Get your $2K+ Food & Wine Classic pass now

You can now purchase tickets, or better yet, weekend passes to the first Food & Wine Classic in Charleston, a fall food festival hosted by Food and wine, Southern living And Travel + Leisure and presented by Explore Charleston.

The festival takes place September 27-29 in and around Charleston and features more than 40 cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs; wine and cocktail seminars; and the festival’s ‘Grand Tasting Pavilion’, featuring hundreds of winemakers, distillers and culinary experts.

Weekend passes cost $2,450 and can be purchased online. (Sure!)

Visiting participating chefs and sommeliers is included Tyler Florence, a popular Food Network host; TV chef Maneet Chauhan; sommelier and media personality Amanda McCrossin; and Emmy and four-time James Beard Award-winning TV host, Andreas Zimmern. Local talent includes chefs Mike Lata, Carey Morey and James London and sommeliers Miles White and Femi Oyediran.

Sid Evans Southern life editor-in-chief explained why the Food & Wine Classic ended up in Charleston: “No other place has a blend of hospitality, foodways, culture, architecture and history like the Holy City. Charleston is incredibly loved by the readers and editors of Food and wine, Southern livingAnd Travel + Leisureso it was an exciting idea for all of us to bring the Food & Wine Classic to Charleston.”

Food and wineEditor-in-chief Hunter Lewis said he sees the event as something that will appeal to visitors and locals alike.

“We expect the audience to be a mix of locals and out-of-towners, both wanting to experience Charleston’s rising prominence in the culinary world firsthand. … Visitors can expect to interact with world-class winemakers, spot chefs and tastemakers, and gather with passionate wine and food lovers in the spaces we will share in this world-class city.”

Does Charleston need another food festival?

While the city of Charleston may be “beloved” by readers of Food and wine, Southern living And Travel + Leisure, it is nurtured by a local food and drink industry that celebrates and supports its own. And while Lewis promised there will be “a lot” of local talent on display at the new Food & Wine Classic, it’s hard to say how many of our city’s local enthusiasts will shell out $2,450 for the weekend event.

The price is certainly comparable for the level of talent and what’s on offer, but the lack of smaller-scale ticket options likely leaves out many local foodies.

Comments on Food & Wine’s Instagram announcement about the ticket sales suggested the price is pricing out some attendees:

@geauxleaux said: “Why is it so expensive? This is Charleston, not LA. Hopefully we can buy day passes, a la carte;”
@thehungrymedium asked: “When will the tickets for regular people be available?;”
@kennertyrene asked: “Do locals who are priced out of everything get discounts or passes for a day or specific events?”

Charleston already has a major spring food festival: Charleston Wine + Food, which celebrated its 19th year in March. Does the city need another one? That’s a hypothetical question that probably won’t get concrete answers until Food & Wine blows through town in September.

Lewis said the Food & Wine Classic “builds on the 40-year legacy of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. This fall, we are bringing together the expertise and voices of three iconic media brands, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and Southern Living, to create an intimate atmosphere in a prime location in the heart of Charleston.”

Charleston also has twice as many people living in poverty as Aspen, according to the US Census Bureau, and its per capita income is also about half that of the famous Colorado ski resort. However, perhaps the economic makeup of the city is not what matters most, but rather the amount of money coming in from visitors. Does a city create a festival? Or is it the one who can afford to come to the festival?

Neither Lewis nor Evans commented on contingency plans for this year’s festival — a question organizers should be asking themselves after Charleston Wine + Food’s unfortunate weather-related cancellations this past year. Number one city or not, even Charleston isn’t immune to peak hurricane season.

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