West Feliciana Parish Louisiana Food and Wine Festival
When November settles over the Mississippi River bluffs, the town of St. Francisville turns its historic rooms and gardens over to chefs, winemakers and hungry visitors. The gathering printed as the St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival — also printed with the word and spelled out — is the parish’s autumn table: a ticketed weekend of tasting stations, poured wines and long lunches, anchored at The Myrtles and spread across the town’s old venues. It began on a Sunday in November 2019 and reached a seventh annual edition in 2025 that drew about two thousand people. The next Grand Tastings falls on Sunday 15 November 2026, from one to five in the afternoon.
About
The sheet title for this article is never printed in the layers read, so the article uses the published names throughout. St. Francisville is the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish, and the festival belongs to the town in the most literal way: its main event sits at The Myrtles, on US 61, and its other gatherings take place across historic venues including the St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory. Two organiser forms are documented, and they are kept separate here. One magazine layer describes the weekend as co-produced by The Myrtles and a regional magazine; a venue layer names the St. Francisville Food & Wine Committee. The two forms stay separate throughout this article.
The festival is a ticketed tasting weekend rather than a street fair. Its centrepiece is the Grand Tastings, a Sunday afternoon of chef stations and poured wines at The Myrtles, and around it sit winemaker dinners, a craft beer garden, a spirits courtyard, chef demonstrations, a jazz brunch and Bubbles & BBQ. The 2025 edition drew about two thousand attendees, according to magazine and organiser layers, and the 2026 Grand Tastings prices its general admission at one hundred forty-five dollars and its VIP admission at two hundred seventy-five dollars, per the organiser’s own layer.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Published names | St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival and St. Francisville Food and Wine Festival |
| Host town | St. Francisville, the parish seat |
| Main venue | The Myrtles, on US 61 |
| Other venues | The St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory, among historic venues |
| Organisers | Co-produced by The Myrtles and a regional magazine; St. Francisville Food & Wine Committee |
| Inaugural edition | Sunday 17 November 2019 |
| Latest edition | Seventh annual, 8–10 November 2025 |
| Next Grand Tastings | Sunday 15 November 2026, one to five in the afternoon |
| Admission | Ticketed; Grand Tastings general admission one hundred forty-five dollars, VIP two hundred seventy-five dollars, for 2026 |
| Programme | Chef tasting stations, wines, craft beer garden, spirits courtyard, winemaker dinners, Bubbles & BBQ, jazz brunch, chef demos, live entertainment |
History
The festival’s history is short, well dated and easy to follow. Its inaugural edition fell on Sunday 17 November 2019, per a magazine layer. The third annual edition followed on 13 and 14 November 2021, and the fourth annual on 11 to 13 November 2022, both per magazine layers. The seventh annual edition ran from 8 to 10 November 2025, with its Grand Tastings on Sunday 9 November at The Myrtles, per the organiser’s own layer, and a visitors’ bureau layer reports a first-place dish winner from that Sunday. The 2026 edition carries the pattern forward with Sunday Grand Tastings on 15 November 2026, from one to five in the afternoon, again per the organiser’s own layer.
No founding year is derived from any billing in this article, and none is needed: the inaugural date is documented directly. What the dated run shows is a weekend that found its shape quickly and then held it. From the start it was a November event, centred on The Myrtles, built around chef stations and wines, and ticketed rather than open-gated. The billings climb steadily — third, fourth, seventh — and the crowd grows to about two thousand by 2025, with the programme growing alongside it.
For a useful comparison, see the West Feliciana Parish Louisiana Yellow Leaf Art Festival for another county festival.
What to Expect
A November weekend at the St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival is built around tasting, and the Grand Tastings is where most visitors spend their longest stretch. Thirty to forty-plus chef stations set out small plates across the grounds of The Myrtles, with forty-plus wines poured alongside them, and the afternoon moves at the pace of a long lunch rather than a race between stalls. Chef demonstrations run through the weekend, and live entertainment keeps the grounds lively without drowning out conversation.
