The South Beach Wine & Food Festival Announces its 2023 Lineup
Now's the time to make plans for your weekend in paradise
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) has just released its lineup of events for 2023. The festival, which celebrates its 22nd year of parties, seminars, and dinners, will return to the sands of South Beach from Thursday, February 23 to Sunday, February 25, 2023 with over 90 different events.
SOBEWFF festival founder Lee Brian Schrager tells Broken Palate that the secret to the success of the festival is to keep it fresh. Schrager does that by mixing up tried and true parties like the annual Burger Bash (this year hosted by Emeril Lagasse) and the Grand Tasting Village and adding in new events and faces.
Recently, the festival has introduced some new events, like a combination fashion show and brunch, hosted by Geoffrey and Margaret Zakarian, and some only-in-Miami parties like the Make it Miami cocktail event hosted by Miami influencer Alessandra Garcia-Lorido and Miami influencer/mixologist Gio Gutierrez.
New events this year include a Tea Dance hosted by YouTuber Kalen Allen with a special performance by disco icon Thelma Houston; and Overtown Eat Up!, hosted by Marcus Samuelsson. The Overtown event, held at Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Overtown, will spotlight the cuisine and culture of Overtown — considered the Harlem of the South. Proceeds from Overtown Eat Up! will be earmarked as scholarship funding for students from Overtown who attend Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
And, there’s my annual favorite — the Art of Tiki. This evening cocktail event has some of the best tiki bars from around the country flying in to showcase their most potent potables. What I love best is that each bar goes all out for the win — dressing in costume, making up elaborate stories about their concoctions, and generally having a blast. The rum-fueled enthusiasm is contagious.
Of course, it’s not a hard sell to convince people from snowy climates to spend a weekend in Miami Beach in the dead of winter. Still, it’s always surprising how Miami really does earn its name “the sixth borough” during the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
SOBEWFF tickets aren’t on sale yet (there’s a Capital One cardholder pre-sale from October 31 to November 6, with tickets on sale to the general public right after). What you can do, however, is book your hotel reservations. (We waited until the last minute in 2022 and were lucky to find any rooms available on the beach). The festival has coordinated with several hotels in South Beach, with rooms ranging from a “reasonable” $349 a night at the Midcentury chic Albion to a suite at the lush W South Beach for $2,099 a night.
If you do plan on going to SOBEWFF this year, make sure to block out some time to get off the beach and discover some of Miami’s gems like the Frost Science Museum (where you can play with stingrays), Wynwood Brewing Company (where you can share a few cold ones with friendly locals), or experience the food, cocktails, and music of Little Havana’s Cafe La Trova, listed number 21 in the 2022 “World’s 50 Best Bars” list.
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