Nashville food and wine festival september 2023

Tennessee isn’t all moonshine and whiskey! After years of happily attending different events, we’ve outlined top 14 Nashville Wine Festivals for you! While we’ve had fun at all of them – mostly …more on that later – some events are better suited for some than others. Find out which ones you’ll love the most below!

One thing we do love about the festivals is that they usually donate some of the proceeds (if not all) to a charity! 

The dates/months listed below could aways change. We just wanted to let you know when each Nashville wine festival happens!

Also – we are not partners or affiliates for any of these festivals. 

February – Wine in the Winter 

As we mentioned above, a lot of the events happen in the Spring. So when Wine in the Winter rolls around, we pretty much have to go! 

It’s hosted in the heart of downtown at the Hilton Marriott and put on my Lipman Brothers.

The wines are on the low-end side, but we do like that you can find several of the brands in the grocery store if you end up loving them! 

Our favorite booth is usually Stonehaus Winery. They’re out of Crossville, TN and the Aaron Tippin “Kiss This” Cherry wine is a classic Southern staple if you ask us!

They also have a variety of spirits and beers, as well as food, at this event.

They do offer VIP, and unlike some events — the VIP includes an hour long wine class using Riedel glasses. The class doesn’t vary much year to year so you could do it once, have a great time, keep the glasses, and then stick to general admission.

Tickets range from the high $70s to $150 for VIP.

Learn more about Wine in the Winter here.

March – Nashville Predators Foundation Wine Festival

Hockey fans and wine enthusiasts love this event at Bridgestone Arena in the heart of downtown. 

This event includes higher-end wines, as well as, beer, spirits, and food samples.

They also offer VIP tickets. VIP ticket holders receive a 5-course dinner and wine pairings. 

Typically Deacon’s New South helps sponsor it as well. We’re not a big fan of their steaks.

Tickets range from $89 for general admission to $200 for VIP tickets.

Learn more about the Nashville Predator’s Foundation Wine Festival here

April – Bourbon and Bubbles

Also a Lipman Brothers event, we love that this event is outdoors! The first year it was in the Fall and beautiful weather. This year it’s been bumped up to April.

While we love being outdoors and prefer it — April is a tricky month weather wise in TN. We’re hoping for it to be in the Fall in 2023, but as long as it’s outside, we’ll be buying that VIP Ticket!

This event is hosted at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, TN – just outside Nashville – and serves sparkling wines, “regular” (?) wines, and bourbons to try. They also have several food vendors there where you can buy something to eat for an additional fee. 

VIP members get access to exclusive wine tastings, seating area, snacks, and a nicer bathroom. 

Tickets range from $79 for general admission to $150 for VIP tickets.

Learn more about Bourbon and Bubbles here.

April – Sip Of History at Andrew Jackson’s the Hermitage

Just outside of Nashville sits Andrew Jackson’s home – The Hermitage. We love that this festival is outside of the city and outdoors! You can even bring your dogs and lawn chairs!

It’s a laid back vibe, and that’s typically what we’re after! They have Tennessee based distilleries, spirits, wines, and restaurants at the event. 

Tickets are $60 for Hermitage members and $70 for non-members. No VIP options.

Learn More about Sip of History

April – Tennessee Flavors

Hosted at College’s Main Campus on White Bridge Road, you’ll get away from the main hustle and bustle of Broadway for this event! We love that it supports the Tennessee-sourced products and local talents.

It is a night event, and honestly, one we’ve not been to yet.

Learn More about the Tennessee Flavors Event

April – Midtown Liquor’s Nashville Wine & Food Festival

Corkdorks Wine Spirits Beer hosts an Annual Wine & Food Festival. While we loved the event when it was outdoors, we’ll be the first to say the weather was always iffy for this event before they moved it inside. We have pictures in full-on parkas one year and shorts and tank tops the next.

So we are (only slightly) disappointed that they moved this event inside to the Omni Hotel in Downtown Nashville.

Since this event is hosted by a large and prominent liquor store, you can expect the BEST variety of wines and spirits at this event! They also have the most food samples we’ve seen at a festival! 

We highly recommend the VIP option if you want to taste a lot. You get in an hour early, and you need that extra time (and a spit bucket) to taste the majority of offerings! 

Learn More about the Nashville Wine & Food Festival.

May – Nashville Rosé Festival

If you’re a guy or a girl wanting to take a guy to a wine festival — SKIP. THIS. ONE.

While it’s a ton of fun and supports Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition, it’s definitely a girly event. It’s such a great way to spend a Saturday with your besties though! We love the idea of doing an sleepover movie night after this event!

The wines are just pretty eh, but you can’t really mess up a rosé either! We love the frozen options and the variety of food trucks too!

While their site says a VIP option is coming, we’ve not seen it or tried it. General admission and a cute sundress is plenty for this festival.

Learn More About the Nashville Rosé Festival

July – Red, White, & Zoo

If you’re into animals, Red, White, & Zoo is a great event. If you’re going for actual wine tastings, the varieties weren’t that good. The food was really limited too, and the animals were only out at certain times.

