Atlanta Food and Wine Festival returns and a new food festival debuts

The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival returns in September with a mix of in-person events and virtual sessions. Handout

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival returns in September with a mix of in-person events and virtual sessions. Handout

After going mostly virtual last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival -- and its popular tasting tents -- is back in person this year.

The festival will run from Sept. 9-12, with the tents, featuring food and drinks from chefs and mixologists from around the Southeast, returning to Historic Fourth Ward Park Sept. 11-12.

The tents will feature wine pop-up stations, a cocktail garden, live music and a food and beverage pairing area. Classes and other events will be featured throughout the weekend; a full list of events for the weekend will be released in the coming weeks.

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival will partner with Second Helpings Atlanta to collect extra food from event to donate to hunger relief agencies. In addition, a portion of festival proceeds will benefit Children of Conservation, an organization that focuses on the conservation of endangered species.

Tent tickets are now on sale with early bird pricing available until July 23.

This will mark the 11th year for the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, which was started by Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter and is now owned and operated by events and marketing company Agency 21.

The Epicurean Theater at Epicurean Atlanta hotel. / Courtesy of Epicurean Atlanta

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Gather ‘Round Festival

Food and drink fans will have another food festival to check out this fall by way of the inaugural Gather ‘Round fest, which bills itself as “a celebration of Southern food, drink, music and art.”

Running from Oct. 14-17, the fest will be curated and produced by Southern Culinary & Creative and hosted by the forthcoming Midtown hotel Epicurean Atlanta. Elizabeth Feichter, co-founder of Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, is a partner in Southern Culinary & Creative.

Epicurean Atlanta executive chef Ewart Wardhaugh will collaborate with talent from the hotel’s sister properties for the weekend including the team from Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, Florida.

The weekend’s lineup will also include chefs from around the Southeast. Participating Atlanta chefs and mixologists include Justin and Jonathan Fox of Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q; Tiffanie Barriere, also known as the Drinking Coach; Miles Macquarrie of Watchman’s and Kimball House; Claudia Martinez of Miller Union; Craig Richards of Lyla Lila; and Maricela Vega of Chicomecoatl.

Gather ‘Round will feature four signature events throughout the weekend, including Tomorrow’s Table, which will present dishes, cocktails and paired wines and artistic performances and installations curated by the Hambidge Creative Arts Center and Punch Brunch, a seated brunch service that will offer savory and sweet dishes paired with musical performances and pastry bites from participating chefs.

In addition, the Local Palate will present Epicurean Theater Master Classes, a series of five interactive seminars on topics including sustainability in food and the iconic dishes of Buford Highway.

Take Cover, a collaborative dinner series, will see participating chefs gather in Atlanta restaurants to create mutli-course meals with beverage pairings. Planned collaborations include a Southern-Asian dinner from Justin and Jonathan Fox and visiting chefs Ming Pu and Shuai Wang and a European dinner from Craig Richards, Rocket Farms Restaurants director of pastry Chrysta Poulos and recent “Top Chef” participant Brittanny Anderson.

Tickets are now on sale for Gather ‘Round festival. Epicurean Atlanta is offering weekend rates during the event. Gather ‘round weekend rates are also available at Epicurean Atlanta and can be reserved here. For a full list of Gather ‘round talent, please follow the link here.

Local nonprofit Giving Kitchen will be a beneficiary of Gather ‘Round.

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