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Two girls eating corn on the cob at the Southern Living Tailgate Stage during an outdoor festival — Dig in—Southbound Food Festival is back for a fourth year! (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

We hope you’re hungry, Birmingham! This fall, Southbound Food Festival is back for its fourth year, bringing together 100+ chefs from Birmingham and across the South for multi-course dinners, live chef demonstrations, live-fire cooking, music-filled celebrations and much, much more.

Whether you’re looking to discover your next favorite chef or sample regional Southern fare in a historic Birmingham landmark, here’s everything you need to know about Southbound Food Festival 2026.

What’s on the menu at Southbound Food Festival?

What is Southbound Food Festival?

Aerial view of an outdoor festival with white vendor tents, a Coca-Cola sponsored stage, crowds, and a fountain pond in the foreground — Vendors at Southbound Food Festival at Sloss Furnaces. (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

Founded in 2022, Southbound Food Festival is a ten-day celebration of Birmingham’s food scene that brings together both local and regional culinary talent in one jam-packed buffet of chef demonstrations, pop-ups, tastings and live music.

With multi-course dinners at Pepper Place, chef collaborations throughout town and a live-fire feast and soulful brunch at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Southbound is a culinary celebration that the whole city can get in on.

What: Southbound Food Festival
When: Friday, Sept. 18 to Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026
Where: Multiple venues in Birmingham, including Sloss Furnaces and Pepper Place
Tickets: Available online; prices vary
- Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg | $230.71 (price includes fees)
- ROOTED: Women in Food Meet & Greet | $60.34 (price includes fees)
- Chase presents Southern Living’s Food & Fire | $100.55 (price includes fees)
- Funk Brunch: Juke Jam | $89.23 (price includes fees)

What can I experience at the Southbound Food Festival?

Multi-course dinners + takeovers at the Market at Pepper Place

Person holding stacked plates of BBQ brisket sandwich, smoked ribs, corn on the cob, and other barbecue dishes at an outdoor event — Brisket sandwiches, ribs, corn on the cob and more… is it lunchtime already? (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

Southbound 2026 gets rolling on Friday, September 18 with Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg, a multi-course seated dinner along 29th Street in Pepper Place, celebrating this year’s recipient of the Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence, Chef Anne Quatrano. Held from 6-10PM, the dinner will celebrate two Southern culinary staples—you guessed it, chicken and eggs—with celebrated local and regional chefs offering their unique interpretations of the ingredients.

What: Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg
When: Friday, September 18, 2026 | 6-10PM
Where: 29th Street at Pepper Place | 200 29th St S, Birmingham, AL 35233
Tickets: $230.71 (price includes fees) | Available online

Don’t forget to set your alarm clock on Friday night—Southbound continues on Saturday morning with Rooted: Women in Food presented by Baptist Health Women’s Medical Center at the Market at Pepper Place. From 7AM to noon, Rooted will will “takeover” 29th street at the Market and celebrate the women helping shape Southern food through chef demonstrations, book signings, panel conversations and more.

What: Baptist Health Women’s Medical Center presents Rooted: Women in Food
When: Saturday, September 19, 2026 | 7AM to noon
Where: 29th Street at Pepper Place | 200 29th St S, Birmingham, AL 35233
Tickets: $60.34 (price includes fees) | Available online

Ticket holders can also attend the Rooted Meet & Greet, presented by Atlanta Dairies, from 9AM-noon at Hot & Hot Fish Club, featuring brunch cocktails from local female mixologists, bites and a chance to connect with participating chefs.

What: Atlanta Dairies presented Women in Food VIP Meet and Greet
When: Saturday, September 19, 2026 | 9AM to noon
Where: Hot & Hot Fish Club | 2901 2nd Ave S #110, Birmingham, AL 35233
Tickets: $60.34 (price includes fees) | Available online

Culinary showcases with Southern chefs

Smiling chef in a navy apron and black gloves holding two topped oysters on the half shell at an outdoor food event — Acre and Bow & Arrow owner + chef David Bancroft at Southbound Food Festival. (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

A chef in a navy apron and black gloves arranges baked oysters with breadcrumb topping on a rack over crushed ice at an outdoor event — Acre and Bow & Arrow owner + chef David Bancroft at Southbound Food Festival. (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

If you want to experience Southbound but can’t make it to one of the festival’s ticketed signature events, don’t fret. Throughout the ten-day festival, Southbound pairs visiting chefs with local talent, artists and businesses for guest-chef pop-ups, collaborative meals, art-forward gatherings and other one-of-a-kind food and drink experiences.

What: HOSTED: A Collaborative Series
Tickets: Reservations suggested and some require advance ticket purchase. See link for details.

The full 2026 HOSTED schedule is slated to be announced soon, so keep an eye on Southbound’s event lineup as those collaborations are revealed.

A weekend celebration at Sloss Furnaces

Aerial view of an outdoor festival at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama, with vendor tents, umbrellas, and crowds of attendees — Southbound takes over Sloss Furnaces, Sept. 26-27. (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

The festival’s cornerstone event, Chase presents Southern Living’s Food & Fire, takes over Sloss Furnaces on Saturday, September 26. From noon to 4PM, ticketholders can explore the historic landmark while experiencing Southern tailgate culture and enjoying bites from 30+ regional and national pitmasters and live-fire chefs.

In addition to the daytime walk-around tasting event, guests can listen to live music from Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen and Marc Broussard on the Coca Cola Music Stage, catch all the SEC action on the Avadian Credit Union Football Lounge, enjoy local + regional beverages in the Craft Beer+Wine Garden and catch amazing chef demos in the Southern Living Tailgate Stage presented by Shipt.

What: Chase presents Southern Living’s Food & Fire
When: Saturday, September 26, 2026 | Noon to 4PM
Where: Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark | 20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222
Tickets: $100.55 (price includes fees) | Available online | Children under 12 free with ticketed adult.

The ten-day festival concludes on Sunday, September 27 with the Funk Brunch: Juke Jam. Held from 11:30AM to 2PM at Sloss Furnaces, Juke Jam will celebrate Alabama music and culture with Alabama-inspired dishes, craft cocktails and the sounds of Early James and Blind Mississippi Morris.

What: Funk Brunch: Juke Jam
When: Sunday, September 27 | 11:30AM—2PM
Where: Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark | 20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222
Tickets: $89.23 (price includes fees) | Available online

How do I get tickets to Southbound Food Festival?

Crowd seated in lawn chairs watching a demonstration on the Southern Living Hellmann's Tailgate Stage at the South Bound Food Festival — Crowds watching a demonstration on the Southern Living Tailgate Stage at Southbound. (Caleb Chancey / Southbound Food Festival)

With ten days, 100+ chefs and an entire city of restaurants, bars and culinary creatives involved, Southbound Food Festival is shaping up to be one of Birmingham’s can’t-miss fall events. Tickets for the different events are on sale now; visit the official Southbound Food Festival website to learn more.

What part of Southbound Food Festival are you most excited for? Tag us @bhamnow and @southboundfoodfest to let us know!

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