August 12, 2024: Southern Delaware Wine, Food, & Music Festival Postponed to 2025 — Beloved founder, recovering from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, has setbacks to health
Monday Morning Magic from Inkandescent® PR + Publishing Co. — Hello Inkandescent family! We want to let you know that our dear friends at the Southern Delaware Wine, Food, & Music Festival have put a pause on the 9thAnnual Festival, originally slated for October 5, 2024. The new date will be announced for the spring of 2025.
The reason: Following her doctor’s guidance and with the full support of her Board of Directors and Event Committee, President and Festival founder Stacy LaMotta made the decision, citing an abundance of caution to allow her the needed time to recover from recent setbacks to her health caused by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
“When recent flare-ups significantly affected my everyday functioning, I was forced into an uncomfortable place,” Stacy explains. “While it brings me great sadness to postpone this year’s event, I am grateful to my Board, Event Committee, and all who are a part of this magnificent festival for rallying around me with understanding, compassion, and validation that my health and well-being are top priorities.”
Since 2015, LaMotta has used the Southern Delaware Wine, Food, & Music Festival as a platform to bring thousands of individuals together to celebrate the culinary excellence, brilliant artisans, and passionate community of Delaware’s beloved beach coast, raising over $250,000 to support area non-profits.
So, it should be no surprise that even during this personally challenging moment, she is focused on transforming the postponement of this year’s festival into a positive – using the opportunity to increase awareness of this rare genetic disease.
According to the National Institutes of Health, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a genetic condition that weakens connective tissues, affecting many body systems simultaneously. Symptoms vary based on the 13 subtypes of the disease but often include severe joint and muscle spasms that trigger dislocations, compromises in cognitive functioning and mental acuity, chronic debilitating fatigue and insomnia, and digestive distress with gastric reflux that leads to poor nutrient absorption.
Although EDS is often thought of as an invisible disease, flare-ups are excruciatingly painful and multi-faceted, and experts estimate that 1 in 5000 people have EDS. Yet, poor awareness often leads to misdiagnosis, incorrect or unnecessary treatment, or no treatment at all.
Speaking directly to the passion and purpose that led her to create the Southern Delaware Wine, Food, & Music Festival — helping the whole community grow stronger through understanding and connection – LaMotta’s emotions were raw, “I know what it feels like to struggle with this disease alone. It’s been incredibly hard not to feel as if the disease has taken one more thing away from me. But I’m choosing to believe that being open and honest still gives our community a valuable connection. That it will increase understanding of EDS and, more importantly, help others get the diagnoses, treatment, and support they need too.”
Plans for the postponed festival are already underway, and details about the 2025 date, participating vendors, and special features will be released in the coming months via the festival’s website, sodelfest.com. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date, and current ticket holders will receive more information via email as it becomes available.
In one final statement of gratitude, LaMotta shares: “The impacts of this decision on so many people are not lost on me. While it’s been heart-wrenching, the encouragement and understanding I’ve received have meant the world to me. This is more than a festival to me; it’s everything I am and everything I love. Knowing the community I have supported for all these years is now supporting me and giving me all the positive emotional energy I need to heal, focus on the future, and grow increasingly excited to celebrate with all of you in 2025!”
For the most up-to-date information on the 9th Annual Southern Delaware Wine, Food, & Music Festival, please visit www.sodelfest.com.
To learn more about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, visit: ehlers-danlos.com