What to Expect for This Year’s A Taste of Chamblee Festival

Brookhaven’s neighboring city of Chamblee will put on its 16th annual A Taste of Chamblee (AToC) festival on Oct. 18 from 3-8 p.m. Hosted in Chamblee’s downtown area–just a 10-minute drive from Oglethorpe’s campus–the event will bring together families, food lovers, and football fans for an evening of togetherness. 

AToC Beer Garden and Football | Photo sourced from the A Taste of Chamblee Website

“It’s more than a food festival,” said Brittney Linsday, the community engagement director for the city of Chamblee. In addition to over 50 food and beverage vendors, the event features craft vendors, kid zones, beer gardens, LED screens playing ACC and SEC football, and live music in the WineDown Tent.

In the WineDown Tent, there will also be a Youth Culinary Competition in partnership with nonprofits the Navigate Foundation and the C.H.E.F (Culinary and Hospitality Enthusiast of the Future) Academy. The competition is sponsored by Talpa Supermercados in Chamblee, and the three groups of young adults will compete to make the best tacos in honor of the end of Hispanic Heritage month on Oct. 15. 

AToC added craft vendors to their lineup two years ago for the 14th annual festival. “We have people who would arrive at the event, they would eat, they would get full,” Lindsay said. “They're not football fans. They had nothing else to do, so we wanted to get people to come in and stay and hang out with us for the day.” Attendees can browse over 20 vendors selling jewelry, candles, soaps, plushes, honey, and more. 

Jewelry stand at AToC | Photo sourced from A Taste of Chamblee website

Felicia Burda, owner of Moondog Growlers and Moondog Pub & Grub near Oglethorpe, has been a food and drinks vendor at AToC since 2017. “We just like to be out in the community and get to know the Chamblee people better,” Burda said. “They're all very welcoming and accepting. They work together to make it a great place.”

In 2020, AToC won a Southeast Festival and Events Association (SFEA) Kaleidoscope gold medal award for Best Festival or Event under 75K, and in 2025, won a gold medal for Best Event Within and Event for the Youth Culinary Competition. Additionally, on average, the festival attracts 5000 attendees yearly, according to the city of Chamblee’s website. These acknowledgements and the guest count spotlight Chamblee’s prowess in hosting events, as well as the attitude towards AToC as a beloved annual tradition. 

AToC booths | Photo sourced from the AToC website

“We are able to offer a gathering place for our community,” Lindsay said. “For me, as someone who plans lots of events throughout the year, there's nothing better than that feeling when you step back and look at an event and you see thousands of people enjoying themselves and creating those memories, and there’s just really that sense of community.”

The festival is free to attend. Learn more here.