10th Annual Celebration Exotic Car Festival 2013 – Food & Wine event at Portofino Hotel – Saturday April 13

UPDATE: Tickets GIVEAWAY!!
ONE pair of “regular registration” tickets is available to go to one very lucky reader randomly selected, including access to the Celebration Exotic Car Festival’s Portofino Food and Wine Party on Saturday April 13, 2013 at 7pm, with all you can eat food and wine during the event, amidst beautiful exotic cars and live entertainment (total value $250).

The ticket giveaway competition ends on Wednesday April 10, 2013 at 9pm.

Details are at the bottom of the post!

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CELEBRATION EXOTIC CAR FESTIVAL MARKS 10 YEARS – APRIL 11-14 2013

The 10th Annual Celebration Exotic Car Festival, benefitting children’s charities, will be held April 11-14, 2013. This four-day world-class event was named “One of the 5 Best Exotic Car Shows in the World” by Made Man magazine, ranking with other events in Paris, Geneva and Monte Carlo. 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of the event, which started in downtown Celebration in 2004.

The Festival is organized by a small team of dedicated volunteers of Celebration and other local residents. Through the efforts of the event, over $800,000 has been donated to children’s charities, including Make-a-Wish, Special Olympics and Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital. Organizers hope that number will top $1 million this year.

The weekend will start on Thursday, April 11th with two track days and Ferrari races at the world famous Daytona International Speedway. More than 100 of the exotic cars and race cars will be running at full speed on the 3.6 mile Daytona Rolex 24 circuit. The event also hosts the CCR Ferrari Race Series, with owner-drivers of Ferrari Challenge race cars competing for individual and team trophies.

The Festival moves to Celebration on Friday evening, with the Concours of Exotic Cars taking place on Saturday, April 13. More than 250 exotic cars, race cars and Hollywood movie cars will be lined up along Celebration’s picturesque lakefront downtown center. The world-class show was attended by nearly 40,000 spectators in 2012. Cars from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Bugatti, McLaren, Lotus, DeLorean, Pantera, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Spyker and many others will be displayed. Admission is free for spectators.

Special cars scheduled to be shown at this year’s event will include the Back to the Future DeLorean and the original Batmobile, as well as Ralph Malph’s hot rod from the television show Happy Days. Fans of the movie Dumb and Dumber will get the chance to see the original “Mutt Cutts” van alongside the Lamborghini Diablo from the film. Other movie cars, including the Cannonball Run Lamborghini Countach, the Star Wars Land Speeder, the Plymouth Fury from the Stephen King film Christine, and Herbie will be on display along with a few other surprises.

Saturday evening, April 13 will be the Festival’s annual Food & Wine at Portofino. This high-energy event has been described as the “party of the year,” and is held harborside at the stunning Loew’s Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. A virtual duplication of the beautiful seaside town of Portofino, Italy, this idyllic waterfront setting is the perfect location for guests to enjoy fine wines and incredible cuisine. More than 50 restaurants, renowned celebrity chefs and wineries join to create what Scott Joseph of the Orlando Restaurant Guide called a “Star-Studded Culinary Event.” The evening also features a display of exotic cars, live music and performance artists, as well as silent and live charity auctions.

Celebrity chefs from the Bravo television show Top Chef, including Kevin Sbraga and Kenny Gilbert, will be on hand to prepare their most famous dishes. The chefs will also be joined by Hell’s Kitchen finalist Dana Cohen.

Last year, the event had chefs like James Beard award nominated Chef Kevin Fonzo of College Park’s K Restaurant, serving a wonderful pork belly dish with a homemade bacon marmalade and fresh tomato jam…yes it is was good as it sounds, and probably my favorite dish there. John Rivers of 4Rivers Smokehouse was also on deck serving up his rendition of a spicy gumbo and the oysters “texasfeller” a twist on the oyster rockefeller.

The Food & Wine party attracts guests from all over the country and has been attended by numerous Hollywood and sports celebrities over the years. Tickets for this must-attend event are also available on the Festival’s website.

The event continues on Sunday, April 14, with the annual Exotic Car Road Rally. Departing Celebration under police escort, more than 100 exotic cars will compete in this fun and competitive rally, which will conclude back in Celebration for an awards lunch at cafe D’Antonios on Sunday afternoon.

Visit www.celebrationexoticcars.com for registration and ticket information.

Photos from last year’s event:

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Giveaway Contest Details:

How to Enter:

1. Comment below (make sure to use your e-mail in the login) and tell us: What are you looking forward to the most at the Celebration Exotic Car Festival if you win?

The ticket giveaway competition ends on Wednesday April 10, 2013 at 9pm.

One random winner will be chosen for two tickets!