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Charleston Wine + Food Makes an Impact

By: TLP's Partners

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The community table at Charleston Wine and Food, everyone gathered with empty plates

We’re counting the days until Charleston Wine + Food returns on March 6 through 10, 2024, but that doesn’t mean we’re taking it easy. In fact, planning is fully underway to deliver a festival that’s juicier, tastier, and more impactful than ever. And that’s a tall order, considering the 2023 festival delivered more than 100 events and generated regional economic impact of nearly $32 million. It’s precisely that local benefit that drives the festival and its team as we seek ways to integrate our iconic, five-day event into the year-round life of this region.

We’re especially focused on the benefits we can bring to our local culinary and hospitality industry, who continue to struggle to achieve full staffing and stability. That drove our new partnership with Charleston County Schools. This high-school externship helps ambitious students become work-ready by embedding with talent before and during the festival. Our College of Charleston collaboration provides a months-long, immersive experience for students to learn the event business from start to finish. A partnership with One80 Place helps pair their culinary students with paid job opportunities.

We also strive to give-back to the talent who fuel our festival and year-round programming. We do that with stipends to cover food and beverage costs, and we strongly encourage those dollars to be re-invested with local farmers and makers, creating a perfect circle of local sustainability.

Mindful that more than 50 percent of our guests are local, we also work hard to keep the “Charleston” part front and center in our festival. That means we’re conjuring plans for a community celebration that is accessible to all, and that we’re finding ways to connect with you in person between festivals.

Tickets for 2024 will go on sale this fall, but there are plenty of tasty tidbits to keep up with all summer long. Follow the festival on our social media channels and sign up for our e-newsletter so you’ll always be among the first to the table.