Some events ask you to come for the wine. Clink & Sip feels more like an invitation to come for the wine, stay for the people and leave having discovered something you did not know you needed.
On Sunday, Sept. 20, the festival returns to Morgan MFG, 401 N. Morgan St., from 3 to 8 p.m. for its fifth anniversary, bringing together wine and spirit makers, food, music, vendors and a crowd that knows a tasting glass can also be a conversation starter. Organizers say last year’s festival drew more than 1,185 guests and more than 40 makers.
For Chicago News Weekly readers, Joyce Dawkins and Chrishon Lampley are familiar faces. Last September, they shared the cover in “The Clink Effect,” a story about two women whose one-meeting alignment grew into a festival centered on access, celebration and visibility for underrepresented makers.
A year later, the energy is still there, but the picture is fuller. “It’s surreal still, it’s exciting, and we have a long way to go,” Lampley said, reflecting on the fifth-year milestone and what still needs to be built.
That “long way to go” is part of what gives Clink & Sip its texture. The room may look like a party, but behind the glasses, music and beautifully dressed guests is a platform designed to give women and BIPOC makers access to consumers, buyers, media and one another.
“The whole purpose of Clink and Sip is getting women and BIPOC makers and vendors a platform that they would not normally have,” Lampley said. That platform also comes without a participation fee for makers, one less expense in an industry where travel, staffing, inventory and festival costs can add up quickly.
Dawkins said the intent has always been clear: bring the product, bring the story and use the room. “We create a space for them that doesn’t cost them to participate in this space and then get introduced to thousands of people,” she said.
Sometimes, those introductions become something tangible. Lampley and Dawkins said brands have sold through product, met bar and restaurant buyers, received media exposure and secured retail opportunities, including placement at Mariano’s, while also learning from other makers building brands bottle by bottle.
The festival itself has grown with its audience. Lampley said Clink & Sip has moved into larger venues twice because demand required it, and Dawkins described that growth simply: “Our elevation is simply from what the supply and demand was.”
That growth has not happened without help, and the founders are not pretending otherwise. Dawkins and Lampley remain the administrative leads, but they are supported by a volunteer team whose members are balancing Clink & Sip with their own nine-to-fives and responsibilities.
Even with that support, much of the planning, pitching and decision-making still comes back to the founders. Dawkins said one of the harder parts has been getting larger companies to see Clink & Sip with the same seriousness they bring to more established wine and spirits events.
“What people see on the surface is us smiling, is us being invited to news stations, is us having this festival,” Dawkins said. Behind that surface, she added, are sponsorship decks, follow-up emails and outreach that sometimes receives no response.
Now, the women are looking beyond one Sunday through the Sip and Empower Foundation, a 501(c)(3) designed to support makers throughout the year. Lampley said the foundation hopes to fund grants that can help with compliance, production, professional education and the costs of participating in industry opportunities.
Still, Clink & Sip is allowed to be fun, and that may be part of its magic. Guests come to sip, shop, network, take pictures, hear music and discover brands they may later look for on a store shelf or order at dinner.
For Dawkins and Lampley, year five also comes with a personal goal: actually seeing the festival they created. In past years, both women said they were so busy working that some of their favorite details were discovered later through photos and videos.
This year, they are trying to be more intentional about walking the room, hearing the music and taking in the result before the day gets away from them. After five years of making space for other people to be seen, there is something fitting about the women behind Clink & Sip finally giving themselves a moment to look around, raise a glass and enjoy what they built.