For the last 5 years, the St. Augustine Food and Wine Festival has been establishing itself as a premiere culinary event in Northeast Florida. Now they are movin’ on up….location-wise, anyway.

Festival organizers announced on Thursday that this year’s weekend main events will be moving to a new venue. A brand new State-of-the-art event facility just North of Old Town St. Augustine. It’s called Ancient City Farmstead. Primarily set up as a wedding and corporate event location, it will soon evolve and host concerts and other year-round events.

“We are extremely excited about this venue, location and partnership with Ancient City Farmstead.” Jan Gourley, Festival Director said. “It’s a chance to help showcase this new St. Augustine hidden gem to the southeastern regional market
and attendees/visitors coming in town for the festival.”

The move appears to be a win win for both parties involved. As we mentioned, Ancient City Farmstead is a state-of-the-art facility. Their Grand Cypress Barn is the largest air conditioned barn in St. John’s County. We got a look at it this week. It is massive and when it is done in a few weeks, it will be nothing short of spectacular. That barn will be home to Food and Wine guests holding VIP tickets. A splurge that will well worth the price of admission.

The Farmstead grounds are surrounded by 1,500 acres of Florida Preserve land. Horses on the property offer a small feel of North Central Florida’s horse country. The vistas are breathtaking.

“We tried to build it in a way that it could accommodate events, concerts, festivals, the brides, obviously.” said Dan Laubacker, one of the owners of the venue.

It’s clear they’ve spared no expense in making this a premiere event location. The entire property was wired for power and closed circuit television access BEFORE a single shovel went into the ground to begin construction of the buildings on the property.

“If you were to stick a shovel in the ground here, it would be like a matrix of wires underground. We built this to be a versatile property.” he said.

The main Farmhouse features Bride and Groom Suites-the grooms get the pool table, the ladies get the hair salon. There are also plans for a commercial kitchen. All facilities that lend themselves to making this year’s St Augustine Food and Wine Festival their best yet. And that’s saying something considering the Miami Herald already named it one of Florida’s best Food and Wine Festivals.

The St. Augustine Food + Wine Festival, takes place May 7 – 11, 2025, presented by Publix, kicks off with its River Walk Tastings event on Wednesday, May 7 at San Sebastian Winery, followed by the Harvest Awards & Tastings, on Thursday, May 8 at the Hyatt Place in Vilano Beach.

The festival’s weekend signature events will all take place at Ancient City Farmstead including Friday, May 9 Smoke on the Walk, Saturday, May 10, Grand Tasting, and the Sunday, May 11, Mother’s Day Sunday Brunch.

The festival is made possible in part by support from St. Johns Cultural Council, Florida’s Historic Coast: St. Augustine/Ponte Vedra and a 2025 St. Johns County Tourist Development Grant.

The most up to date festival information is available on the website: St. Augustine Food + Wine Festival

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