Chefs and team at the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival | Image credit: @islandbag, via @406_bbq / Instagram
The best reason to build a weekend around a food festival is the chance to try something that belongs to that place: lobster beside a Maine harbor, cheese curds in western Wisconsin, or Lexington-style barbecue on a North Carolina street. A chef-led tasting weekend can be just as rewarding, but it asks for a different budget and a more deliberate ticket plan.
These 21 USA food festivals offer several kinds of trip, from free-entry street celebrations to separately ticketed dinners and theme-park tasting trails. They are choices to compare, rather than a ranking or a single road-trip route. Pick one that fits how you like to eat, then leave the rest of the weekend for the surrounding town.
Dates and planning details checked October 21, 2026. Confirmed upcoming dates are labeled below. Where organizers have not published the next edition’s dates, the previous edition is identified as past rather than presented as bookable. Images include earlier festival scenes, dishes and clearly labeled promotional or illustrative photographs; future vendors, menus and appearances can change.
First, choose the kind of festival weekend you want
| Your priority | Good starting choices | Budget distinction |
|---|---|---|
| A regional specialty | Maine Lobster, Cheese Curd, Gilroy Garlic, National Cornbread | Check admission separately from food and special tastings |
| Chef demonstrations and organized tastings | South Beach, Charleston, Aspen, NOWFE, NYCWFF | A ticket may cover one session or dinner, not the whole festival |
| A flexible street-food outing | Taste of Chicago, Picklesburgh, Lexington Barbecue | Free entry does not mean free meals |
| Seafood and a coastal break | Maine Lobster, Dungeness Crab, National Shrimp | Budget for the meal, parking and any separately sold activities |
| Several possible travel weekends | Florida Strawberry, National Cherry, EPCOT Food & Wine | Check the specific day’s program and admission rules |
Which dates can you plan around?
Use this calendar to narrow your travel window, then check the individual festival’s ticket release and program. A confirmed date is not a guarantee that tickets remain available.
| Travel window | Confirmed choices |
|---|---|
| Still ahead in 2026 | Hawaii: Maui October 23–25 and O‘ahu November 5–8; Lexington October 24; Oak Street Po-Boy November 8; EPCOT through November 21 |
| February–May 2027 | South Beach February 25–28; Charleston March 3–7; Florida Strawberry March 4–14; Cornbread April 24–25; Memphis May 12–15 |
| June–August 2027 | NOWFE June 9–13; Aspen June 18–20; Cheese Curd June 25–26; Cherry July 3–10; Gilroy July 23–25; Maine Lobster August 4–8 |
| October 2027 | National Shrimp October 7–10; Dungeness Crab October 8–10; NYCWFF October 14–17 |
| Wait for the next announcement | Taste of Chicago, Picklesburgh and Atlanta Food & Wine |
1. South Beach Wine & Food Festival — Miami, Florida
Confirmed: February 25–28, 2027. South Beach Wine & Food Festival suits travelers who want chef-led events, wine and spirits, and the atmosphere of an organized destination festival. The program spans multiple venues and formats, so start with the experience you actually want: a walk-around tasting, a demonstration, a focused dinner or a party.
Choose one main event per day before adding another. A tasting afternoon followed immediately by a large dinner can mean paying for food you are too full to enjoy. Compare the ticket’s time, venue, age policy and inclusions, then choose accommodation around your actual events rather than assuming everything happens at one beachfront entrance. The Burger Bash photo here is a look at an earlier edition, not a promise about the next menu.
2. Charleston Wine + Food — Charleston, South Carolina
Confirmed: March 3–7, 2027. Charleston Wine + Food combines restaurant meals, classes, beverage workshops and larger sampling events. Its current FAQ places the large sampling experience at Johnson Hagood Stadium, while other events take place across the wider Charleston area. Map the exact venues before assuming two bookings are an easy walk apart.
