Southern Smoke Festival Returns to Houston for 2026 on October 3
Southern Smoke founder Chris Shepherd (top center) among a group of participating chefs at the 2025 Southern Smoke Festival. Photo by Huge Galdones.
The Southern Smoke Festival is back at Discovery Green in downtown Houston on October 3, bringing together nearly 100 of the country’s top chefs, beverage professionals and hospitality personalities for an afternoon of gourmet bites, drinks, live music and plenty of fun—all in support of Southern Smoke Foundation’s work helping food and beverage workers in crisis. The organization was founded by Houston chef Chris Shepherd and his wife and PR professional, Lindsey Brown.
This year’s lineup includes culinary standouts from across the country, including Tyson Cole of Uchi, Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco, Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Tiffany Derry of Roots Southern Diner in Lewisville, and favorite Houston chefs like Aaron Bludorn of Bludorn and Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi of Sushi Horiuchi, just to name a few. Guests can also expect wine, beer and cocktails from leading beverage pros including Alba Huerta of Julep, Neal Bodenheimer of Cure in New Orleans and Sean Fitzmaurice of Reserve 101.
Beyond the impressive culinary lineup, SSF26 offers plenty to explore throughout the afternoon, including cooking demonstrations on the YETI Culinary Stage, cookbook signings with Kindred Stories, immersive pop-ups and the return of the popular Respect the Rosé experience in the Lexus VIP lounge. It’s a chance to sample an extraordinary range of food and drink while spending the day celebrating the people and culture that make the hospitality industry so special.
The festival will also feature the YETI Culinary Stage, cookbook signings, live music and a special gathering of Food & Wine’s 2026 Best New Chefs.
New this year, ReFED joins Southern Smoke Festival as its Official Sustainability Partner, supporting a festival-wide zero-waste program designed to reduce food waste and maximize recycling and composting.
General admission tickets include all food, drinks and live music and cost $225 plus $16.65 ticketing fee. (VIP tickets are sold out.) Several chef sponsorship packages are available for $5,000 each, which include two very special VIP tickets that get you extra-early festival admission and an invitation to the talent-only party on Thursday, October 1. Get the full lineup, ticket information and festival details at the Southern Smoke Foundation website.
Phaedra Cook has written about Houston’s restaurant and bar scene since 2010. She was a regular contributor to My Table magazine (now closed) and was the lead restaurant critic for the Houston Press for two years, eventually being promoted to food editor. Cook founded Houston Food Finder in November 2016 and has been its editor and publisher ever since.
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