The community voted throughout the month of November in the Bay of Quinte’s 5th annual Best of the Bay campaign, and the votes have officially been tallied.
Over 1,700 voters helped to shape the winners in 274 categories across the communities of Belleville, Brighton, Greater Napanee, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and Quinte West. The results are now live at BayofQuinte.ca/BestoftheBay.
Organized by the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board each year, Best of the Bay sets out to celebrate the region’s local small businesses, spaces and events, with categories like Best Restaurant, Best Spa, Best Golf Course, and Best Park.
New this year, votes were cast by individual community instead of regionally to highlight more businesses in each of the Bay of Quinte communities. Now, Belleville, Brighton, Greater Napanee, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and Quinte West all have their own set of Best of the Bay winners, which in turn means more businesses will be recognized.
“It’s been really fun to see all the new winners across our region,” said Anna Fraiberg, Bay of Quinte RMB’s Content and Communications Manager. “For the last four years, the majority of the winners were in Belleville and Quinte West because those communities have the largest populations, so there are just more people voting there. We’re excited to be able to shine a light on more businesses and attractions in Brighton, Greater Napanee and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory now. There are so many amazing things across the BoQ that are worth visiting!”
Some businesses have now hit the exciting landmark of becoming 5-time winners. These include:
● Tomasso’s Italian Grille
● Burger Revolution
● The Boathouse Seafood Restaurant
● Wannamaker’s Bakeshop
● Vivacious Clothing and Day Spa
● Lafferty’s Menswear
Winning businesses will be awarded a physical and digital Best of the Bay decal to display in their storefront windows and online, along with bragging rights for being named the Best of the Bay by the community.
All voters were entered into a draw to win a $100 gift card to their choice of Best of the Bay winning locations. The lucky winners include Paul Jennings, Sue Scott, Kim Vansteen, Hailey Robson and David Francis. They will be contacted directly by the Bay of Quinte RMB. For more information and to discover all of the winners, visit BayofQuinte.ca/BestoftheBay.
