If we asked you all to conjure a food festival in your mind, you’d probably arrive at a similar image. Large spaces full of tables or tents with chefs furiously plating small bites for masses of hungry people — it’s a delicious, time-tested model. But when JD Ellison & Company decided to launch Bite Me AVL, the city’s newest food festival, the organizers were looking for a different kind of celebration. A celebration of the potential as much as the present.
So instead, this festival will spotlight the local culinary community as it exists, in the spaces it already knows, and let those who nourish it tell their own stories.
Demos and workshops are on the agenda.
Photo via @chopshopbutchery
Get a bite of the basics
Bite Me AVL will take place from Wednesday, Aug. 14 to Sunday, Aug. 18 at venues around the city. It will consist of everything from plated dinners and interactive workshops to classes and a four-chef cooking competition (we’ll get to all that in a minute).
Festival passes are $149 and include dinner on Wednesday, brunch on Sunday, classes, demos, and tastings. But if you don’t want to fill your whole week, you can also purchase day passes Thursday-Saturday, as well as individual tickets to just the cooking competition and two panels. Pro tip: Here’s a handy breakdown of everything your ticket includes.
From eats to education
The food is, unsurprisingly, the festival’s headline act. Throughout the week, guest chefs will step into the kitchens of some beloved local restaurants to present unique, collaborative dining experiences. Pro tip: Some dinners have separate ticketing and some require a festival pass + RSVP — so read carefully.
Tastings and parties are also on the schedule, as well as butchery + knife-making demos and a market. But in its lineup, the festival seeks to tell a comprehensive story, so you’ll also find intentional conversations, educational panels, and opportunities to dig deeper into the dining world.
