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Health & Fitness

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival Begins

Celebrate Southern flavors at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival this weekend

Enjoy all that is Southern with award-winning chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, pitmasters, and beverage innovators at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival May 11-13 in Midtown Atlanta. The South has never tasted so good!

The Welcome Center (which you’ll have to pass through to get your credentials, wristbands, and a healthy dose of Southern hospitality) is set up at the corner of 11th & Juniper streets. Take advantage of the Festival Toolkit to plan your weekend with schedules, maps, dinner overviews, and everything in between.

The individual tasting tent tickets for a particular afternoon cost $100. Tasting tents will be open Fri., May 11, 3— 6 p.m.; Sat., May 12, 12:30 — 3:30 p.m.; and Sun., May 13, 1:30 — 4:30 p.m. Each tent will feature tasting trails that allow guests to sample several variations of the same dish, one after another, for optimal side-by-side comparing.

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A regular day pass is $180 and includes three Learning Experiences (cooking & cocktail demonstrations, food & beverage tasting seminars, panel discussions), one tasting tent session, a festival goodie back, and a one-year subscription to FOOD & WINE or Travel + Leisure. A Connoisseur day pass is $700 includes three Connoisseur Learning Experiences (exclusive tastings and demonstrations), one Tasting Tent Session with VIP entrance, one Connoisseur Breakfast, one evening dinner, and some other fancy stuff.

Regular three-day passes are $500 and a three-day Connoisseur pass is $2,000

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With Midtown as the backdrop for the 2012 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, there are great opportunities to enjoy the neighborhood’s unique offerings. After you’ve tasted and sipped some of the best dishes and cocktails in the Southeast, discover some of Midtown’s best cultural sights and events as well. Here’s a list of some exciting Midtown events taking place while you’re visiting:

Smell the flowers at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

  • An Atlanta staple for over 35 years, the Atlanta Botanical Garden offers unique plant displays, education for visitors and weekly events. Be sure to stop and smell the roses in the beautiful Rose Garden.

Rhapsody in Blue and World Premiere at Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (May 10th – 12th)

  • Pianist Leon Bates performs Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, Robert Spano, conducts the world premiere of Different Rivers by Alvin Singleton.

KAWS: Down Time exhibit at the High Museum of Art

  • Organized exclusively for the High Museum, Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly showcases his largest exhibition to date. The exhibit features bright colors, pop art and a collection of his drawings.

Live jazz at Kat’s Café. (May 10th)

  • The folks at the Atlanta Jazz Festival have declared the month of May 31 Days of Jazz. On the 10th day, enjoy live jazz at Midtown’s Kat’s Café.

Tour the Margaret Mitchell House

  • See where author Margaret Mitchell once lived and wrote the Pulitzer- Prize winning book Gone With the Wind.
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