Granted — it’s been a few years since we went — so maybe it’s better now. But we weren’t tempted to go back. So cool in theory, and if you go this year -let us know how you liked it!

Learn More About Red, White & Zoo

September – Wine on The River

This event is what made us start researching Nashville wine festivals years ago! The wine event used to be hosted on the Nashville pedestrian bridge and since grew too large! It now is hosted at Riverfront Park, and it’s so much better! 

We love the outside atmosphere, and now there is so much more room to sit and enjoy your wine and food truck treats.

Certain booths and walk ways do get cramped though. We recommend starting at the top level and trying what you want as soon as the event starts and then work your way down to the next batch of tastings down closer to the river.

The event is a Lipman Brothers sponsored festival, so if you’re okay with the lower end wines and/or enjoyed Wine in the Winter – this is up your alley! Out of the 2 events, Wine on the River is our favorite just because it’s outside and the time of year.

They offer VIP, but it really hasn’t been worth it in the past 2 years. You used to get in an hour early — now it’s 30 minutes….and it’s pushing it to be that. You also get a VIP area but the food and wine inside it isn’t that great. You also get larger port-a-potties in the VIP area, but they are usually more heavily used than the general admission ones. So that’s a no-go for us. General admission all the way!

Learn more about Wine on the River

October – Whiskey, Wine, and Cider Festival 2022

The Whiskey, Wine, and Cider Festival also supports breast cancer awareness month. They’ll have 20 different whiskeys, wines, and ciders. Plus, they’ll have appetizers. 

While we’ve not attended this event before, it does sound like a fun one. It’s at the Bedford in Nashville and proceeds go to the Emergency Access Fund for breast cancer patients.

General admission tickets are $75, and there are no VIP options. It does look like a vaccine passport or negative COVID test will be required.

Learn More Here

October – Tennessee Beer, Wine, and Shine Festival

If you’re a beer and wine drinker, this is an event not to miss! They have over 100 beers and 90 wines to sample, as well as, food vendors.

This event is outside of Nashville at Two Rivers Mansion. While we love a true downtown Nashville event, it can be nice to venture out and also avoid the traffic!

We’ve also never attended this event, but I have to say — it sounds like one that would be fun! The event benefits local Donelson and Hermitage charities as well.

Learn More about the Tennessee Beer, Wine, and Shine Festival

November – Franklin’s Wine Down Main Street

Franklin’s Wine Down Main Street has been going on for 2 decades! It’s one of the only night events — running from 7PM to 10PM. It’s sponsored by – you guessed  it – Lipman Brothers. So expect the same types of wines, but they do have a variety from Nashville wine festival to festival — so there is always something new to try!

General admission includes samplings of wine and food samples. VIP includes a private food and wine tasting experience inside the Historic Franklin Theatre.

This is such a unique event and one reason we love Franklin. With that said, the Main Street is only so wide and sometimes it’s really cold!

The event benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee.

Learn more about Franklin’s Wine Down Main Street here

Two More Wine Festivals We Hope Come Back….

Toast to Tennessee

Toast to Tennessee started at Nashville Shores over a decade ago and moved inside to Wilson County’s Expo Center a few years ago. We really preferred it outside, but the event was still fun indoors. 

The event had several Tennessee Wineries to sample and a couple small food samples. They also had short seminars each hour of the event with food and wine pairings. We always loved them!

If you’re a new wine drinker or prefer fruit wines, this event was the best! Tickets were also cheaper than many of the other festivals.

Our main complaints were a plastic cup versus a glass one (which is common now). They also had several vendors for nails, candles, and more that felt misplaced in the event.

After 2020, the event has not returned.

Music City Food + Wine Festival

The Music City Food + Wine Festival was an outdoor event in downtown Nashville. Unlike all of the events listed before, this event wasn’t an all-you-can-sample set up. You received so many sampling tickets with the purchase of your main ticket. Then you could buy more sampling tickets for additional tastings.

It was about 50/50 on the food samples or vendors to wine vendors as well.

For more info on the event in the past, check out Now Playing Nashville.

The Top 5 Nashville Wine Festivals Ranked

Now that you know a little bit about each event – here are our top 5 favorite Nashville Wine Festivals.

1. Bourbon & Bubbles
2. Midtown’s Nashville Food & Wine Event
3. Wine on the River
4. Nashville Rosé Festival
5. Wine in the Winter

One of our biggest complaints is that many of Nashville’s wine festivals end up being in the Spring. So if you wanted to spread out your day drinking days, it can be tough!

You can always hit up Wine Down Nashville, Arrington Vineyards, or another Tennessee winery if you’re wanting to do something fun during the rest of the year!

New to Nashville? Check out Best Places to Live in Nashville!

You may also like our Baked on 8th Nashville Review.

Get More Simple Life Hacks on Our Podcast!

We have a blast on our podcast,The Kim and Kalee Show, every week! Join us for fun, simple tips to improve every aspect of your life!