A festival with “Wine” in its name is now serving matcha. That’s the quiet headline underneath the 19th annual Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, running October 15–18, 2026, across the Seaport and The Rooftop at Pier 17. More than 50 events spread across four days — tastings, dinners, demonstrations, FoodieCon — and for the first time, two are explicitly non-alcoholic. Sylvester Stallone and Bryan Cranston are still showing up to promote spirits. But the festival is also building a lane for everyone who’d rather skip the pour.
Rocky, Heisenberg, and the Celebrity Spirits Pipeline
The star-studded lineup doubles as a showcase for the celebrity-to-spirits-brand pipeline running at full capacity this year.
Stallone appears at Carne Mare, chef Andrew Carmellini’s Seaport restaurant, promoting Carbonadi Italian Vodka — and the dinner was reported as sold out as of October 1, 2026. Cranston surfaces at tasting events for Dos Hombres, the tequila brand he co-founded with Aaron Paul, his Breaking Bad co-star. Rachael Ray and Bert Kreischer headline the Blue Moon Burger Bash, while Whoopi Goldberg, Method Man, Angela Yee, and JJ Johnson anchor “The Cookout.” Kwame Onwuachi takes center stage at “New York After Dark.”
Key details before you buy anything:
- Festival runs October 15–18, 2026, at the Seaport and The Rooftop at Pier 17, Manhattan.
- More than 50 events span walk-around tastings, dinners, demonstrations, and FoodieCon.
- Tickets generally range from $95 to $400; the alcohol-free dinner is listed at $275.
- Morning Buzz, hosted by mgk — founder of 27 Club Coffee — lands Sunday, October 18: all-ages, non-alcoholic, with coffee, matcha, tea, and breakfast foods.
- The festival’s first alcohol-free dinner is Saturday, October 17, 7–10 p.m., at The Maze NYC, 43 W. 24th St., hosted by James Beard Award-winning chef Jonathon Sawyer and Gautier Coiffard of Brooklyn bakery L’Appartement 4F, with zero-proof pairings per course.
The Part Worth Paying Attention To
A 19-year-old institution is making structural room for guests who don’t drink — and that shift is worth taking seriously.
Festival founder Lee Schrager told the New York Post that younger people are drinking less, and that the new programming treats these events as food experiences rather than wine experiences with food attached. That framing matters. A festival built around wine is now selling a $275 ticket to a dinner without a drop of it — and pairing each course with something thoughtful instead. Whether that reflects a genuine recalibration or simply smart programming, the result is a festival that finally has something to offer guests who’ve never been its core audience.
Tickets for the festival went on general sale July 20, 2026, and are available at nycwff.org, with prices ranging from $95 to $400 depending on the event. The Stallone dinner was reported sold out as of early October — check individual event availability before assuming spots remain.
