USA TODAY NETWORK Announces 2018 Wine & Food Experience Tour Featuring Martha Stewart

12-City tour includes New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles

USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co., Inc. GCI, which comprises USA TODAY and 109 local media brands including The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star, announces year two of the Wine & Food Experience event series with Martha Stewart and The Martha Stewart Experience brand showcase, beginning Saturday, June 16 in Cincinnati.

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Additional Wine & Food Experience cities are New York, Sept. 8; Detroit, Sept. 15; Milwaukee, Sept. 22; Indianapolis, Sept. 29; Las Vegas, Oct. 13; Louisville, Oct. 20; Naples, Fla., Oct. 27; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Nov. 3 & 4; Ventura County, Nov. 10; Chicago, Nov. 17; and Los Angeles, Dec. 1.

"Across the nation, we have first-hand experience bringing together culinary fans with the best epicurean artisans of today," said Andy Yost, chief marketing officer, USA TODAY NETWORK. "Not only do we bring together fans with culinary experts, but these experiences serve as important venues to engage consumers with our valued sponsor brands. From our Grand Tasting experience to our partnership with Martha Stewart, we are bringing forward terrific wine and food experts to create memorable experiences for all."

Stewart makes special guest appearances in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Similar to 2017, Stewart will present cooking demonstrations, meet guests, sign books and more. In nine of the 12 cities on the tour, The Martha Stewart Experience is an important part of the day's festivities and serves as the event entry gateway, a transformative tented space with the lifestyle leader's books, kitchen gear, tabletop vignettes and more, presented in an engaging, highly branded style for guests to explore and discover.

Renowned chefs such as Bravo TV's Top Chef star, Graham Elliot, and Food Network TV's Chopped regular, Scott Conant, among others, will also be special guest chefs during the 2018 Wine & Food Experience tour.

Wine & Food Experience is unique because of its links to the robust local-to-national reach of USA TODAY NETWORK's more than 120 million unique monthly consumers.

A national Wine & Food Experience promotional campaign kicks off in April across the country.

Central to each Wine & Food Experience is the Grand Tasting, a vast food and drink tasting experience with chefs, gourmet personalities and restaurateurs in highly branded booth settings where guests can get up close and personal with culinary personalities while sipping wine, craft beer and spirits and enjoying special recipes. Grand Tasting experiences also include cooking demonstrations, tasting seminars and celebrity special guest chefs Martha Stewart, Graham Elliot and others to be announced.

R Entertainment of Scottsdale, Ariz., which co-developed and produced Scottsdale-based azcentral Wine & Food Experience with azcentral beginning in 2015, produces the series in conjunction with USA TODAY NETWORK.

For those interested in sponsorship or participation opportunities, contact Craig Kaplan, ckaplan@usatoday.com or Mike O'Donnell, mikeod@r-entertainment.com.

About USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co, Inc. GCI, is the largest local-to-national media organization in the country, powered by our award-winning newsrooms and marketing solutions business. With deep roots in local communities spanning the U.S. with more than 100 brands, plus USA TODAY, we engage more than 110 million people every month through a diverse portfolio of multi-platform content offerings and experiences. For more information, visit www.gannett.com.

About Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart is an Emmy Award-winning television show host, entrepreneur, bestselling author of 90 books, and America's most trusted lifestyle expert and teacher reaching 100 million consumers monthly across media and merchandising platforms. Her myriad products for everyday living – from cooking to crafting to healthy living, even pet care -- are found in more than 70 million households with a growing retail presence in thousands of locations. In 2015, Martha merged her company with Sequential Brands Group, Inc. SQBG, and today serves as Chief Creative Officer and a Member of the Board. Sequential, a global brand management company with a portfolio of renowned consumer names, generates more than $4 billion annually in global retail sales. Visit MarthaStewart.com and SequentialBrandsGroup.com

About Sequential Brands Group, Inc.

Sequential Brands Group, Inc. SQBG owns, promotes, markets, and licenses a portfolio of consumer brands in the fashion, active, and home categories, which includes the Martha Stewart media and merchandising properties. Sequential seeks to ensure that its brands continue to thrive and grow by employing strong brand management, design and marketing teams. Sequential has licensed and intends to license its brands in a variety of consumer categories to retailers, wholesalers and distributors in the United States and around the world. For more information, please visit Sequential's website at: www.sequentialbrandsgroup.com. To inquire about licensing opportunities, please email: newbusiness@sbg-ny.com.

About R Entertainment

R Entertainment is an experiential marketing and business development company, producing 200 dates a year, such as the USA TODAY NETWORK Wine & Food Experience, Kentucky Derby Fillies & Lilies Party, Final Four Sponsors Ball, National Taco Tour, Super Bowl events, PGA Waste Management Phoenix Open, Arizona Diamondbacks Evening on the Diamond, The Good Life Festivals by Shea Homes, among others. R Entertainment also books concert entertainment nationwide. Visit R-Entertainment.com.

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