2024 Southern Foodways Symposium

Make plans to join the Southern Foodways Alliance in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sunday, October 27 and Monday, October 28, for our 27^th Southern Foodways Symposium.

SFA will weave together engaging talks, great food, compelling films, and thought-provoking conversations. We’ll tell stories of the people who power our restaurants, asking, who serves the restaurant and whom does the restaurant serve?

We’ll explore the role of social media influencers in the modern restaurant landscape. We’ll tell stories of the Triangle restaurants that reflected, and continue to reflect, the distinct cultures and personalities of this growing region. We’ll sing “Happy Birthday” like we’re working the Friday dinner shift at Bennigan’s.  Our roster of speakers and chefs include Dr. Blair LM Kelley, director of UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South and author of Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class; Cheetie Kumar, chef, indie rocker, and restaurateur; and Hunter Lewis, the North Carolina–bred Food & Wine Editor in Chief, just to name a few.

Through film, we’ll celebrate our Egerton, Keeper of the Flame, and Lifetime Achievement award winners. And we’ll spotlight some of the organizations working across the South and beyond to improve working conditions and to meet critical needs for restaurant workers.

Symposium tickets go on sale August 15, 2024.