The Music City Food + Wine Festival returned to Nashville last weekend, September 14-16, in what is now its 6th year. I have had the pleasure of attending this fabulous festival for the last 4 years, and it is something I eagerly look forward to all year long.
The festival kicked off Friday evening at the beautiful Bicentennial Mall near downtown by the State Capitol building to an eager crowd waiting for the gates to open.
The 1st night included the vast Grand Tasting areas featuring Nashville’s finest culinary offerings from celebrity and up-and-coming chefs along with tastings of wine, spirits, and cocktails from all over.
The Friday Night Throwdown was the ultimate culinary face-off as star chefs Anne Burrell and Tim Love went head-to-head in a spirited cooking demo, each captaining a team featuring celebrity sous chefs from the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. The competition was emceed by Jessie James Decker and Eric Decker.
Thompson Nashville’s rooftop bar, L.A. Jackson, won the Official Drink of Nashville title for their cocktail, The 615. A title voted on by festival attendees on Friday night as bartenders from local establishments from all around competed under one large, tented area complete with mirrorballs and colorful lighting. With 6 ingredients and 1 fantastic drink, the L.A. Jackson team delivered memorable experiences at the festival. Sadly, I missed tasting their drink, so I think a visit to the rooftop bar might be in order for the very near future!
Saturday featured another another round of the Grand Tasting area in the Bicentennial Mall area to try an expansive selection of creative & delicious dishes from local favorite restaurants.
There were panel discussions, celebrity book signings and cooking demonstrations throughout the day along with mixing/tasting sessions of various alchohol beverages. So much to do!
Martin’s Bar-B-Que again featured numerous mouthwatering tastings of their various smoked meats. Always a crowd favorite!
Some of my very favorites were the creative and fun displays from Hendricks Gin, Reyka Vodka, and Monkey Shoulder. Each featured delicious cocktails paired with very creative set-ups. I will go into full detail about all 3 in separate articles very soon to let you know much more about them all. Until then, enjoy the photos and video clips I have included here.
Saturday evening was the Harvest Night held in downtown Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park. Always the perfect, picturesque setting for a night of more delicious tastings of culinary offerings, wine, spirits, and cocktails. The evening included an incredibly-fun concert with the theme of 70’s and 80’s cover songs by festival co-creators, Kings of Leon, and their many special guests like Sheryl Crow, Little Big Town, Robert Randolph, and many more. They all had the crowd dancing and singing along to classic hit favorites. Many festival attendees even dressed in 70’s and 80’s attire to join in on the fun. I really hope they will do a fun theme like that again, it was fun, fabulous, and I danced all night long.
Day 3 was the Gospel Brunch featuring brunch favorites and uplifting music. Always a great way to wrap up the festival.
This wonderful weekend went by so fast, and I am already counting down the days to next year’s festival. It can’t come soon enough! Can’t wait to see what they do next. Whatever it is, you can be assured it will be well-organized, tasty, and fun. Thanks for such a great time Music City Food + Wine Festival!
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