Nantucket Wine and Food Festival

Nantucket Wine and Food Festival is an annual food and wine festival held on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts — drawing over 3,000 attendees each spring to a waterfront setting that combines international winemakers with acclaimed culinary talent. The festival is hosted at the White Elephant Hotel and features more than 150 winemakers and 60 chefs from around the world, making it one of the larger curated food-and-wine gatherings on the East Coast by participant count.

The Nantucket Wine and Food Festival is built around a range of event formats rather than a single tasting floor. The signature Grand Tasting pavilion overlooks Nantucket Harbor, while intimate winemaker dinners take place in historic island homes. Hands-on cooking demonstrations led by James Beard Award winners run alongside the tastings, and a Harbor Gala — where guests arrive by wooden boat — anchors the event's most distinctive evening. Wines from producers including Château Margaux and Louis Roederer have been featured, and food programming has included chefs from restaurants such as Le Bernardin in Manhattan and Menton in Boston. Fresh seafood, artisanal cheeses, and locally sourced ingredients reflect the island's coastal character throughout.

For visitors planning attendance, the festival spans multiple days in spring, with individual events ticketed separately or bundled depending on the programming year. The White Elephant Hotel serves as the primary venue hub, and because Nantucket is accessible only by ferry or small aircraft, early travel planning is advisable — accommodations on the island book quickly during festival season. Live music, including jazz performances, has accompanied waterfront tastings in past editions.

Nantucket sits off the coast of Cape Cod and has no designated wine AVA of its own, but the festival's programming draws heavily from Old World appellations and California producers alike, with a strong emphasis on food pairing across both red and white wine categories. The coastal New England setting — and the logistical commitment required to reach the island — gives the Nantucket Wine and Food Festival a self-selecting audience of attendees who treat the trip itself as part of the experience.