For four days in February, the food world's attention is on Miami Beach.
The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival returns February 25 to 28, 2027 for its 26th edition. It brings hundreds of chefs, thousands of guests, and most of the country's food media and creators to one stretch of sand. For a food, beverage or hospitality brand in South Florida, it is the biggest audience of the year. Planning starts now, not in February.
Three ways to take part
- Inside the festival. Sponsorships, tasting tents and chef participation are arranged through the festival itself, usually months ahead. Best for brands with budget and product to sample at scale.
- Around the festival. Your own dinner, tasting or pop-up during the same week, for the press and creators already in town.
- From your own door. A festival-week menu, a special item and strong content. No ticket required.
Most small brands get the best return from the second and third.
If you host something
- Keep it small. Thirty of the right guests beat three hundred of the wrong ones. See brand activations that convert.
- Invite early. Calendars for that week fill in January.
- Give it one photographable moment that carries your name.
- Pick a time that does not compete with the main evening events: a breakfast, a late lunch or an after-hours stop.
- Do not use the festival's name or logo on your own event unless you are an official partner. "Festival week" says enough.
If you stay at your own place
- A limited menu or item for the week, announced ahead
- Extended hours on the busiest nights
- A welcome offer for anyone with a festival wristband
- Updated hours, photos and menu on Google and Instagram before the visitors arrive
Work the creators already in town
Food creators from across the country travel in for the week and need content beyond the tents. Reach out three to four weeks ahead with a specific invitation, a time and what you will serve. Agree in writing on what they will post and whether you can reuse it. See influencer contracts.
A simple timeline
- October and November: decide which of the three routes fits, set the budget, contact the festival if you want to be inside it
- December: lock the venue, the menu and the partner brands
- January: send invitations, brief creators, pitch local food press
- Early February: announce the festival-week menu, start local ads
- Festival week: capture everything, post daily
- March: turn the footage into a month of content and follow up with every new contact
What to measure
- New contacts captured during the week
- Press and creator posts, and their reach
- Sales that week against a normal February week
- New followers who are local, and how many return in March
The bottom line
You do not need a tent on the sand to benefit from the festival. Choose one route, plan it three months ahead, give visitors and creators a reason to find you, and use the content long after the week ends. For the rest of the season, see our Miami and Fort Lauderdale event calendar. Check the official festival site for the final schedule and tickets.
Planning something for festival week? Let's talk.