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Everything you need to know about the first Big Queer Food Fest in Boston
BQFF's inaugural, week-long food festival is taking over Boston this spring.
Boston is getting a new food festival this spring: The Big Queer Food Fest.
The inaugural, week-long BQFF will bring together chefs, bartenders, and restaurateurs from across the U.S. to Boston hospitality spaces for programming that includes cocktail competitions, discussions with authors, and plenty of eating and drinking, of course.
BQFF was actually founded in 2023 as one-off pop-ups and culinary events in Boston and other cities, but this year marks the first time BQFF will be a full-scale, week-long festival.
“What makes BQFF special is how it brings together every aspect of queer food culture — from acclaimed chefs to innovative wine and spirit makers, from established restaurants to emerging culinary voices,” David Lewis, co-founder of BQFF, said in a press release. “The overwhelming response to our inaugural festival showed us that there’s a real hunger for spaces that celebrate and showcase queer talent and creativity.”
The festival is co-presented by Meet Boston, the city’s tourism arm, and BQFF is partnering with several non-profits, like Community Servings, Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth, and GLAAD.
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Ahead of Boston’s newest food festival event, here’s what to know and how you can attend.
Big Queer Food Fest lineup
The festival’s main events will run from April 28 to May 4. Programming includes:
April 28: A BQFF opening party hosted by Tiffani Faison of Sweet Cheeks Q and Tenderoni’s Pizza. The kickoff event will be held at Faison’s barbecue restaurant.
April 29: Big Queer Beer Meet-Up at Dorchester Brewing. There will be beer, alcohol-free drinks, and food.
April 30: Chef’s Dinner at Karen Akunowicz’s Bar Volpe. The James Beard winner will be joined by guest chef Gabe Bertaccini of Netflix’s Say I Do and Top Chef alum Melissa King for a dinner party that will include multiple courses and cocktail or wine pairings.
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April 30: BQFF Cocktail Wars finals at Shore Leave. Following the first and second rounds of this bartending competition on April 8 (Blend) and April 23 (Club Cafe), respectively, attendees will find out the winner after one final round.
May 1: Girl, PEAS! Why Queer Food Matters discussion at High Street Place. The event will include cookbook and food authors John Birdsall, Justin Burke, Erik Piepenburg, Melissa King, and Jon Kung.
May 1: Big Queer Tea Party at the Boston Tea Party Museum. The evening will include tea-infused cocktails, wine, high tea food from pastry chef Mai Nguyen, and drag performances.
May 2: WBUR’s Curated Cuisine discussion at the WBUR CitySpace. This conversation about celebrating the LGBTQ+ culinary community will be moderated by WBUR’s Cristela Guerra and feature chefs Mavis-Jay Sanders, Akunowicz, and Arnold Myint. Sanders will also provide a live-cooking demonstration.
May 3-4: Grand Tasting event. This two-day event is the culmination of BQFF as well as its biggest event, presented by Food Network and located at High and Federal streets, inside and outside of the High Street Place food hall. Attendees will get to choose from dozens of food and drink vendors and catch some entertainment from DJs and drag performers.
Who will be at Big Queer Food Fest?
Boston attendees can expect to see some familiar faces from the city’s culinary scene, including Faison, Akunowicz, Haley Fortier of haley.henry, Rob Gonzalez from Niveaux Patisserie, Cook’s Illustrated editor-in-chief Dan Souza, and Brendan Pelley of Krasi and Bar Vlaha.
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There are also other food television personalities, cookbook authors, James Beard-nominated and -winning chefs, and RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants at various events throughout the week.
How to attend Big Queer Food Fest
Tickets are on sale now for the Grand Tasting event, starting as low as $95 for general admission and costing as high as $475 for VIP tickets to both Saturday and Sunday. Children 2 years old or younger can enter for free, and tickets cost $25 for ages 3 to 12.
Guests can attend Faison’s hosted kickoff party for $50, while the chef dinner at Bar Volpe costs between $250 to $500.
The tea party event is charging $40 for entry. Tickets are also now available for purchase for the WBUR-hosted event Friday, costing $10 to $30.
The festival week’s free events include the Dorchester beer meet-up and the Cocktail Wars finals, and the Girl, PEAS! discussion.
According to the BQFF, information about tickets for other events will be announced soon.
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