Overview ChainFEST is a Los Angeles food festival where the headliners are chain restaurants, cooking dishes that exist only for the night: Domino's served a "Bougie Emergency Pizza," Cracker Barrel a gourmet country fried steak on its own biscuits, and White Castle brought its sliders to a city that had never had one. It is thrown by Chain, the pop-cuisine company actor-writer B.J. Novak started with friends at a folding table in a West Hollywood parking lot. Chrissy Teigen and Chef's Table creator David Gelb joined the team, and Fox Entertainment and Studio Ramsay Global backed it. On site The 2025 festival ran two nighttime sessions of 2,500 guests each in central Los Angeles, and every ticket is all-inclusive: all the food and all the drink. Brands build their own worlds on the floor. KFC put up a giant bucket for 360 photos and a Sauce on Sauce wall, Red Robin ran a human claw machine stocked with plushies, tees and burgers for a year, and Cracker Barrel built a front porch with an oversized rocking chair. Pepto-Bismol handed out bespoke merch and turned the crowd pink. A main stage carries performances and culinary moments through each session. Audience Chain pitches the festival as permission for people who would not normally admit to loving chain food to rep their favorite brands in public. Chain describes the crowd as foodies and seeds it with creators and celebrities; it counted more than 250 celebrities and influential guests in 2024. Talent and Influencers Guests at past festivals have included Chrissy Teigen, Chris Pratt, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, John Legend, John Mayer, Seth Rogen, Andy Cohen, Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak and Addison Rae. BuzzFeed Tasty and a run of food creators amplified it on their own channels. Track record Chain reports 6.1 billion earned media impressions and more than $59 million in earned media value for 2024. KFC launched its Original Recipe Tenders at the festival with three festival-only sauces poured by sauce sommeliers, and Chain credits that program with 70 placements and $16.3 million in earned media value. Red Robin used ChainFEST to launch its Leave Room For Fun refresh, sent its mascot to the media launch at Per Se and landed a feature on The Tonight Show. Panda Express handed out a new menu item as it rolled out nationally. Brand presence A presenting partner renames the festival - ChainFEST presented by the brand - gets a custom 20-by-20-foot activation with an exclusive menu item, the main stage and a ChainReactions slot, where one of its executives talks on stage with one of Chain's celebrity partners. Other named programs are sold one brand each: Off the Menu Celebrity Collabs, where two celebrities create dishes and guests vote on a winner, the Chain Arcade, the Chain Drive Thru bumper cars, the VIP area and a brand-built dining pop-up. Chain's culinary team develops the food with each brand.