The whole group of winners at BestieFest. (TR Laz)
Having been around for more than 15 years, Capital Region Living‘s Besties is the area’s longest running “best of” survey. It wasn’t until a few years ago that we sweetened the deal for winners of the coveted awards—not only would they get listed in the magazine, but they would also be invited to attend a dinner and awards ceremony exclusively for winners of first, second or third place. That was the birth of BestieFest, a tradition the CRL team looks forward to every year. After having to cancel last year’s BestieFest due to COVID-19, we were thrilled to welcome back dozens of winners of this year’s awards to The Century House on Tuesday, September 28.
The evening kicked off with a cocktail hour and food provided by The Century House. Guests networked with other Bestie winners, bid in a silent auction and snapped pics in The Music Man’s magic mirror photo booth (click through the gallery at the bottom of this page to see the images!). Photographer and Bestie winner TR Laz was also on hand to shoot candids and group shots around the party. After dinner, the awards program began, hosted by Chrissy Cavotta of WGNA’s Bestie-winning radio show “Brian & Chrissy in the Morning.” (Chrissy and Brian Cody, who couldn’t make it to BestieFest, were the stars of this year’s “People & Places” Bestie issue cover.) Chrissy announced the names of all the winners in attendance and presented them with commemorative plaques. While the plaques will serve as a great marketing tool for years to come, they’ll also as a reminder of all the fun that was had at the 2021 BestieFest.