Beyond the tastings, the weekend spreads across the town’s historic venues. A craft beer garden and a spirits courtyard offer a change of glass for visitors who want something other than wine, winemaker dinners turn an evening into a seated meal with the people behind the bottles, and Bubbles & BBQ pairs sparkling wine with smoked meats. The jazz brunch closes the weekend on a slower note, with music over a late-morning table. The St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory host events of their own, so a visitor’s weekend is rarely confined to a single address.
The atmosphere is grown-up and unhurried. This is not a fairground of rides and games; it is a gathering for people who like to eat and drink well and talk about what they are tasting. Dress is smart rather than formal, the November air on the bluffs can turn cool after sunset, and visitors who arrive hungry and unhurried get the most from it.
Planning Your Visit
Tickets are the first thing to settle, because the weekend is ticketed and the Grand Tastings is its centrepiece. For 2026, general admission to the Grand Tastings is priced at one hundred forty-five dollars and VIP admission at two hundred seventy-five dollars, per the organiser’s own layer. Book the tastings first, then build the rest of the weekend around them: winemaker dinners and the jazz brunch are separate gatherings with their own arrangements, and the venues are spread across town rather than gathered on one field.
St. Francisville is a small town on the Mississippi bluffs, and its historic venues are close together. The Myrtles sits on US 61, and the St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory are among the town’s old buildings that host festival events. Walking between venues is part of the weekend’s pleasure. November in this part of Louisiana is usually mild by day and cool after dark, so a light layer for the evening is worth packing, and those staying the night should arrange lodging early, since the weekend’s attendance runs to about two thousand and the town itself is small.
A Sample Weekend
A first-time visitor with a full weekend could shape it like this. Arrive on Friday afternoon and spend the evening at a winemaker dinner, where a seated meal pairs courses with the wines of a single producer. Saturday is for wandering: walk the historic streets in the morning, stop at the craft beer garden or the spirits courtyard in the afternoon, and catch a chef demonstration before the evening’s events begin.
Sunday belongs to the Grand Tastings. Arrive at The Myrtles when the gates open at one in the afternoon, and work the chef stations slowly rather than trying to cover them all at once, tasting a plate, talking to the chef behind it, and then moving on with a glass in hand. Save room for the wines you have not tried, and leave the last hour for the stations you marked on a first pass. If the jazz brunch is part of your ticket, let it close the weekend the next morning at an unhurried pace.
How It Compares
St. Francisville hosts more than one autumn gathering, and the food and wine weekend is easy to tell apart from its neighbour. The Yellow Leaf Art Festival, held in the same town in late October, fills Parker Park with artists, makers, live painters and spoken word; its currency is paint, pottery and handmade jewelry. The food and wine festival, a fortnight or so later, trades the park for historic rooms and the artists’ stalls for chef stations and poured wines. One is free and open to the park; the other is ticketed and built around a tasting afternoon.
Set against the run of Louisiana parish festivals more broadly, this weekend stands out for its setting and its scale. Most parish gatherings are open-air street fairs with free entry and a midway feel. This one is ticketed and spread across a handful of historic houses, with a programme built for adults who want a slow, well-fed afternoon. Its crowd of about two thousand is modest beside the big regional fairs, and that modesty is part of the point: the rooms stay intimate, the chefs stay reachable, and the weekend feels like a gathering rather than a crowd.
Checklist
- Book Grand Tastings tickets before anything else, and confirm whether winemaker dinners and the jazz brunch need separate bookings
- Decide between general admission and VIP for the Sunday tastings, and note the price difference before choosing
- Bring a light layer for cool November evenings on the bluffs
- Wear comfortable shoes for walking between historic venues across town
- Carry water as well as wine, and pace the tastings across the afternoon
- Keep a small notebook or phone note for the dishes and wines worth remembering
- Arrange overnight lodging early, since the town is small and the weekend draws about two thousand people
- Allow extra driving time for the river road into St. Francisville
- Check the organiser’s own layer nearer the date for final hours and venue assignments
Beyond the Festival
The festival’s venues are worth lingering in after the tastings end. The Myrtles is a historic house on US 61, and its rooms and grounds carry the weekend’s main event; the St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory are among the town’s other old buildings that open their doors for festival gatherings. Walking the streets between them is a pleasure in itself, and the historic district rewards visitors who slow down and look at the houses, the gardens and the river views.