This is an adults-only choice: the organizer says all festival events are 21+, including a ban on bringing infants in carriers or strollers. Tickets include the stated food and beverage samples, but do not give access to every event. The FAQ also sets a clear-bag policy and says tickets are generally non-refundable. For dietary requests at restaurant brunches, lunches and signature dinners, contact the organizer at least four weeks ahead; other event formats cannot accommodate special dietary needs or food allergies.
Extend the weekend: Charleston Culinary Tours’ Downtown Charleston Food Tour is a separate, roughly 2½-hour outing around the French Quarter and City Market, with preselected tastings at four restaurants. It can fit a non-festival day or serve as an alternative if your preferred festival session sells out. It does not include festival admission. Check the selected departure, dietary limitations and cancellation terms; the two buttons below are alternative platforms for the same tour, so book only one.
Affiliate disclosure: This site may earn a commission if you book through these buttons.
Check the Downtown Charleston food tour on Expedia
Compare the same Charleston food tour on Viator
3. Florida Strawberry Festival — Plant City, Florida
Confirmed: March 4–14, 2027. The Florida Strawberry Festival is an agricultural fair as well as a food stop, with exhibits, livestock, contests and entertainment surrounding its namesake fruit. Choose it if your ideal weekend includes more than a tasting tent and you want a festival with a strong harvest identity.
Make strawberry shortcake your starting point, then decide what else earns a place in the day. Check the coming edition’s food list rather than assuming a novelty dish in an old social-media post will return. If a headline concert is your main reason for traveling, verify its separate ticket requirements before buying gate admission. The long festival run gives you several possible weekends; compare the day’s program before choosing dates, rather than expecting every performance or contest every day.
4. National Cornbread Festival — South Pittsburg, Tennessee
Confirmed: April 24–25, 2027. The National Cornbread Festival makes one familiar food the center of an entire weekend, with competitions, live music, local makers and family activities. It is a good fit if you would rather explore different takes on a regional staple than move through a broad international tasting menu.
Look at the program for cooking events first, then build your eating time around the ones that interest you. A cook-off is worth watching even when it is not an opportunity to taste every competing entry. Confirm what admission covers, what food costs extra and where the recommended parking is located. For a short trip, arrive the evening before your main festival day, spend that day in South Pittsburg, and leave the following morning less tightly scheduled.
5. World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest — Memphis, Tennessee
Confirmed: May 12–15, 2027. Memphis in May’s World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is particularly appealing if you want to see competition barbecue culture at work. Come for the pitmasters, cooking and atmosphere, but do not confuse the competition with an unlimited public barbecue buffet.
The organizer explains that competing teams prepare food for judging and cannot simply serve their barbecue to the general public. If eating competition-style barbecue is the point of your trip, inspect the coming edition’s ticketed tasting or judging experiences before booking general admission. Confirm their availability, session time and whether another admission ticket is required. Keep a normal restaurant meal in your plan so that a sold-out tasting does not become a missed lunch. This distinction is more useful than chasing an advertised number of teams or pounds of pork.
6. New Orleans Wine & Food Experience — New Orleans, Louisiana
Confirmed: June 9–13, 2027. New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, usually shortened to NOWFE, is a destination for a more structured food-and-wine weekend. The organizer has announced the dates, but an announced festival week is not the same as a complete, bookable schedule for every dinner and tasting.
Choose this over a street festival if you prefer focused food-and-drink experiences and the chance to plan the day around a particular session. Wait for the next event descriptions before assuming a previous dinner, venue or chef will return. Leave an unbooked meal for New Orleans itself: a weekend with two carefully chosen festival experiences and time to explore can be more satisfying than a stack of back-to-back tickets. Allow travel time between venues rather than booking by start and finish times alone.
7. Food & Wine Classic in Aspen — Aspen, Colorado
Confirmed: June 18–20, 2027. The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen centers on its Grand Tasting Pavilion alongside demonstrations and seminars with food and beverage professionals. It suits a traveler who wants learning and tasting to be the main purpose of the weekend, with Aspen’s mountain setting as part of the appeal.
