Drink the Pink, Media & People’s Choice Awards of the Cherry Blossom Festival

MACON, GA (April 3, 2024) — Visit Macon is proud to announce the winners of the ‘Drink the Pink’ contest and the ‘People’s Choice’ Awards! The contest was established as part of the Pink Provisions Trail, following the kick-off event of the Pink Provisions Party on opening day of the International Cherry Blossom Festival. After the kick-off party, patrons were encouraged to visit businesses on the Pink Provisions Trail to try all of the pink and Cherry Blossom-themed delights that were on sale for the span of the 10-day festival.

“During the kick-off party for the trail, we sold 9,275 tickets which is what patrons used to pay for delicious small samples of the food and drink items at the Pink Provisions Party!” explained Visit Macon’s Marketing & Event Manager Lucy Hughes. “It was a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the array of opening day activities, attract visitors, and to give a glimpse into the many Macon businesses and what they do to support Macon’s biggest event of the year! Our goal was to encourage visitors to return and get more of their favorites while in town and of course, create FOMO for everyone to want to try and experience it all! Lastly, to engage with Visit Macon and these businesses online, post and vote for their favorites!”

The first award, ‘Media’s Choice,’ was judged live at the Pink Provisions Preview Party by a group of local press and visiting travel writers engaged by Visit Macon and its PR efforts. Utilizing a ranking system of all offerings, the judges (from different outlets around the Nation) tried all of the offerings on a secret ballot. After all votes were tallied this award was given to the Cherry Cheesecake Bites by The Rookery!

The other three awards are considered the “People’s Choice.” Links & QR codes to vote were displayed at the Preview events, as well as, within each landing page within the “Tour Macon” Pink Provisions Trail app, on visitmacon.org and QR code signage distributed to participating businesses.

Winner of the People’s Choice award for our “Drink the Pink” alcoholic beverage category also goes to The Rookery for their Raspberry Lemonade! Following very closely in second place was Yoshi Pilsner from Fall Line Brewing Co. and third place went to Bearfoot Tavern’s Cherry Blossom Punch!

The winner of the People’s Choice “Drink the Pink” non-alcoholic beverages for the second year in a row goes to Hello Boba's Sakura Pink Petal Pop! Second place was Satterfields BBQ’s Cherry Limeade Drink, and in third place was Z Beans Coffee’s Iced Cherry Blossom Latte.

And, last but not least, the final award for the People’s Choice “Food” category goes to Layers’ Pink Dream Cake! Followed in second was The Rookery’s Cherry Cheesecake Bites, and in third place the Chicken Cherry Waffles by H&H Restaurant.

The Pink Provisions Trail was established last year and distributed via a free download available on the GooglePlay or Apple app stores within the Tour Macon app – Macon’s own collection of self guided tours and trails that will continue to grow. The Pink Provisions Trail highlighted all of the pink-themed food and drinks that businesses throughout all of Macon, beyond just the Downtown corridor.

Next year’s International Cherry Blossom Festival will be held March 21-30, 2025. Visit Macon is also pleased to announce the return of the 3rd annual Pink Provisions Trail and the Pink Provisions Preview Party which will again kick off the festival.

“We received an amazing response to our inaugural event! Local business owners of Macon shared with us how excited they were to be part of the overall festivities and how driving people to these items was felt throughout the entire 10 days… especially since it highlights those beyond the active festival locations of Carolyn Crayton Park and Downtown Macon,” said President & CEO of Visit Macon, Gary Wheat. “But, we especially love making sure that Macon, Georgia can fully show off to all of our amazing visitors during this time of year! It may start with all about the beautiful blooms, but we want visitors to return home and share stories that champion Macon and everything we are doing to be an attractive destination worth putting on your radar!”