2025 Southern Foodways Symposium

While details and ticket information are yet to be solidified for this year’s Southern Foodways Symposium, SFA co-director Melissa Hall shares an update. This year’s event will be held in Birmingham, Alabama. Hall says, “We’re deep into symposium planning season here at SFA. Our filmmakers are ready to hit the road. Award winners have been notified and are excited!”

This year’s event will explore “The Southern City” and how to better understand urban spaces in a region commonly imagined as rural, consider the role cities play in our collective constructed memory, and imagine how urban spaces might shape the future of the American South. Attendees will explore the built and imagined Southern city through panel discussions, films, poetry, and food and drink.

Just a few of the participants in this year’s symposium include:

Carlos Alemán, CEO of the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (¡HICA!) | Birmingham, AL

John Archibald, Journalist, author, playwright, podcaster, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner | Birmingham, AL

John T Edge, SFA Founding Director, host of TrueSouth, and author of House of Smoke | Oxford, MS

Roscoe Hall, Chef and artist | Birmingham, AL

Tim Hontzas, Chef-Owner, Johnny’s Restaurant | Homewood, AL

Coreata’ R. Houser, Interim Director, City of Birmingham Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity | Birmingham, AL

LaKeela Lowe, Magic City Sips | Birmingham, AL

Jason McCall, Poet and professor, University of North Alabama | Florence, AL

José Medina Camacho, Co-Founder and Beverage Director of Adiõs Bar and Salud Taqueria

Cheryl Morgan, Emerita professor, Auburn College of Architecture, Design and Construction | Auburn, AL

Ann Taylor Pittman, cookbook author and food writer | Birmingham, AL

Anne Quatrano, Chef and Owner, Bacchanalia, Star Provisions, and W.H. Stiles Fish Camp | Atlanta, GA

Frank and Pardis Stitt, Chef and Owners, Highlands Bar and Grill, Chez Fonfon, Bottega, and Bottega Café | Birmingham, AL

Chanah Willis, Owner, Last Call Baking Co. | Birmingham, AL

A schedule and complete list of event participants are available on the SFA website. Tickets are now available for purchase on the SFA website.