Look closely at pass types and seminar selection when the next booking details are available. A recognizable chef’s name should not replace checking what you can actually attend. Price the full trip, including lodging and transport, before deciding that a pass fits your budget. Build in breaks between tastings and resist treating a large program as a checklist; choosing a few subjects you care about gives the sessions more value than rushing between everything you can enter.
8. Cheese Curd Festival — Ellsworth, Wisconsin
Confirmed: June 25–26, 2027. Ellsworth’s Cheese Curd Festival celebrates the local creamery’s specialty around East End Park and neighboring streets. Fresh curds and hand-battered fried curds are the obvious starting choices; the organizer also describes cinnamon-sugar dessert curds. Sharing a savory portion first leaves you room to compare a second preparation.
Admission, parking and shuttle service are free, but some tasting experiences require tickets and advance registration. Check those separately rather than assuming a free festival means every activity is included. The published 2027 schedule is Friday evening and Saturday, not Sunday. That makes Friday arrival and a full Saturday a practical weekend shape. Pets are not allowed on the grounds except service animals, so arrange care before setting off with a dog.
9. National Cherry Festival — Traverse City, Michigan
Confirmed: July 3–10, 2027. The National Cherry Festival combines cherry-focused food with a much wider community program. It is a good choice for a group that wants eating to be one part of a summer getaway rather than the only activity.
The organizer has announced the dates but says the full 2027 schedule is still being planned. Choose your weekend after checking which events matter to you; an eight-day festival does not repeat every attraction daily. Leave room for fresh cherries or a cherry dessert when the vendor list appears, and verify separate concert or activity charges. Do not book an orchard picking session solely because you are attending the festival: picking is a different outing, with its own crop conditions, opening dates and availability.
10. Taste of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois
Next dates not confirmed in the sources checked. The Choose Chicago festival guide lists the completed 2026 edition as July 8–12 in Grant Park. Treat that as past information, not a 2027 booking window. Older guides that automatically place the event in September or assume a fixed annual week can also mislead.
Taste of Chicago is a useful option for a flexible food weekend because entry is free and vendors offer dishes ranging from small tastes to full meals. Food and drinks are purchased separately; the tourism guide describes paying vendors directly with cash or card rather than an old paper-ticket system. Plan to compare a few small portions, use public transport where practical, and check the new street-closure map before driving to the park. Wait for the next official dates before committing to non-refundable travel.
11. Picklesburgh — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Next dates not yet announced on the page checked. Picklesburgh is the obvious choice for a traveler who enjoys a food theme taken seriously—and sometimes playfully. The official page still displays the completed July 16–19, 2026 edition. It also describes an expanded footprint including Market Square and Arts Landing, so an old map should not be your navigation plan for the next festival.
Start by deciding whether you want pickles themselves, a pickle-inspired savory dish or an unusual sweet. Sharing one experimental order is a sensible way to explore without committing your whole lunch to a flavor you may not love. Save the new vendor list and map when released, and agree on a meeting point with your group. Treat this as a Pittsburgh weekend with a focused festival visit, rather than assuming every meal needs to be pickled.
12. Gilroy Garlic Festival — Gilroy, California
Confirmed: July 23–25, 2027. The Gilroy Garlic Festival FAQ specifies the Hecker Pass Outdoor Events Center, adjacent to Gilroy Gardens, at 3050 Hecker Pass Highway. This is a separately gated and ticketed event; do not assume a festival ticket includes the neighboring theme park.
Come for garlic-focused food, demonstrations and entertainment, but plan purchases around the actual menu rather than a list from an earlier location or edition. The published hours are 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and tickets are valid for one day. Official booths use cards or the secure FastBar cashless wristband system. Have a working payment method ready before joining a food queue. If you want two festival days, check ticket requirements for each rather than treating a one-day ticket as a weekend pass.
13. Maine Lobster Festival — Rockland, Maine
Confirmed: August 4–8, 2027. The Maine Lobster Festival puts its namesake seafood at the center of a Harbor Park visit in Rockland. A lobster meal can be the main event, with music, maritime activities and other festival programming making the day feel like more than a restaurant stop.
