The Art of the Food Festival.
A four part series examining the love of food festivals. Is it possible to make everyone happy?
Husk Table at Hatch Green Chile Festival @ Rancho Lewis - October 2022 (Charleston, SC) Photo by Lowcountry Eat Out!
Here We Go! - The Food Festival Fyre
The quintessential South Carolina food festival is the concept of bringing together community, typically to “support” non-profit, while engaging with local chefs + restaurants to experience their food. Good lawd, I couldn’t keep a straight face even typing that. Is that what is happening?
Food Festival producers pitch their angle under the guise that, like a restaurant week, these restaurants, who partake, have the ability to meet new potential guests that eventually become champions of their restaurants to help spread the word (seriously I think I am sweating that sentence holds a lot of weight). It builds brand awareness. The big names (restaurants) often attend for a multitude reasons but for the little guy the ROI on food festivals (that are done well) can be monumental. Let’s be real though spend 10 - 15 minutes on social media (per day) you can potentially do the same thing or more!
When I got the idea to write about food fests it was going to be one article. MY ANGLE - Chefs + what they go through to create a dish that meets the theme, represents their restaurant, is easily mass produced, must be cost effective + efficiently served. I am mean, NO BIG DEAL! Sounds easy, right?!
After talking with several chefs, brands, guests, & some festival producers (+ being most of those myself at one point or another) I was like there is so much more to this!
The best example I can give is think about your relationship with your significant other. That is just 2 parties, right? We all know how difficult + how much work that can be. Now, while you are thinking about the add in both families/parents. Seeing the complication yet? Once you have that dynamic fully imagined in your mind you need to add in a holiday like Christmas. Is everyone always happy? That is a Food Festival “Fyre” in a nutshell.
So, tomorrow we are kicking off a four part series delivering every Wednesday for the next 4 weeks!
Part 1 - The Concepts + the Chaos. Is it About the Cause?
Part 2 - Chefs, Bars, & Brands - The Glue that Holds it Together
Part 3 - Guests’ Perspective - Is it Worth it? They Better Work It!
Part 4 - Is it Possible to Make Everybody Happy? The Winners & Losers of it All.