Naples Winter Wine Festival hosts auction to raise millions for children

Reporter: Rachel Cox-Rosen Writer: Rachel Murphy
Published: Updated:
Auction begins for Naples Winter Wine Festival 2024 (CREDIT: WINK News)

Millions of dollars will be raised to help Collier County children as dozens of one-of-a-kind auction items go up for bid at one of the world’s most prestigious charity wine auctions.

The Naples Winter Wine Festival hosted the auction on Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón. The band was prepped and chefs from Ritz Carltons around the world prepared world-class food as patrons bid thousands.

The Naples Press will begin live coverage of the Naples Winter Wine Festival auction at 1 p.m. Jan. 27. Stay abreast of the winning bids at naplespress.com. 

One of the most popular auction lots was a Barbie-inspired 1966 Bronco.

A Barbie-inspired 1966 Bronco from the Naples Winter Wine Festival (CREDIT: WINK News)

There are a total of 50 lots being bid on Saturday. A lot goes for $410,000 on average. All of that goes to the Naples Children and Education Foundation (NCEF), and then to 60 local charities in Collier County.

READ MORE ON THE NAPLES WINTER WINE FESTIVAL

“The auction over 24 years has got a very deserved reputation for being huge, fun and doing a huge amount of good in the community and I think it’s fair to say the crowd here, they want to play up to that. They want to be a part of it,” said Humphrey Butler, the auctioneer of the festival.

The auction is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. NCEF hopes to raise millions, hopefully surpassing 2023’s total of $26 million raised.

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