The first annual Atlanta Mac and Cheese festival in Edgewood was held on Saturday, October 8th. Each ticket sold covered five, four ounce portions of mac and cheese of your choosing. The festival was a blow out, selling all 1,650 tickets weeks before it took place..  The festival was in the works for about a year, finally getting the permits in  spring of 2016. KaeAnne Parris, the founder and festival director, partnered with about 10 coordinators to help everything come together.

Parris chose Edgewood, a defining Atlanta neighborhood, because of its rich cultural history. “These are neighborhoods that have a clear presence when it comes to the in town neighborhoods, with festivals, mural displays and activities that bring the neighbors together; I want this for Edgewood!”

Parris serves as the Events/Philanthropy Chair for the Organized Neighbors of Edgewood, so that was a big part in why she chose the neighborhood. She is also an involved member of Neighbor in Need, an organization whose goal is to help low income elderly living in the communities of East Lake, Kirkwood and Edgewood, East Atlanta and Decatur’s Oakhurst Community make emergency home repairs. The festival was able to raise over $26,000 dollars for Neighbor in Need.

“I wanted us to have a festival, with delicious food, to raise money (Neighbor in Need Edgewood) and bring the neighborhood together. Also, mac and cheese is delicious.”

Leading up to the festival, over 25 restaurants and vendors signed up to make mac and cheese, but quite a few cancelled 24 hours before the event, leaving only 11 for the day of.

The restaurants and vendors that served food were Illegal Food (VIP choice, and People’s Choice),  Bald Headed Bistro (second place People’s choice), B2 Street Eats, Newk’s Eatery, Grand Champion BBQ, Mac the Cheese, Fox Bros BBQ (third place People’s Choice), Dish Dive, Empire State South, Wrecking Bar Brewpub, and Wyatt’s BBQ.

Illegal Food’s winning recipe was a decadent five cheese mac featured elbow pasta and a secret spice blend, topped with house cured beef bacon and served with an [optional] shot of whiskey. Bald Headed Bistro prepped 40 pounds of macaroni, 20 pounds of caramelized onions and bacon, and 16 gallons of gouda cheese sauce to make over 1,100 portions for the festival, which won the spot of runner up.

The attendees of the festival loved the idea and the food. Unfortunately they ran out of mac and cheese before it ended, so the vendors gave out free alcohol. The vendors who were able to serve went into overdrive trying to make enough food for everyone since quite a few cancelled on the event, prepping and making more mac and cheese for the attendees right at their booths. Parris was grateful for this, and says that she hopes her team will be better prepared next year incase something like this happens.

Despite that minor hiccup, Parris and her team have received mostly positive feedback from the media, vendors, restaurants, volunteers, and attendees. This festival was the work of many months hard work, and it ultimately was able to happen because Atlanta loves festivals and macaroni.