Masquerave sets stage for return

It’s been five years since the Bearfoot Bistro held its last Masquerave and for all involved, it’s been five years too long.

Arguably the biggest event during its time at Cornucopia, Masquerave was the marquee party for the annual food and wine festival for the first 10 years of the festival.

But it was half a decade ago that Bearfoot Bistro decided to step away from hosting the event, leaving a void that hasn’t been filled since.

“It’s a huge undertaking and… putting together such a huge production is quite involving,” said Marc Des Rosiers, marketing manager at the Bearfoot. “At one point we felt that it was time to step back and now we’re able to bounce back even bigger than what we’ve done in the past.”

According to Des Rosiers, five years away from Cornucopia has allowed the Bearfoot to build itself up and come back with an event unlike anything previously put on by the restaurant.

“To date, this is going to be the biggest and largest event that Bearfoot Bistro has put together,” he said. “We’re very excited with the quality that the partners have been able to work with.”

Those partners include several renowned chefs from Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City, more than 40 wine, champagne and spirit makers, plus One Drop, a charity organization dedicated to water access initiatives all across the planet.

On top of that, Masquerave will also feature a performance by Cirque du Soleil during the unveiling of a unique vehicle, a custom-painted Infiniti G37 that will be auctioned off at the event.

“The ‘art car’ is quite spectacular and very unique,” said Des Rosiers. “An artist from Montreal, Heidi Taillefer, has spent more than 300 hours doing the design and body painting of the car.”

Party goers can also expect to experience some of the best food and drinks Cornucopia has to offer, all in a specially-designed environment.

“The fact that Masquerave is back really enhanced the opportunity to get some premium wineries to come to the festival,” said Des Rosiers. “The visual environment will be created by a company called Moment Factory and they are coming over with a production team to Whistler. The environment they’re going to be designing will be something that has never been done before in Whistler, something that we’ve never seen in this town.”

And while Des Rosier promised that the event will offer a variety of new features never before seen at past Masqueraves, some of the old favourites are also coming back.

When asked about the eroticism of past events and if there will be less of a focus on that aspect of the party, Des Rosiers said organizers haven’t toned that part down, but merely added more to the mix.

“It won’t be less, but with the integration of the environment that Moment Factory is creating, I think overall it’s going to be an amazing blend of experiences,” he said. “We have commissioned some artists and there will be some airbrush painting and we have some models and they will take part in the entertainment in Masquerave.”

Also on the menu at Saturday’s (Nov. 12) party will be music, and lots of it.

“We’re putting quite a focus on the music,” said Des Rosiers. “We have some DJs coming over from Las Vegas, some from Montreal and that’s something that’s new. We’re also building a huge stage on which they will perform and then they’re going to be joined by live musicians.”

And so, after a half-decade of hiatus, Masquerave is set to make its return with an event that has a little something for everyone.

For more information and to purchase tickets head to www.bearfootbistro.com.

Masquerave will take place on Saturday (Nov. 12). Cornucopia runs tonight through Sunday (Nov. 10 to 13) with wine and food tastings, winemaker dinners, parties galore and much more throughout Whistler. For a full schedule of events and ticket information, visit www.whistlercornucopia.com.