Happy Father’s Day! Our last stop on our Explore Georgia Travel Series in the 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander took us to the Family Food Fest Atlanta, a Multicultural Father’s Day Food Tasting Celebration. This amazing celebration of Father’s made its grand debuted back in 2015 at the Georgia Aquarium.
This year the Festival was held at the Georgia Freight Depot. The Historic Georgia Freight Depot was built in 1869. It’s a rustic, yet polished event venue conveniently nestled in the Capitol Hill district of downtown Atlanta. With over 12,000 square feet of open space, the event site can accommodate up to 1,300 guests, or be tailored for smaller, more intimate gatherings. Showcasing expansive brick walls, exposed concrete floors, sliding barn-style doors for natural light, and ceilings that rise to over 18 feet; this versatile venue is ideal for all types of special events, including weddings, trade shows, corporate meetings and celebrations.
The producers of Family Food Fest Atlanta produced Real Men Cook Atlanta for 14 years. This year the Family Food Fest partnered with Colgate Palmolive Bright Smiles Bright Futures which included a 35-foot van conducting on the spot dental checkups with local dentists for kids 12 and under.
My day started off as one of the Judges for the event. We all gathered and were instructed on how to judge, assigned to a specific category and shown how to complete our judging forms. I was assigned to Desserts. I thought that it was ironic since I’m a baker. Life’s crazy that way. We were dispersed and headed out to the area to test the competitors items. I love chatting with the owners, chefs and organizations that were apart of the competition and there was indeed some amazing food on display. Here are a few things that the judges had the opportunity to sample as well as the guest of the event.
Chef Arthur Herbert
Shrimp Etoufee
Chef Arthur Herbert
BBQ Shrimp
Chef Matthew McDonald
Stuffed Muffins w/Pork Chicken w/BBQ Pineapple Glazed
The concept for this event is very smart and once your admission is paid you have the option to walk around and sample everything. Definitely great for Father’s Day and the entire family. Once the judging process was complete the officials marched in with a live band. It was amazing. The crowd gathered to cheer them on. As they took their places on the stage to make the formal introductions that would kick off the tasting.
My Bishop William Murphy III, the lead pastor at The dReam Center Church of Atlanta took the stage and brought the crowd into worship singing one of his hits, “This Is My Season”. Followed by a guest performances by The Boykin Girls and Najuma Mulefu. This years Guest Host included HGTV Host Egypt Sherrod and her husband DJ Fadelf on the beats. Stepp Stewart, WSB TV 2 Reporter Tom Jones, Kiss 104.1 FM’s & Art Terrell were among others in attendance.
Special Thanks to this years sponsors Georgia Power, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, UPS, Arby’s, WSB TV 2, Kiss 104.1 FM, WCLK FM, Waffle House, Fulton Dekalb Hospital Authority, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken and MARTA.
This years Honorary Chairmen included Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson, Bishop William Murphy III, Pastor of dReam Center Church; Rev. Dr. Byron Thomas, Pastor Ben Hill UMC; Howard Grant, Atlanta Housing Authority, Dr. John Lipman, Atlanta Fibroid Center. Dekalb Commissioner Lorraine Cochran Johnson and Larry Johnson, Fulton County Commissioners Marvin Arrington and Natalie Hall.
I was excited to learn that in the fall the Atlanta Culinary Charities, a 501c3 nonprofit are scheduled to go into Atlanta Public Schools for after-school programs to teach culinary skills. Such a great initiative.
There was also a silent auction that aided in contributing to the events community initiatives.
Communities in Schools of Georgia, the community partner for Family Food Fest Atlanta 2019 is a nonprofit that goes across the state working to prevent students from dropping out of high school.
For more information and to inquire about attending and/or become a sponsor visit www.familyfoodfestatlanta.com.
