Southwest Airlines Is the Official Airline of Live In The Vineyard

DALLAS, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pop a cork! Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is thrilled to announce its continued partnership as the Official Airline Sponsor of Live In The Vineyard.  The event takes place twice a year, marrying people's access to recording artists, top tier wine makers, and world-renowned chefs during an exclusive winner-only experience in Napa Valley.

Southwest provides Live In The Vineyard contest winners with roundtrip airfare to and from the Bay Area for the three-day event, which runs April 12-15 (and again in the fall).  The event showcases a series of acoustic performances from some of today's top artists; April's event will include Jason Mraz, Mat Kearney, and Richard Marx, to name a few.

To give a taste of Live In The Vineyard to Southwest Customers, the airline introduced the official Live In The Vineyard decaled Boeing 737 airplane to serve as a venue for surprise, inflight Live In The Vineyard-related experiences.  During the airline's 2011 sponsorship, Live In The Vineyard hosted surprise Inflight Concerts with recording artists SafetySuit, Mat Kearney, and Green River Ordinance, each performing to a sold out crowd at 35,000 feet in the air!  A series of Inflight Concerts are planned to 'pop up' over the next month leading up to the April event in Napa.

"We're always looking for opportunities to engage the Southwest brand in creative ways," said Southwest Airlines Vice President Communication and Strategic Outreach Linda Rutherford.  "This partnership provides our Customers with a unique experience combining the element of surprise with people's passion for music—all onboard a Southwest jet!"

"Live In The Vineyard is thrilled to renew and expand on our incredible partnership with Southwest Airlines, creating more innovative ways to bring music, food, and wine to their Customers," said Live In The Vineyard Cofounders Bobbii Jacobs and Claire Parr.  "Southwest's Culture, Customer Service, and commitment to excellence are what attracted us to them.  We love the spontaneous ideas that we create to integrate our partner artists, chefs, and winemakers.  It's a natural fit."

Southwest also is sharing its LUV for music through its Live In The Vineyard Getaway Sweepstakes.  Enter for a chance to win two roundtrip tickets on Southwest Airlines, two VIP tickets to Live In The Vineyard, a three-night hotel stay in Napa Valley, and transportation to all VIP events.  Visit www.southwest.com/liveinthevineyard for more information.

About Southwest Airlines Co.

Now in its 39th consecutive year of profitability, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and has acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 73 cities in 38 states and remains one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has more than 37,000 Employees.

Live In The Vineyard

Live In The Vineyard marries peoples' access to recording artists, top tier wine makers, and world- renowned chefs during an "once-in-a-lifetime" event.  The three-day event consists of a series of private and exclusive "winner" only acoustic concerts from some of today's hottest pop superstars and emerging artists (i.e. Jason Mraz, Train, Lenny Kravitz, Daughtry, Sarah McLachlan, etc.), 56 winery partners, and multiple celebrity Napa and nationally known chefs.

These vineyard events take place in the foothills of California's famed wine country – Napa Valley, and include lodging from some of Napa's finest resorts, tours, and private tastings with the most revered vintners, exquisite foods, and intimate concerts unmatched by any other public show.  All of our attendees have a chance to meet and talk with our participating artists, chefs, and wineries for a total immersion in music, wine, and food!  Dates for 2012 are April 12-15 and Nov 1-5, 2012.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines