About the Festival

header about the festival
About the Festival

Celebrating 22 Years

Helping to EAT. DRINK. EDUCATE.

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One (SOBEWFF®) is a national, star-studded, four-day destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities.
All net proceeds from the Festival benefit the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
SOBEWFF® takes place February 22-25, 2024
$37M+
Benefiting FIU
65K+
Attendees
110+
Festival Events
550+
Culinary & Industry Experts
3.95B
Marketing & PR Impressions
1,500+
Volunteers

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fiu image

Our Festival is hosted by the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol and benefits hospitality students at Florida International University.

Hosted by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Florida International University (FIU), the Festival benefits FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center. Each year, more than 1,500 students and volunteers gain invaluable real-world experience at the Festival – which serves as an interactive educational platform for the future leaders of the hospitality industry. To date, the Festival has raised more than $37 million for the School.

See FIU Students in Action

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Our History

Having just celebrated its 22nd year, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One began as a one-day festival known as the Florida Extravaganza held at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus.

1997

For five years, from 1997-2001, the Florida Extravaganza showcased wines from national and international wineries paired with food from local restaurants and chefs working with students of FIU’s School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

2002

In 2002, Lee Brian Schrager, then Director of Special Events & Media Relations at Southern Wine & Spirits of America, took the reins of the one-day festival and brought his vision for the Festival to life by relocating it to South Beach. The renamed South Beach Wine & Food Festival® was held March 15 – 17, 2002. It attracted close to 7,000 guests and featured the debut of the BubbleQ®, Grand Tasting Village, a series of dinners, seminars, and a live auction.

2005

The first Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best event took place at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach during the 2005 Festival.

2006

In 2006, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival® celebrated its fifth anniversary and became one of the largest and most well-known festivals of its kind in the country.

2007

The Festival entered into the beginning of its partnership with Food Network in 2006, during the planning stages of the 2007 Festival. The resulting Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival took place February 22 – 25, 2007 and attracted 30,000 guests. The newly renamed Festival also featured the first-ever Burger Bash® hosted by Rachael Ray.

2008

The Festival debuted its large-scale, family-friendly program – Fun and Fit as a Family, which still takes place each year for two days during the Festival weekend. Attendance at the Festival surpassed 50,000 guests this year.

2009

The Festival welcomed King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain to Miami for a special tribute to the wines and food of Spain.

2011

In 2011, the Festival celebrated 10 years and released the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook: Recipes and Behind-the-Scenes Stories from America’s Hottest Chefs (Clarkson Potter, November 2010), written by Lee Brian Schrager with Julie Mautner, featuring a foreword by Anthony Bourdain.

2014

The Festival celebrated the opening of the newly constructed Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Laboratory at FIU, a state-of-the-art teaching facility built as a result of funds raised by SOBEWFF®.

2016

The Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary with an expansion of its physical footprint into Broward County with the launch of the Taste Fort Lauderdale Series.

2018

The Festival collaborated with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Research Division to report that the 2018 Festival had an estimated economic impact of more than $34 million on Miami-Dade County.

2020

The 19th annual edition of the Festival attracted more than 65,000 guests to its 100+ events throughout the five-day weekend, which took place at various locations throughout South Florida. To date, the Festival has raised more than $31.8 million for the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

2021

The Festival celebrated its 20th Anniversary in style from May 20-23, 2021, alongside 35K+ attendees! 20 years of supporting local chefs and restaurants. 20 years of serving your favorite sips & bites. 20 years of supporting the community with our continued mission to EAT. DRINK. EDUCATE. Cheers to 20 years more!

2022

Pop the bubbly! SOBEWFF® celebrated 21 years in style February 24-27, 2022, alongside 60K+ attendees. Celebrities like Kate Hudson, Adam Levine, Dwyane Wade, Eva Longoria and more joined chefs, restaurants, and wine and spirit brands on the sands of Miami Beach to celebrate all things delicious.

2023

The Festival took over the Magic City February 23-26 with its largest edition ever welcoming nearly 65K fans and hosting 110+ events. This year the Festival hired Clean Vibes, a company formed and dedicated to responsible on-site waste management to implement a three-stream waste collection system to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill through recycling and composting. Between recycling, the Festival’s Green Team diverted over 43 tons (86,127 lbs.) of waste from the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting and North Venue events.

Looking Forward to 2024!

SOBEWFF® will return for its 23rd edition on February 22-25, 2024. Stay up to date all year long by following along with the #SOBEWFF hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
View 2023 Lineup

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