The San Diego Food + Wine Festival returns November 1 through 8, 2026, and this year it stretches its signature bayfront events across a full two-day Grand Weekend.
The festival, produced by Fast Forward Events, is in its 22nd year. It was known for most of that time as the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival before adopting its current name.
Three events anchor the closing weekend. Icons + Legends opens things on Friday, November 6, with luxury wines, spirits and award-winning chefs. The Grand Tasting on Saturday, November 7, is the event the festival was built around, with more than 300 wineries, breweries, distillers and restaurants set up along San Diego Bay. The Grand Fiesta on Sunday, November 8, is dedicated to Latin American culinary and cultural influence on Southern California.
More than 150 chefs and tastemakers take part. Announced participants include Michelin-starred chefs Roberto Alcocer and Javier Plascencia, both closely tied to Baja California’s kitchens, along with James Beard Award winners Maynard Llera and Cha McCoy and baker Kareem “Mr. Bake” Queeman.
The festival operates a scholarship program for culinary arts students and lists community impact, sustainability and support for local businesses among its stated priorities. USA Today readers have voted it the country’s best wine festival two years running.
Individual event tickets are sold through the festival’s site.
Sources
- San Diego Food + Wine Festival official site
- Fox 5 San Diego, “San Diego Food + Wine Festival returns with new events, tastings and plans for expansion”
- San Diego Tourism Authority listing