Leave time to sit and eat rather than trying to carry a full lobster meal between activities. Check the food tent’s hours separately from the grounds’ opening time. The organizer lists a free parking-and-shuttle option at South Elementary School, but confirm the coming edition’s operation, particularly around parade times. Reserve your preferred travel dates after checking which day’s program you want; attending one or two days is enough reason to build a Midcoast weekend, without needing to stay for the whole five-day run.
14. Atlanta Food & Wine Festival — Atlanta, Georgia
2027 return announced; exact dates not published on the page checked. Atlanta Food & Wine Festival focuses on Southern food, wine, beer and spirits. Its recent format includes walk-around Tasting Tents and more focused events. Choose it if you want to compare several chefs’ approaches within one session rather than organize every meal yourself.
The site retains recent-edition details beneath its “See you in 2027” message. Do not treat those older dates, hosts or venue notes as the finalized next schedule. Once tickets appear, compare session length, what is included, age rules and any early-entry upgrade before buying. An upgrade has value only if the extra time or access serves your plans. Leave one normal Atlanta meal outside the festival so your weekend has room for the city as well as the tents.
15. Dungeness Crab Festival — Port Angeles, Washington
Confirmed: October 8–10, 2027. The organizer’s new announcement sets the next Dungeness Crab Festival weekend, while the Port Angeles tourism calendar provides destination context. Its older listing still describes the completed 2026 edition; use the organizer’s dated announcement when arranging the next trip.
Choose this for a crab-centered meal and a coastal town weekend. The festival is free to enter; a crab dinner is a separate purchase, not an included benefit of walking through the grounds. Check dinner ordering options and collection arrangements when they open, especially if one meal is the reason for traveling. Bring layers for an outdoor waterfront day and avoid scheduling a long scenic excursion immediately before a meal collection time. Weather can make even a short transfer less predictable than it looks on a map.
16. National Shrimp Festival — Gulf Shores, Alabama
Confirmed: October 7–10, 2027. The National Shrimp Festival organizer lists free entry at the intersection of Highway 59 and East Beach Boulevard in Gulf Shores. Food, music and art share the weekend, so it suits a group that wants a beach-area outing with more to do between meals.
Shrimp is the theme, but the organizer also describes seafood and non-seafood alternatives. Compare portions before ordering several full platters; a shared first order gives you a better sense of how much eating the afternoon can hold. Published 2027 closing time is 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. Plan a Sunday visit accordingly, and recheck weather notices, transport information and the current food list shortly before departure.
17. New York City Wine & Food Festival — New York, New York
Confirmed: October 14–17, 2027. The New York City Wine & Food Festival has posted its next dates, while parts of the site still describe the recently completed 2026 program. It offers a different trip from a neighborhood street feast: think selected tastings, dining experiences and food personalities rather than one free public food market.
Book around a specific event you want to attend, then verify its venue and age restrictions. Do not assume last year’s chef or rooftop session is part of your next ticket. If your weekend includes theater, museums or a special restaurant reservation, keep the festival schedule lighter. One substantial tasting can replace a meal; stacking it with an expensive dinner often adds cost without making the day more enjoyable. Check the live event listing rather than a search result retaining an earlier year.
18. Hawaii Food & Wine Festival — multiple Hawaiian islands
Still upcoming in 2026: Kā‘anapali, Maui, October 23–25; O‘ahu, November 5–8. The Hawaii Food & Wine Festival spreads events across different islands and weekends. Its Hawai‘i Island dates, October 16–17, have already passed. The festival requires participating chefs to feature at least one locally grown, raised or caught ingredient, making the connection to the islands part of the cooking itself.
Choose the island and event before arranging flights. A Maui ticket and an O‘ahu ticket do not describe two nearby venues that you can simply drive between. For a weekend trip, stay on one island and select the event that fits the rest of your visit. The Maui dates are very close to this article’s check date, so verify remaining tickets before paying for travel. Do not assume 2026 dates establish the 2027 calendar.
