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The annual World Wine & Food Expo in Moncton this weekend is the jewel of all Moncton's festivals, having begun modestly 19 years ago with an inaugural event that was an instant success. Since then, the organizers -- private citizens who took it upon themselves to promote their own enthusiasm for wines -- have seen it grow year-after-year, drawing thousands of people.

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The festival is now an important annual cultural event during which citizens have the opportunity to learn about different wines and related products, learn how to judge what wines go with what occasions and meals, and obtain an opportunity to taste test various new wines or wines not usually available in this area. And with the co-operation of NB Liquor, visitors and residents also have an unprecedented chance each year to buy wines not always available in the province.

Just as importantly, the organizers have built on their Maritime roots, keeping the event open and accessible to all, wine novices and connoisseurs alike, warmly welcoming everyone who shows up. It is the antithesis of snobbish, and that in itself explains much of its popularity.

The festival is also now putting Metro Moncton squarely on the world map. It is attracting wine experts from around the world and they invariably leave impressed and ready to spread the word. As with other large events, this provides word of mouth advertising our area could never afford to buy. It can also often lead to new business opportunities as visitors and locals mingle, talk and discover mutually beneficial possibilities. These things do not happen overnight nor are they guaranteed, but there would not even be the potential without the festival.

There are, of course, also direct economic benefits to Metro Moncton and the province from the World Wine & Food Expo. Every year NB Liquor virtually sells out its offerings: more than 40,000 bottles of wine this year. That alone is a massive tax and revenue infusion for the province.

But there are the hotel rooms, meals (and wine, of course) in restaurants, and all the other attendant economic spin-offs of such a major event and influx of visitors. It adds up to millions. And the organizers pull the event off every year with class and a minimum of hitches.

It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of the event as well as the positive experience of participating.