‘World’s Largest Virtual Cheese Party’ Planned for Zoom Next Week

Update June 4, 2020: The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin have postponed the event in light of current events, but plan to reschedule later in the month.

While America is continuing to reopen from coronavirus closures, many people are still staying at home, living their lives largely online. So regardless of what your plans look like next Thursday, here’s a virtual event worth putting in your calendar: On June 4, in honor of National Cheese Day, Wisconsin Cheese is hosting the World’s Largest Virtual Cheese Party online.

The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin are encouraging anyone with a decent internet connection to take “a virtual Cheesecation to Wisconsin, the State of Cheese” at 8 p.m. ET via Zoom. “We'll have door prizes, special guests and so much more,” the invite explains. All you have to do is register for the event for free at Zoom’s website.

Wisconsin Cheese told me that the event—which is expected to last about 45 minutes to an hour—will include an opportunity to virtually “meet the makers,” with Wisconsin cheesemakers talking people through a tasting, trivia, giveaways, and “surprise” guests.

“We planned a big celebration in Chicago for National Cheese Day. When we realized plans had to change we seized the opportunity to host the largest virtual cheese party. We owed it to cheese lovers across the nation to make their cheese dreams come true,” Suzanne Fanning, CMO and senior vice president at Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin/Wisconsin Cheese, explained. “Wisconsin truly is the State of Cheese, so it’s only fitting that Wisconsin brings together award-winning cheesemakers and special guests for the largest virtual cheese party in honor of National Cheese Day."

I do, however, have a bad news/good news thing: Originally, Wisconsin Cheese was promoting the event by saying the first 500 people to sign-up would receive “a selection of Wisconsin cheeses from award winning makers.” Bad news: Those complimentary gift boxes are now gone.

But good news: That means plenty of people have already registered for the event—so surely Wisconsin Cheese is on target to make this the “largest” party of its kind. A spokesperson told me about 800 people have registered so far for the Zoom, which has a maximum capacity of 1,000 participants. (For the record, the search “largest virtual cheese party” currently returns no results on Google; apparently no one has yet claimed the title and set a standard for how big this cheese party must be to fulfill its stated goal.)

Meanwhile, added bonus, there is a consolation prize: “You could be one of ten guests who win cheese after the party!” the event now proclaims. Not that you need the lure of free cheese to go to a cheese party, but it doesn’t hurt!