Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival Debuts September 21-22, 2013; Produced by Caleb and Nathan Followill of the Kings of Leon, Chef Jonathan Waxman, Vector Management's Ken Levitan and Andy Mendelsohn, and C3 Presents

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- GRAMMY-Award winning artists Caleb and Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, world-renowned chef Jonathan Waxman, Vector Management's Ken Levitan and Andy Mendelsohn, and C3 Presents (whose festival production credentials include Austin City Limits Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and Austin FOOD & WINE Festival), are pleased to announce the debut of Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival, September 21-22, 2013. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 17, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. CT at www.musiccityeats.com.

Quintessentially Southern with soulful spirit, Music City Eats brings together acclaimed national chefs and superstars of the local culinary scene for Nashville's inaugural Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival. Featuring local restaurant showcases, cooking demonstrations, wine, beer & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions and, of course, live music, Music City Eats will present the best of high and low cuisine, dishing up authentic Southern flavor in a fresh, inspiring way.

"Nashville is proud to host Music City Eats at Public Square, the front lawn of our city, to showcase our best tastes and sounds," Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. "The unique combination of music and food falls right into the sweet spot of where we are as a city these days."

"With a lineup that includes chefs Jonathan Waxman and Tim Love, and hosts Caleb and Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, FOOD & WINE couldn't pass up the opportunity to partner on the first-ever Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine, & Spirits Festival," said FOOD & WINE Magazine SVP and Publisher Christina Grdovic. "We believe that music is an essential ingredient of the FOOD & WINE experience, and there isn't a better place to experience it than in Nashville."

"Nashville, long admired for its music and hospitality, has had an enormous explosion of culinary talent in recent years," said Jonathan Waxman. "A few years ago, Caleb Followill quietly slipped into my restaurant Barbuto in New York, and we bonded over food and music, and throughout our many conversations, he kept asking why there wasn't a food and wine festival in his hometown of Nashville.  We are inviting some truly amazing chefs from around the country, and most importantly, the best chefs and restaurants in Nashville. I am extremely excited by our shindig, and the Kings and I can't wait until September rolls around."

Taking place in downtown Nashville, Music City Eats will showcase local, regional and national chefs.  On Saturday and Sunday, Public Square Park festival grounds will host cooking demos, panel discussions, book signings, and the Flavors of Nashville, where the city's top chefs and restaurants will serve their Southern dishes and fabled Nashville favorites, along with distinguished wine, beer and spirits purveyors on Saturday, and a new batch of chefs and restaurants dishing up a Revival Brunch on Sunday.

A signature event of Music City Eats is Saturday night's Harvest Night presented by CITI and Petty Fest presented by Jameson at War Memorial Plaza and Auditorium. Featuring some of the country's best chefs serving signature dishes, Harvest Night will offer attendees the opportunity to sample dishes from coast-to-coast, under a nearly full moon and Nashville sky before attending the all-star Petty Fest Nashville.  Paying tribute to the legendary music of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Petty Fest Nashville celebrates all things Petty, and will be hosted by the Kings of Leon and the Cabin Down Below band, along with many other very special guests.

"We love food as much as music and believe that Nashville can be a foodie haven if given the proper exposure to all of our great chef friends, which is why we are putting this festival on," said Nathan Followill. 

Flavors Of Nashville will feature an all-star line-up of chefs, including: Erik Anderson & Josh Habiger (The Catbird Seat); Carey Bringle (Pegleg Porker); Matt Farley (The Southern); Sarah Gavigan (Otaku South); Joseph Lenn (The Barn at Blackberry Farm); Pat Martin (Martin's Barbecue); Deb Paquette (Etch); Giovanni Pinato (Giovanni Ristorante); Barclay Stratton (Merchants); Tandy Wilson (City House); and many more to be announced.             

Featured chefs at Harvest Night will include: John Besh (Besh Restaurant Group); Tom Colicchio (Craft Restaurants, Riverpark); Giada De Laurentiis (Chef, Author); Mike Lata (FIG, The Ordinary); Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, Milkwood); Donald Link (Herbsaint, Cochon, Butcher, Calcasieu, Peche); Tim Love (The Lonesome Dove, Queenie's, Woodshed Smokehouse, Love Shack, White Elephant Saloon); Aaron Sanchez (Mestizo); Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun); Nancy Silverton (Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza);  Michael Symon (Lola, Lolita, Roast, B Spot); Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto); and Trisha Yearwood (Musician, Author).

Ticket options include a Two-Day Pass or All-In Pass, and all attendees must be 21 years of age or older. The 2-Day Pass ($275 per person) includes access to cooking demonstrations, wine & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions, Saturday's Flavors of Nashville and Sunday's Flavors of Nashville Revival Brunch, and a one-year FOOD & WINE Magazine Subscription (US Only). 

The All-In Pass ($500 per person) includes access to cooking demonstrations, wine & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions, Saturday's Flavors of Nashville and Sunday's Flavors of Nashville Revival Brunch, a one-year FOOD & WINE Magazine Subscription (US Only), as well as Saturday's Harvest Night presented by CITI and Petty Fest presented by Jameson.

To purchase tickets, please visit www.musiccityeats.com, or follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/musiccityeats) and Facebook (Facebook.com/musiccityeats).  Additional chefs, along with the programming schedule, will be announced in the coming weeks.

For media credentials: www.musiccityeats.com/press 

Music City Eats is generously sponsored by FOOD & WINE Magazine, Citi, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

MEDIA CONTACT:  BALTZ & COMPANY
SARAH ABELL, 917.584.8567
[email protected]
SAM ALVIANI, 303.296.2711
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SOURCE Music City Eats