Are You Ready for the 2015 Austin Food and Wine Festival?

If you haven’t already made plans to attend the 2015 Austin Food and Wine Festival on the weekend of April 24 to 26, what exactly are you waiting for? This year’s lineup of food and beverage tastings, chef meet-and-greets, live music, celebrity guests, culinary instruction, book signings, and other daytime and evening events looks amazing.

Below is some essential info and highlights, but there’s way more going on than we can cover here. Get all the info at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com.

Basic Details

Here’s what you need to know to go:

• Taking place Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26, 2015
• Some events are at Auditorium Shores, 800 W. Riverside Dr. Austin, TX 78704
• Others are at Republic Square Park, 422 Guadalupe St. Austin, TX 78701
• Events are for adults 21 and up, and photo ID is required
• Ticket information is at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets

Highlights

The 2015 Austin Food and Wine Festival kicks off Friday night at Republic Square Park with the Taste of Texas bash. More than 15 of Texas’ top chefs are serving up the food, and there’ll be plenty of wine, beer, and cocktails to go around. Eat and drink your way around the park and enjoy live music from Jamestown Revival.

If you can’t hold out till Friday, there’s a prelude event on Thursday night before the festival officially begins. Feast Under the Stars at Auditorium Park involves a classy, locally sourced, 5-course dinner, with each course prepared by one of the five top area chefs.

The Grand Tasting and Sip & Savor are a pivotal part of the festival experience. They’re on Saturday and Sunday at Auditorium Shores. Over 25,000 square feet of space is devoted to showcasing more than 40 artisan food vendors and more than 50 fine wines, beers, and spirits.

The Chef Showcase brings more than 20 renowned chefs from Austin and Central Texas to the festival. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, they’ll prepare and serve samples of their well-known dishes and chat with attendees at Auditorium Shores. See the complete roster of guest appearances at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/chef-showcase.

Expert chefs will host culinary demonstrations and instruction all throughout the weekend. Witness the magic happening and pick up some new cooking techniques, tips, and tricks. Check out the full schedule of culinary demos at www.austinfoodandwinefestival.com/schedule.

Saturday and Sunday’s Hands-On Grilling with Tim Love of Fort Worth’s Lonesome Dove gives you the opportunity to grill with Texas’ famous grilling expert. The Auditorium Shores feature is sure to up your barbecue game. And don’t miss the chance to satisfy your professionally prepared grilled and smoked foods cravings at The Fire Pit.

At Republic Square Park on Saturday, the Rock Your Taco celebrity chef showdown goes down. When it does, 16 celebrity chefs from around the country prepare tacos in a competition to uncover the best one. Attendees get to taste them all, and the event is presided over by four more well-known culinary names: Graham Eliot, Andrew Zimmerman, Christina Grdovic, and Gail Simmons.

And Much More

As we said, there’s way too much going on to write about it all here. If you’re in the area, we highly recommend attending the 2105 Austin Food and Wine Festival. It’s a fantastic opportunity to explore Texas food culture, indulge your taste for high-quality food and beverages, meet and learn from great chefs, and of course just have a blast.