Tickets for the Delaware Wine and Beer Festival, set for Oct. 17, are now on sale. For tickets or information, visit www.DelawareWineandBeerFestival.com. (Submitted photo)

DOVER — Tickets are now on sale for the sixth annual Delaware Wine and Beer Festival – the only national award-winning festival of its type in Delaware – set for Saturday, Oct. 17 in the 19th Century farm village at Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village in Dover.

New this year will be unlimited samples of nearly 100 varieties of handcrafted beers, wines and spirits from most Delaware breweries, wineries and distilleries, in addition to select regional wineries and breweries. Back by popular demand is the Sunday Brunch, sponsored by the Delaware Wineries Association, at Harvest Ridge Winery in Marydel, which will feature a full catered brunch, wines and spirits.

Also new this year is the Food Truck Challenge for Charity, which will benefit the Food Bank of Delaware.

Festival-goers will be given one free ballot to vote in three categories: Best entrée, best dessert and best appearing setup. Additional ballots will be sold for $1 each and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Food Bank of Delaware. The Food Bank’s new culinary program will be a feature of the event with students preparing, sampling and selling foods that they have prepared.

The Food Bank of Delaware’s culinary program has graduated more than 400 students since its inception in 2002. The 14-week training program prepares adults for entry-level positions in the food industry. The mission of The Culinary School is two-fold. First students are taught skills that are highly desirable to employers in the food industry and second, these newly developed skills have the potential to lead to jobs in the industry that provide job security and economic sustainability.

The following tickets are now on sale:

• VIP tickets which includes unlimited sampling, Good Libations Tour beach bag, Good Libations Tour snifter, 10 sampling tickets of the homebrew competition entries and exclusive homebrew judging rights for the homebrew Peoples’ Choice award. Only 120 VIP tickets are available at $50 per person.

• General admission sampling ticket, which includes unlimited sampling and a commemorative sampling glass to the first 1,000 ticket buyers at $35 each.

• Designated driver tickets at $10 each.

• Libations weekend package that includes Saturday night lodging at Hampton Inn or Home 2 Suites (within ½ mile of the festival grounds), two general admission festival tickets and two Sunday Brunch tickets at $299 per couple.

In addition to the Food Truck Challenge for Charity, this year’s festival will include live music, 50+ artisans and artists selling jewelry, crafts and home décor, book signing and beer history artifacts by John Medkeff, author of the newly published History of Delaware Brewing, “Beer-Lympics” and keg tossing competition. A t-shirt design competition is also underway, and the winner will receive cash and prizes.

The following are signed up to participate: Pizzadili Winery, 3rd Wave Brewing Company, Fenwick Wine Cellars, Mispillion River Brewing, Great Shoals Winery, Blue Earl Brewing Company, Fordham & Dominion Brewing, 16 Mile Brewing, Auburn Road Winery, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Harvest Ridge Winery, Argilla Brewing Company, Yards Brewing Company, Crooked Hammock Brewery, Brimming Horn Meadery, Painted Stave Distilling, Crooked Hammock Brewery and Delaware Distilling Company.

The event is owned and managed by Kent County Tourism, a nonprofit organization.

For more information and tickets, visit the website at www.DelawareWineandBeerFestival.com, or find the festival on Facebook and Pinterest.