The 5th Annual Visit Winona Tourism Awards gave residents and visitors alike an opportunity to tell us what you think the shining stars are in our community. Voting was on two awards: the People’s Choice Award and the Hidden Gem Award. Winners will be announced at Visit Winona’s Annual Tourism Celebration on May 21. Details and an RSVP form for that event can be found HERE. It’s FREE, it’s open to everybody, it has awesome free hors d’oeuvres and a VERY cool gift for attendees who RSVP – a free limited-edition T-shirt! Plus it’s fun. Trust us – you want to be there. 

Here are descriptions of the award categories:

People’s Choice Award

This award is for businesses, attractions or events that help draw people to the community and make Winona such an amazing place to live and visit. The winner could be a business, a festival, a natural attraction — something that is well known to tourists and locals alike, is likely to bring people to Winona, and serves a significant number of visitors to the community along with residents.

Hidden Gem Award

Every community has places beloved by locals, be they small festivals, off-the-beaten-path restaurants or bars, architectural attractions, or small businesses that locals love but a visitor might only discover during a visit here. The Hidden Gem Award will honor one of the area’s beloved gems that help to make Winona a wonderful place to live and visit. 

Voting closed on May 12, and Winners will be announced on Tuesday evening, May 21. Please use the link above to view event information and RSVP.