Overview The Charleston Wine + Food Festival spreads more than 90 events over five days across seven cities and towns around Charleston, from signature dinners in local dining rooms to an oyster party called Shucked and a Waffle House Smackdown, with a tented Culinary Village at its center. It is run by Charleston Wine + Food, a 501(c)(3) founded in 2006; the 2026 festival was its 20th. In 2025 the organization adopted a mission to grow the local culinary and hospitality trade itself, through an investment fund for emerging and established professionals, scholarships at high schools and technical schools, and a Culinary High School Scholars program that pairs public school coursework with hands-on work. It counts $210.7 million in economic impact across its festivals. On site The Culinary Village runs Friday to Sunday as a walk-about tasting, organized like a small town. Its food neighborhoods are Shucktown, Grillin' + Chillin', where pit masters serve whole hog, brisket and tomahawk steaks, Farm Fresh and an Artisan Market of knives, ceramics, chocolates and bowties. Its watering holes are the Corkyard for wine, the Rose Garden, the Beer Garden, Tippling Town for cocktails and spirits, named for an old nickname of the port city, and a Zero Proof Garden that opened in 2024. A Main Demo Stage, a Music Stage, a Silent Disco and a climate-controlled VIP Lounge fill out the grounds. Away from the village, hands-on classes run at the Culinary Institute of Charleston's Palmer Campus, beverage workshops for 25 to 55 people, traditionally at The Mills House Hotel, bar takeovers pair a visiting bar with a local one, and two or three all-day excursions shuttle guests out to local stories and purveyors. Audience People come for the festival itself: in 2025, 84.4% of attendees said it was their main reason for the trip. About a third, 36.3%, came from out of town, the average stay ran 3.5 nights, 57% stayed in downtown Charleston, and the average visitor spent $1,320. Website traffic ran heaviest from New York, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, California and Texas. Track record In 2025 the Culinary Village alone ran 89 chef demos, served 115,000 bites, and poured from 20 wineries in the Corkyard and 12 breweries in the Beer Garden, with 80 South Carolina exhibitors. The festival put its economic impact on the Charleston region at $21.7 million over the five days and logged 14.59 million media impressions, with placements in Saveur, the Today show, the Washington Post, VinePair, Imbibe, Forbes and the New York Times. In a single year its talent has come from five countries and 29 states, with a chef from as far as Sydney. The festival diverted 7.66 tons of glass from landfill and recycled 1,300 pounds of oyster shells. A free, family Street Fest drew more than 4,000 people in its first year, and the off-season Summer Sizzle series launched in 2024. Brand presence Nearly everything in the village can carry a name: the Culinary Village itself, each neighborhood and watering hole, the Music Stage, the Silent Disco and the VIP program. Brands can also sit on the aprons worn by every chef and beverage pro across the festival, the lanyards around talent and media necks, the Prep Kitchen where 100 to 150 chefs and beverage pros prep over the weekend, and the volunteer program of more than 400 people. Festival-wide exclusivity is sold category by category. Summer Sizzle carries brands past the festival: its 2024 run included a Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer pool party for local chefs.