I rarely need convincing to head to Charleston. I mean I wrote a whole post on why you SHOULD go in the winter! When the #BloggersDoTravel girls heard about Charleston Wine + Food Festival it was a unanimous decision to make our way there to experience it. Sure, I’ve been to “other” food, wine, and everything else, festivals. But let me tell you something. Nothing I’ve ever been to holds a candle to this festival. Here’s what I wore, what we did and 5 reasons why you should add this to your travel list for next year.
PS Tickets are now on sale for Charleston Wine + Food 2023, grab them here!
First, what exactly is Charleston Wine + Food Festival?
Charleston Wine + Food is a
A few favorite things we had while walking around Culinary Village was the andouille sausage, pimento cheese hot dogs. Incredible. We also indulged in lobster bao bun rolls. Yes, lobster. There was also paella chock full of shrimp and tender meat. We had brisket, duck, scallops and more. They do not skimp on the food! Then came all the wine. But not just wine, there was also tequila, my favorite Don Julio, and bourbon like Coopers’ Craft and everything in between. One of my favorite areas was their rosé tent. It was an entire section dedicated to all things rosé. It was a basic girls’ dream!
Reasons To Experience Charleston Wine And Food
1. Experience New Restaurants & Chefs From ALL Over
My favorite part of this was seeing restaurants I’ve been dying to visit in Charleston. It was such a great way to try their specialties and even chat with the chefs. One very cool thing about this festival too is that a lot of restaurants and chefs from outside of Charleston come in for it. There were several restaurants from Atlanta like Saltyard and Fox Bros BBQ. Some even from New York, Maryland and North Carolina.
2. They Do Not SKIMP
There’s no other food festival I’ve ever been to that serves this much QUALITY food. We ate like QUEENS you guys. We had all the things from all the food groups. Caviar, scallops, ribeye, shrimp and more. You name it, we probably ate it. The price tag of the tickets for this isn’t even that bad. For $135 per day, you can indulge for 5 straight hours. It’s a great way to spend a day in Charleston and eat and drink. The ticket only includes one-day admission though, but in all honesty, I think one day is perfect! You’d definitely spend way more than that on food and drinks between lunch and dinner at a restaurant in the city.
TIP: My pro-tip, many of the
chefs did a menu change halfway through. So you could do a lap and try all the things. Then at around 3:30, they did a swap and changed out their offerings so you could do ANOTHER lap. Guys, it was glorious.
3. There’s More Than Just Culinary Village
Since Culinary Village is Friday-Sunday, I definitely recommend doing one day there and then checking out what’s beyond CV. You can totally head to Charleston Wine + Food and just do Culinary Village and have an incredible time. But, if you want to dig deeper into food and events, they have a slew of options. We did the Au Natural wine tasting at Graft. Cathy and Kristin did Lunch Squad (total envy we didn’t get to join), and we all did
These tickets are separate from Culinary Village and I recommend adding at least 2 to your itinerary for the weekend. Below are a few snaps from our Au Natural Wine Tasting Class at Graft. This was the perfect beverage workshop to take to learn a bit about wine and taste some new ones. There are so many hands on classes you can take too, pick and choose what you love!
4. It’s In Charleston
I mean, how can you really say no to a reason to visit Charleston. From the walkability, incredible food, great weather, there’s no better place for a Wine + Food Festival. My favorite part of it being in Charleston was how easy it was to walk to everything (I prefer a bike though!). We did have to drive to
5. Try New Things & Make New Memories
There were foods, beverages, liquors and beers I never would’ve thought to try before this event. With knowledgeable vendors, you can learn a bit about what you’re trying and get to try new things. Plus, all of these experiences with friends makes for some really fun memories.
What I Wore To Charleston Wine + Food
My biggest tip for visiting Charleston no matter what you’re there for is to pack comfortable shoes. It’s very much a walking city and you’ll want to explore on foot for most of it. I always pack jeans, chucks and an
For Day One
We headed to Graft, a fun wine bar to attend an Au Natural wine tasting. The girls and I learned all about sulfates, natural
SHOP MY LOOK
For Day Two
To attend the Culinary Village, I went COMFY. The sun started to shine on Friday and it finally warmed up. So I ditched the sweaters and went for a fun ruffle tee (last seen here) and Converse. Culinary Village is set in a park with lots of straw on the ground so you don’t want to wear any opened toe shoes or anything really that nice. My brand new platform Converse
SHOP MY LOOK
For Day Three
We headed out to do a few touristy things like visit Rainbow Row. It’s a must visit when you’re in Charleston and just oh so colorful. I wore my new Marc Fisher LTD espadrilles and matched my tee to them. After a little exploring, we went to Tradd’s for dinner to wrap up the trip with a delicious meal.
SHOP MY LOOK
Where We Stayed
We tried a new to
Grab Your Tickets!
Tickets for the 2023 Charleston Wine + Food go on sale now. Book experiences, workshops and day passes to the festival here.
All photos by Julie Livingston Photography
