Following last year’s successful relaunch, the Music City Food & Wine Festival will return to Centennial Park April 24 to 26, brought to you by FW Publishing Events — the events team at Scene parent company FW Publishing. The festival itself follows a series of special Intimate Dinners at local restaurants, but the events in the park will serve as the main attraction.
One notable change for this year’s festival: the decision to move the Nashville Scene’s annual Iron Fork competition to the fall, allowing that chef showdown to command its own spotlight later this year.
This weekend’s festivities in the park begin with a raucous new kickoff on Friday night, April 24: the Southern Fried Hootenanny. Presented by Waldo’s Chicken & Beer, the evening will feature unlimited tastings from more than 45 local restaurants, plus the return of the popular Waldo’s Chicken & Chefs Experience, where founder Mark Waldo will join several of his chef friends in dishing out Southern snacks for all to enjoy.
The Whiskey & Beer Garden will pour local and regional favorites, while Corkdorks Nashville hosts wine tastings and seminars in their tent. Thanks to Carter Vintage Guitars, attendees will enjoy live music all night, with performers straight from the stage of beloved honky-tonk Robert’s Western World — honky-tonk stalwarts Jesselee Jones and Brazilbilly will take to the stage at 6:30 p.m. followed by headliner Hannah Dasher.
The Grand Tasting will take place in the park from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday night, April 25. More than 100 local restaurants and beverage brands will sample their wares under the tasting tents, and guests will vote to select the Best Bite of the Night at the end of the tasting. There will be more wine seminars plus chef demos and the return of the Mixology Competition to crown the best behind the bar.
Sunday kicks off with the Big Gay Brunch, where some of Nashville’s most entertaining brunch spots will show their pride with special food and drink menus and over-the-top entertainment. On the festival grounds, Big Bad Breakfast will serve up a bottomless buffet of Southern-fried goodness as part of a Gospel Brunch from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. This is the only ticketed event on Sunday, because everyone is invited to attend the family-friendly Food Faire where more than 50 local artisan food vendors will sample and sell their products from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The day will also feature chef demos and live music on the Main Stage.
