There was no shortage of food or wine when On The Tracks, a biannual food and wine festival, was held in downtown Opelika on Friday night, Oct. 23.
The event was from 6-11 p.m. and included food, wine, live music and extended shopping hours for some of the shops in the area.
For a $25 ticket, attendees were able to walk the tasting trail and try the different wine and snacks from local stores.
People could also come to event to walk through the downtown area, buy from the vendors, eat at participating restaurants and enjoy the live music, free of charge.
22 local shops, not including restaurants, participated in the event this year.
One of those shops was MusicTown Records, a record store that opened in downtown Opelika in February 2014.
Owner Allie Fox said the store has participated in the event once before and plans to continue participating in the future.
“We did it back in April which was interesting," Fox said. "We had a pretty good day …. We will do it every time they do it.”
On The Tracks started 10 years ago when Pam Powers-Smith, who was a small business owner at the time, came up with an idea to help get people in the door at the shops in downtown Opelika.
“10 years ago, downtown Opelika was not what you see today," Powers-Smith said. "There were not a lot of stores or restaurants, but the ones we did have said they wanted a way to make people walk in the door. We had other events going on, but everyone would just kind of hang around outside or listen to music outside so we said, 'How do we get folks into each store?' And so wine was the answer to that.”
Now, Powers-Smith is the director of Main Street in downtown Opelika and the event.
First time patron of the event, Michelle Redmon, said she has enjoyed the experience, particularly the live music.
“I like it," Redmon said. "It’s nice. We’ve enjoyed it. My favorite part has probably been the music on the corner probably."
Event veteran, Ely Jones, said she always has a good time at the event and will absolutely be attending again next year.
“This is my third year I believe," Jones said. "I come for the friends, the excitement, everything is just fun here. And I will be doing some shopping. I do some shopping every year. Last year, I got a beautiful necklace."
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