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Crave cancels for 2020, looking ahead to 2021

Chefs Emily Crawford, Aaron Fish and Adam Hegsted pose for a photo before the Crave Food and Drink Celebration dinner in Seattle on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. (Don Chareunsy / The Spokesman-Review)
Chefs Emily Crawford, Aaron Fish and Adam Hegsted pose for a photo before the Crave Food and Drink Celebration dinner in Seattle on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. (Don Chareunsy / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Don Chareunsy donc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5446

The fourth-annual Crave Food and Drink Celebration scheduled for July 15-19 at CenterPlace Regional Event Center in Spokane Valley has been canceled.

“The COVID-19 crisis makes it impossible to schedule and coordinate the many moving parts of this great event. There are not enough words to describe the extraordinary challenges for the culinary and associated industries at this time,” Adam Hegsted, Crave’s artistic director, said in a news release.

“We feel that it is more important than ever to help meet the needs of those we know are impacted during this time: culinary industry employees and their families who have been laid off.”

Crave’s cancellation is related to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and future for chefs, restaurants and the supporting culinary industries. Next year’s Crave has been scheduled for July 15-18 at CenterPlace.

“We are all so disappointed about canceling Crave this year and most of all concerned about our chef and culinary partners during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Karen Stebbins of Crave and Vision Marketing on Monday. “Last year, there was such a huge lift in the evolution of Crave, and we were feeling so much momentum going into this year’s event.”

Crave ticketholders have been emailed three options: Roll over tickets to 2021’s Crave; a refund; or donate the Crave ticket purchase amount to Food Fighters Spokane as a 100% tax-deductible donation.

For all ticket actions, donations, rollover and refunds, email tickets@cravenw.com. For other questions, contact the office at info@jaktfoundation.org and (509) 621-0125.

“The city understands the difficult decision JAKT made in canceling Crave this year and know it’s for the best reason possible: people’s health and safety,” Spokane Valley Mayor Ben Wick said in a news release.

“I’m encouraged that JAKT is planning to bring Crave back to our community and look forward to its return when the time is right.”

Crave is a celebration of Inland Northwest chefs and tastemakers founded by James Beard Award-nominated chef and entrepreneur Hegsted and Spokane nonprofit JAKT Foundation.

Crave features everything from seafood and ranch-raised meats to farm-to-table produce from local, regional and national vendors. The Spokesman-Review was a sponsor of Crave for the first time in 2019, the festival’s third year.

“We are already working toward coming back next year with even more exciting events over the four-day festival,” Stebbins said. “Look for chef collaborations, fun event twists and additional locations with all the culinary excellence from our local, regional and national chefs and culinary partners.”

“I am saddened about what COVID-19 has done to our community, our economy, my peers and the people around the world,” Hegsted said on Monday. “I also have been lifted by the same things and how we all have come together to help each other.

“We will heal, things will keep moving forward eventually, and we will hopefully be better as a people because of these trying times. We will bring Crave back next year as a show of how strong our hospitality community is and put our best foot forward once again for the Inland Northwest.”