TELLURIDE – Festival season is synonymous with summer in Telluride. The enchanting, near-weekly fêtes create a bustling environment that is distinctly Telluride. In its 27th year, next weekend’s Telluride Wine Festival is one of the town’s most illustrious festivals, thanks to its reputation as a casual, yet spectacular gathering of wine lovers of every caliber.

This year’s Wine Fest boasts an eye-popping – and mouth-watering – schedule, including edifying seminars guided by industry notables, intimate tastings with winemakers from just around the corner or around the world, cooking demonstrations led by culinary giants, as well as such beloved Telluride Wine Festival traditions the Toast of Telluride and Grand Tasting. Yet the essential Wine Fest experience is perhaps best described not by the scheduled events, but instead by the people who know the festival most intimately.

Like all of Telluride’s summer festivals, the Wine Festival is the progeny of a mini-community’s efforts, and it is the members of that army of volunteers and festival employees who understand the essence of Wine Fest best.

Alexandra and Paul Dujardin have been volunteers at Wine Fest for a decade. What keeps this couple returning to their stations year after year is simple; explains Paul Dujardin, “It’s a great time, with great people and great wines, during the perfect time of year. We happen to be wine lovers, so that helps!”

The highlight of Paul Dujardin’s Wine Festival experience is the cooking demonstrations. “You get to learn some new information, drink good wine – and eat great food. What could be better?”

This year marks local Andrew Wynn’s fourth consecutive summer playing a behind-the-scenes role at Telluride’s Wine Festival. Choosing a favorite Wine Fest event is difficult for Wynn, since he’s a lover of them all. “The seminars are the most enriching; the Toast is the most fun; the Grand – well, that’s such a big part of Wine Fest,” he says. Wynn says the soul of the weekend actually lies in its objective of bringing together every dimension of wine. “Everyone is unified in their love of wine and the culture surrounding it. From the distributors to the wine makers to the festival-goers, they’re all part of the tradition,” he says.

First-time Wine Festival volunteer Darnell Ellison says he didn’t hesitate offering whatever time he could spare to working as a volunteer for Wine Fest. “It’s been a wonderful experience, I’ve already learned many more things about wine that I didn’t know anything about before,” he says. Ellison is eager to check out Friday night’s Scotch and Cigar Tasting.

Eileen Andrews, who has been a member of the Wine Fest family for six years, says that while the festival boasts a dazzling lineup, the real magic lies in its ambiance. People are enamored with this festival, she says, because it offers an incredible setting to sit back with a good glass of wine and soak in summertime Telluride. “It’s one of the greatest venues in the world for sharing wine,” Andrews says.

Tickets are still available for Telluride Wine Festival 2008; visit www.telluridewinefestival.com for more information or to see a complete schedule of next weekend’s events.