A chef dinner opens the weekend. Saturday offers jazz brunch and barbecue in different settings. Sunday brings chefs and tasting stations to The Myrtles grounds.
The St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival returns November 13–15, 2026, with four events built around the culinary connections between Louisiana and Mississippi.
Rather than gathering everyone at one location for three days, the festival moves among Restaurant 1796, the St. Francisville Inn, North Commerce, and The Myrtles. Each setting gives the weekend a different rhythm, from a seated dinner to an afternoon spent exploring tasting stations.
All events are for guests 21 and older, according to the organizer’s published schedule. Booking arrangements vary by event, so visitors should choose their preferred experience before making reservations.
A Louisiana Weekend With a Two-State Menu
The festival’s official website describes the annual gathering as a celebration of Louisiana and Mississippi’s culinary culture, combining chef-led events with wine, cocktails, spirits, craft beer, and entertainment.
That regional focus is clearest in Sunday’s Grand Tastings, where chefs from both states are scheduled to serve signature dishes. Saturday’s barbecue event adds live-fire cooking and regional beverage producers to the mix.
The festival also appears in 225 magazine’s November events calendar, which lists the November 13–15 dates among the Capital Region’s scheduled gatherings.
For visitors, the appeal is not simply the number of events. It is the choice between different ways of encountering the food: following a dinner’s courses, sitting down to brunch, or moving among cooks and tasting stations.
That choice matters when planning the weekend. A restaurant reservation and a walk-around tasting are different experiences, even when they share a festival name.
Friday Opens With a Visiting Chef Dinner
The weekend begins Friday, November 13, at Restaurant 1796, where Rob Mistry, executive chef of Gautreau’s in New Orleans, will lead the Visiting Chef Dinner.
The organizer describes a five-course menu accompanied by wines, craft cocktails, and entertainment. Seatings are listed between 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The dinner places a visiting chef’s menu at the center of the evening. Unlike Sunday’s tasting format, it is organized around a restaurant seating and a course sequence.
It also has its own booking process. The festival listing directs guests to a separate Resy reservation page for this event, so a ticket purchased for another part of the weekend should not be treated as a dinner reservation.
Saturday Splits Between Jazz and Barbecue
Jazz Brunch is scheduled for Saturday, November 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the St. Francisville Inn.
The published program begins in the courtyard with cocktails, passed hors d’oeuvres, selected wines, and Dixieland jazz by the Tom Fischer Trio. Guests then move into the dining rooms for a multicourse brunch prepared by Executive Chef Michael Dardenne.
That progression makes the setting part of the event: a courtyard gathering followed by a seated meal indoors.
Elsewhere in town, Bubbles & BBQ takes place at North Commerce. VIP admission begins at 11 a.m., while general admission begins at noon. Both admission periods end at 3 p.m.
The advertised program includes live-fire cooking stations, Champagne, regional craft beer, live entertainment, and opportunities to sample natural wines, spirits, and specialty foods.
Because the two Saturday events overlap, visitors should consider which format best fits their plans rather than assume they can comfortably attend both in full.
Sunday Brings the Grand Tastings to The Myrtles
The festival concludes with the Grand Tastings on Sunday, November 15.
VIP admission begins at noon, followed by general admission at 1 p.m. The organizer’s program lists more than 40 tasting stations across The Myrtles’ grounds, with participating Louisiana and Mississippi chefs serving signature dishes.
Wine stations are scheduled to offer more than 40 selections. A beer garden will feature craft beer from both states, while the “Spirits of The Myrtles” courtyard will focus on regional distillers’ spirits and cocktails.
Sunday’s format allows guests to move among different dishes rather than follow one restaurant’s menu. Visitors can explore the regional connection station by station, through the participating chefs and producers.
The grounds serve as the setting, but the program’s focus remains the food and beverages brought together for the afternoon.
Plan Around the Individual Event
The official festival ticket listing provides the event descriptions, admission options, and booking links.
Check the selected event’s current availability and purchase conditions before arranging a visit. The Visiting Chef Dinner requires a separate reservation, and the other events have their own admission choices.
The venues are not interchangeable, either. Confirm the destination, date, and entry time, especially on Saturday, when brunch and barbecue take place at different locations.
The weekend offers several ways to explore the same regional food community without following one fixed itinerary. When neighboring states meet around a table, would you rather discover their connections through a carefully paced dinner or a new dish at every tasting station?
