Asheville food festival, nonprofit permanently shut down by local organizers

Tiana Kennell, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read

ASHEVILLE - A premier food festival series designed to celebrate local and regional foodways and culture has come to an end.

Chow Chow Food and Culture Festival has been permanently canceled and its nonprofit shut down by organizers.

Chow Chow Food and Culture Festival celebrated and showcased Southern Appalachian foodways through a series of events and programs. Pictured: Samples of Brasstown beef carpaccio, Looking Glass feta, charred Anaheim pepper and peach relish at the Red Stag Grill booth at Chow Chow, September 8, 2023, in Asheville.
Chow Chow Food and Culture Festival celebrated and showcased Southern Appalachian foodways through a series of events and programs. Pictured: Samples of Brasstown beef carpaccio, Looking Glass feta, charred Anaheim pepper and peach relish at the Red Stag Grill booth at Chow Chow, September 8, 2023, in Asheville.

On Feb. 9, a statement posted on Chow Chow’s website read:

“We here at Chow Chow have had to make the difficult and very unfortunate decision to shut down our festival and non-profit permanently. 

So many people, including all of you, have given so much passion and energy, beyond compare, in building something that was so special and different as a festival and gathering space, and you should all be so proud.  Endless new relationships forged, conversations around tables that brought so many closer together, and all the years of excitement in celebrating our food systems, our community, and all of what makes our home so precious to us all.

We thank each and every one of you for your immeasurable talents, creativity, passion and drive to lift up this unique community that we all love and care to see thrive. May it always continue to evolve, and bring so much pride to our beloved mountain home, especially through your continued support of it. May the seed we all planted grow into so much more in the years to come.

Thank you for being a part of what made Chow Chow so special.”

In 2023, Chow Chow Food + Culture Festival was hosted with dinners, workshops, performances, tastings, talks and demonstrations across the city of Asheville and downtown at Pack Square Park.
In 2023, Chow Chow Food + Culture Festival was hosted with dinners, workshops, performances, tastings, talks and demonstrations across the city of Asheville and downtown at Pack Square Park.

Chow Chow’s mission statement described the group as "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to celebrating and enriching the foodways of Southern Appalachia and Asheville's creative economy, led by a community of chefs, makers, artists, farmers, storytellers, and entrepreneurs."

The festival was said to be designed to "present immersive, educational and entertaining programming exploring the unique foodways of Southern Appalachia while fostering dialogue about community issues including racial justice, climate change and food justice.”

Chow Chow’s board was made up of members of the local hospitality industry, including chefs, restaurant owners and food and beverage producers, and the festival has had multiple executive directors since its founding.

In 2019, Chow Chow was founded by local community culinary leaders, including James Beard Award-winning chefs Katie Button, Meherwan Irani and John Fleer, and East Fork’s co-founder Connie Matisse.

That year, the first event was hosted as a four-day event in Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville with chefs, craft beverage producers, regional farmers, artists, culinary makers and more showcasing Southern Appalachian foodways.

Chow Chow Food and Culture Festival was introduced in 2019 to celebrate Appalachian foodways.
Chow Chow Food and Culture Festival was introduced in 2019 to celebrate Appalachian foodways.

The event has struggled to find its groove, which leaders have attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, in what would have been the second year of the festival, the event was canceled and resumed in 2021.

In 2021 and 2022, Chow Chow reemerged as “The Summer of Chow Chow,” a multiday event with programs presented over three months including open-air events, tasting sessions, vendor markets, conversations and forums.

In 2023, Chow Chow’s format was again modified and reintroduced with a condensed calendar. The festival returned downtown, primarily hosted in Pack Square Park and other local venues in the city.

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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Chow Chow Food, Culture Festival canceled, nonprofit shut down