Sweet, salty, savory or spiked, the diverse and delicious Scottsdale culinary scene has it all. From upscale bites to food truck eats, you can savor local flavors at these Scottsdale food festivals.
Street Eats Food Truck Festival
Each February, hungry foodies bring their appetites to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for two days of sipping and sampling at Scottsdale’s Street Eats Food Truck Festival. This family-friendly food festival offers something for everyone, with more than 40 unique trucks on its vendor lineup offering bites that range from wood-fired pizza and crushable filet mignon sliders to decadent lobster rolls and savory crepes. The Street Eats Food Truck Festival is complete with a local vendor marketplace, live music, lawn games, competitive eating contests and a free kid’s zone area.
Arizona Native Edible Experience
Held in November at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West and presented by the Arizona American Indian Tourism Association, the Arizona Native Edible Experience honors the traditions and customs of Arizona’s Native communities through food, history, music and more. This curated one-night event features cooking demonstrations from both Indigenous and local chefs plus traditional and contemporary Native American cultural performances, arts and crafts demonstrations, and a silent auction.
Canal Convergence
Each November the Scottsdale Waterfront comes alive for Canal Convergence. In its tenth year, this multi-day, large-scale public art showcase brings out diverse crowds for its free immersive experiences, live music, engaging performances, interactive workshops and delicious culinary offerings. Hungry art fans can take their pick from Canal Convergence’s rotating lineup of local food trucks and vendors ranging from Korean fusion and award-winning mustache-shaped pretzels to refreshing Italian sorbetto and made-from-scratch Mexican paletas. And imbibers can stop by the Soleri Plaza beer and wine garden for locally made refreshments.
AZ Barrels, Bottles & Brews
Held annually in November at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick’s Center Field Concourse area, AZ Barrels, Bottles & Brews is a lively celebration of Arizona’s ever-growing spirits and craft beer scene. The spirits-forward festival highlights Arizona’s local breweries, wineries and distilleries with an afternoon brimming with tastings and samplings in a casual outdoor setting. In addition to the vast array of boozy beverages, AZ Barrels, Bottles & Brews offers no shortage of photo ops plus yard-style games, early access VIP options and a bevy of onsite food trucks dishing out snacks and noshes.
USA Today Wine & Food Experience
Another November must-do for epicureans, The USA Today Wine & Food Experience is an extravagant culinary festival that highlights Arizona-based chefs and restaurateurs and brings out a star-studded lineup of national talent and celebrity chefs. Taking place at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the single-day food festival features a number of engaging cooking demonstrations, upscale chef-crafted bites, expert led spirits tastings, live music and entertainment, photo ops with celebs and culinary personalities, and an exclusive VIP Lounge complete with unlimited samplings and early access into this extravagant Scottsdale culinary event.
Scottsdale Culinary Festival
Founded in 1978, the Scottsdale Culinary Festival is notably the longest-running food festival in Scottsdale. Each year this culinary showcase highlights dozens of local food vendors and Arizona-based restaurants in an open-air setting on the park-like Scottsdale Civic Center. In addition to the tasty bites and sips, the Scottsdale Culinary Festival also features informative cooking demonstrations, live music performances and unmissable VIP experiences. After a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19 and renovations on the Scottsdale Civic Center, this exciting festival is poised to come back stronger than ever in 2023 – stay tuned for more information coming soon!
