After Takeover Feud, Nantucket Wine Festival Announces New Venue For 2025

After a tumultuous, hostile takeover attempt over the summer that left its future in limbo, the Nantucket Wine Festival this week announced its return in 2025 at a new venue.

Despite a partial settlement reached last week with the White Elephant in the pending legal dispute, the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival won't be returning to the famed hotel in 2025.

Instead, festival owner Nancy Bean announced Thursday that the event would be hosted by Bartlett's Farm as the primary venue for the 2025 edition. The date was set for May 14 - 18.

"Bartlett's Farm represents everything we love about Nantucket - the preservation of tradition, the celebration of our island's agricultural roots, and the constant evolution that keeps our community vibrant," Bean said. "The farm's natural beauty and rich history provide the perfect canvas for creating an extraordinary festival experience."

The dispute over the festival was sparked back in June by an alleged hostile takeover attempt by Gordon’s Fine Wines & Liquor, a Boston-based distributor and retailer. The maneuver prompted Bean to file a federal lawsuit against Gordon's and The White Elephant Hotel, but the latest filing in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts indicates the dispute may be headed toward a resolution.

Earlier this month, Bean reached a settlement with The White Elephant in which the hotel has agreed to not conduct any event with Gordon's or any wine festival in May 2025 or May 2026, according to the documents filed with the court. The claims against the hotel have since been dismissed.

But that did not result in Bean's festival returning to the hotel.

"The festival, which traditionally draws over 4,000 attendees annually, recently reached a settlement agreement with White Elephant Hotel," Bean stated. "Our focus remains firmly on moving this annual celebration forward and making up for lost pre-festival production time. The overwhelming support we've received from our community and industry partners has been instrumental."

Bean's complaint against Gordon's, however, remains pending, and the settlement document indicates she may file amended claims against the company "because of their broader and more deliberate activities targeting the plaintiffs dating back to 2023," Bean's attorneys wrote in the notice of the partial settlement.

Bean's remaining claims against Gordon’s include false and misleading advertising, unfair and deceptive trade practices, trademark dilution, breach of contract, tortious interference, and conspiracy.

“What has become clear is that the Gordon Parties did not intend to enter into a genuine partnership with the Nantucket Wine & Food Parties, but rather to take control of the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival and to do so without paying fair value,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, the Gordon Parties have engaged in a campaign of false and misleading advertising and promotions, after gaining access to proprietary and confidential financial information for other purposes, to exploit years of Bean’s hard work and success and claim the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival as their own.”

Gordon’s Fine Wine initially claimed that it had purchased the Nantucket Wine and Food Festival but later retracted that statement and clarified that it was producing a new event entirely.

The Nantucket Wine Festival was founded in 1996 by Denis Toner, a longtime Nantucket seasonal resident. Bean began her tenure with event in 2007 when she was hired by Toner to become the director of operations. Then, in 2012, Toner sold the festival to Bean and her then-business partner, Mark Goldweitz. Since then, Bean has become the sole owner of the festival - acquiring it for approximately $1 million, according to the lawsuit - and rebranded it as the Nantucket Wine and Food Festival.