Beyond the town, West Feliciana Parish offers the quieter side of Louisiana — river roads, plantation country and the bluffs that give the parish its name. A visitor with an extra day can drive the river road or simply sit above the Mississippi and watch the barges move past. The festival is the reason most visitors come in November, but the parish itself is the reason many of them stay an extra day.
Why It Matters
A ticketed food and wine weekend in a town the size of St. Francisville matters because it puts a small parish on the culinary map of Louisiana. The chefs behind the thirty to forty-plus tasting stations come with their own followings, the forty-plus wines give visitors a reason to talk about pairings rather than just plates, and the attendance of about two thousand people in 2025 shows that the weekend has grown beyond a local supper into a regional draw.
It matters, too, because it treats food as culture rather than as a sideshow. The winemaker dinners, the chef demonstrations and the jazz brunch all ask visitors to slow down and pay attention to what they are eating and drinking, and the historic venues give that attention a setting worthy of it. The festival does not try to be the biggest gathering in the state; it tries to be the most considered one in its parish, and the dated record suggests it is succeeding on its own terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What name do listings and posters use for this weekend?
Look for the St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival, also printed as the St. Francisville Food and Wine Festival. The sheet title for this article is never printed in the layers read, so listings, posters and the organiser’s own layer all use the St. Francisville forms. Either form points to the same November weekend in the same town.
What does a Grand Tastings ticket actually cover?
A Grand Tastings ticket covers the Sunday afternoon tasting session at The Myrtles, with its chef stations and poured wines, from one to five in the afternoon. Winemaker dinners and the jazz brunch are separate gatherings with their own arrangements. For 2026, general admission is one hundred forty-five dollars and VIP admission is two hundred seventy-five dollars, per the organiser’s own layer.
How far ahead should a first-time visitor plan for the November weekend?
Tickets should be settled first, since the weekend is ticketed and the Grand Tastings is its centrepiece, and overnight lodging should be arranged early as well, because St. Francisville is a small town and the weekend draws about two thousand people. The dated record gives the pattern: the Grand Tastings falls on a Sunday in mid-November, and the 2026 edition is set for Sunday 15 November 2026.
What makes this festival different from a general food fair?
The difference is in the setting and the pace. A general food fair is usually an open-air street gathering with free entry, rides and a midway feel. This weekend is ticketed, built around chef tasting stations and poured wines, and spread across historic venues including The Myrtles, the St. Francisville Inn and The Mallory. It is a gathering for people who want to taste, talk to the chefs and winemakers, and spend a slow afternoon in old rooms rather than a quick lap of food stalls.
What to Expect From the Next West Feliciana Parish Louisiana Food and Wine Festival
How often is West Feliciana Parish Louisiana Food and Wine Festival held?
The documented pattern is a single November weekend each year. The record shows an inaugural edition in November 2019, a third annual edition in November 2021, a fourth annual edition in November 2022, and a seventh annual edition in November 2025, with the next Grand Tastings set for November 2026.
When is the next West Feliciana Parish Louisiana Food and Wine Festival?
The next Grand Tastings is set for Sunday 15 November 2026, from one to five in the afternoon at The Myrtles, per the organiser’s own layer. The full 2026 weekend dates beyond the Sunday tastings are given in that layer as well, and visitors should check it nearer the time for final hours and venue assignments.
Will the dates change?
The November season has held steady, but the exact days have shifted: the inaugural fell on 17 November 2019, the third annual on 13 and 14 November 2021, the fourth annual on 11 to 13 November 2022, and the seventh annual on 8 to 10 November 2025. Visitors should expect mid-November and confirm the precise dates with the organiser’s own layer before travelling.
A November weekend in St. Francisville is a slow pleasure: good plates, good pours, old rooms and a small town that knows how to host. The festival has grown from a single Sunday in 2019 into a fixture of the parish calendar, and the table it sets each year is worth the journey.
