Food Influencers Will Get The Fandom Treatment At First Ever FoodieCon

Founded in 2001, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is entering its 22nd year. The festival runs for four days from Thursday, February 23 to Sunday, February 26, and in addition to being old enough to drink, this year's festival is adding a new all-day event that's basically its own mini-festival. Other events include dinners with well-known chefs (like the Michelin-starred Juan-Manuel Barrientos) and Food Network stars alike, such as a tasting event with popular Italian chef Giada de Laurentiis, which is apparently one of the festival's most popular offerings (via South Beach Wine & Food Festival). 

The weekend brings more hands-on activities like masterclasses — even a kids' baking master class — as well as more unexpected choices at a food festival like Sunday morning yoga, which you can follow up with a boozy drag brunch (per SOBEWFF). While most of these events are only a few hours, this year the festival is offering a new all-day event on Saturday called FoodieCon.

FoodieCon is a mini-festival in and of itself, bringing together popular food influencers and TikTok stars like Black Forager, The Pasta Queen, Lynja, Succulent Bite, Robert Lucas, Everything Delish, Jessica Woo, Jeremy Scheck, Salt Hank, Owen Han, Nick DiGiovanni, The Golden Balance, and Wishbone Kitchen (per SOBEWFF). This list of names encompasses only some of the social media stars you can expect to see at this daylong event, which will include book signings, photo ops, question-and-answer panels, Instagram-ready cooking demos, and more.

The event is being put on in partnership with Digital Brand Architects, who are providing the talent from their roster of social media and content-creating stars (via Business Wire). The first of its kind, the event is a full-day immersive experience that begins at 10 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. While all food and drinks you encounter in the Con are included in your ticket price, tickets to FoodieCon itself are $95. Considering a "mangos and mimosas" cooking masterclass will run you $105 and probably lasts about 90 minutes, this all-day event sounds like a steal. The day-long Con will culminate in a poolside reception where attendees can rub elbows with their favorite creators. Bonus: Festival goers staying at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the official host of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, can get into FoodieCon for free simply by showing their room key.