The partnership is hitting the ground running with a handful of collaborative events already scheduled for this summer. To kick off the season, Sunflower Dream Promotions will be hosting an after-hours “Canvases & Cocktails” event with local artist Brandy in the Maine Tasting Center’s Tasting Room Saturday, May 27.
Lana Allen, owner of Sunflower Dream Promotions, has been working to grow her business since its founding in January 2022.
“The minute I walked onto the Maine Tasting Center campus, I knew I had found something special,” she said in a prepared release. “Not only did they share my passion for local food, but the space was perfect for the kinds of events I was trying to build my business around.”
Allen has built a name for herself in the Wiscasset and Bath communities through an array of food-centric events she creates. She said one of the hardest parts of putting on these unique events has been finding an appealing, reliable space in which to hold them, where venue owners not only understand her vision but share her enthusiasm.
“When Lana approached us about hosting one of her events on our campus, it was an easy ‘yes,’ but it quickly became clear that there was a lot more potential there than just one event,” said Maine Tasting Center General Manager Sara Gross.
Over the past three years, Maine Tasting Center has become known for its innovative events and its focus on profiling local food and drink producers.
“We love these types of fun, engaging and creative events, but with a staff of two, we often don’t have the capacity to plan them alongside all of the other initiatives on our plate,” Gross said. “Partnering with Lana was an obvious choice — it allows us to offer more amazing local food and drink events to our campus and profile more of our producers than we would be able to accomplish on our own.”
At the May 27 kickoff event, artist Brandy will take attendees step-by-step through the process of painting their own Maine lobster-themed masterpiece. And in keeping with its mission to connect consumers to Maine producers, Maine Tasting Center will offer Maine lobster food and drink specials, plus a bit of lobster industry education. Tickets and more information are available at canvasesandcocktails.com.
Other exciting events for the season include an absinthe night on June 10, a tapas dinner with Chris Toy on June 16, a Wild Mushroom Lunch & Learn with David Spahr on July 22 and a second annual “Forage and Feast” with North Spore on Oct. 6. Beyond that, a soap-making workshop, a German-beer pairing and a Maine sushi dinner are all in the works, with dates to be announced soon. Tickets will be available at mainetastingcenter.com/classes.
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