19. Lexington Barbecue Festival — Lexington, North Carolina
Confirmed: October 24, 2026. The Lexington Barbecue Festival FAQ makes two important points: this festival serves Lexington-style barbecue, and it is not a barbecue cook-off. That focus is the attraction if you want to understand one local tradition rather than compare every American barbecue region.
The event takes place along Main Street and adjacent streets in Uptown Lexington. Admission is free; food is an additional purchase. For the 2026 edition, exhibits open at 8:30 a.m. and barbecue tents at 10 a.m., so an early arrival does not mean an immediate barbecue breakfast. This is a one-day Saturday event: arrive Friday if practical, make Saturday the festival day, and keep Sunday flexible. With the date only days away at the time checked, confirm travel and current notices before making a last-minute commitment.
20. Oak Street Po-Boy Festival — New Orleans, Louisiana
Confirmed: November 8, 2026, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. The Oak Street Po-Boy Festival celebrates the New Orleans sandwich on the 8100–8700 blocks of Oak Street. It is a Sunday event, making it an easy anchor for a weekend that leaves Saturday available for exploring elsewhere in the city.
There is a crucial budget distinction: attendance is free, but a wristband is required to purchase a po-boy, and the sandwich itself still costs extra. Buy the appropriate wristband before planning your food orders. Sharing lets you compare two fillings without committing to several full sandwiches, though you should confirm each person’s wristband requirements. Use the current festival map to find food, music and the designated quiet area. This is Oak Street, not a festival in the French Quarter; plan your transport around the actual location.
21. EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival — Walt Disney World, Florida
Current edition: August 27–November 21, 2026. EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival offers the widest choice of travel weekends on this list’s currently running calendar. Global Marketplaces serve dishes inspired by different cuisines, with music and other activities alongside the food.
The festival is included with valid EPCOT admission, but food and drinks are additional purchases; a park reservation may also be needed depending on your ticket type. This is therefore a theme-park trip with food as its focus, not a free-entry food crawl. Set separate budgets for park admission and tastings, choose a few marketplaces from the current menus, and keep time for sitting down. Check your chosen weekend against the festival’s closing date rather than assuming the same offering continues into the holiday season.
How to turn one festival into a worthwhile weekend
Secure the anchor experience first. If the trip depends on a dinner, a judging experience or a particular tasting session, check that ticket before committing to transport. A confirmed festival date does not guarantee every desired session is available. Where next dates are unannounced, use a flexible shortlist rather than treating a past calendar as a reservation window.
Keep three budgets separate. Allow for entry, food and drinks, and the wider trip. A free-entry festival can still involve paid tastings, parking, shuttles or wristbands. Compare the final checkout total and cancellation terms, then decide whether an upgrade is useful. Avoid assuming a festival ticket covers every venue, every day or unlimited food.
Plan for weather and cancellation separately. Read the policy for the exact ticket, including what happens if an event continues in rain, moves indoors or is canceled. A festival refund may not cover your flights or accommodation. Save the organizer’s alert channel, pack for the site’s conditions, and keep a nearby meal or indoor activity as a backup. Recheck notices before departure and again before leaving for the grounds.
Give the weekend a simple shape. Arrive Friday, make Saturday one main festival session, and leave Sunday for a local meal or a walk before departure. Reverse that plan for a Sunday-only event such as Oak Street Po-Boy Festival. If you want a full late-night program, allow a later departure rather than pairing it with an early flight.
Ask about access before buying. Check ground surfaces, step-free routes, accessible toilets, seating, companion arrangements and transport from the accessible parking area. An outdoor festival being free to enter does not answer those questions. Ask the organizer about your particular session and venue, especially when events are spread across a city.
Check dietary needs with the people serving the food. A long vendor list does not establish safe preparation for an allergy or guarantee a vegetarian meal at every session. Ask about ingredients, shared equipment and whether substitutions can actually be arranged. Our guide to traveling with food allergies provides more planning context.
Leave some appetite uncommitted. Choose two or three priority foods, share where practical, and pause before adding another order. A festival is easier to enjoy when you have time to watch a demonstration, talk to a vendor or sit with a meal instead of measuring success by how many queues you joined.