Heads up: Taste of Atlanta is this weekend!

The best foodie event of the year,

Taste of Atlanta

, is happening this weekend, October 19-21! Taking place inside the

Historic Old Fourth WardPark

, the three-day food and drink festival will showcase the best bites and beverages from more than

90 Atlanta restaurants

for the 17

th

year in a row. 

New to Taste of Atlanta this year is the

beer garden

, which will not only highlight Atlanta’s best craft breweries, but also serve wine and cocktails to satisfy all taste buds.

Taste of Atlanta is pure foodie heaven: Noshing on culinary art from renowned Atlanta restaurants, mingling with top Atlanta chefs, learning new cooking tricks during chef demos, sipping on craft cocktails and local brews, all while enjoying beautiful fall weather. It doesn’t get much better than this for an Atlanta foodie!

One of my favorite dishes from Taste of Atlanta 2015: Seared scallop over succotash 

Here’s how to get in on the action and what to expect from Taste of Atlanta this year:

Friday night: All-inclusive

kickoff party

WHAT

: Honoring the theme of “World of Taste,” chefs will wow festivalgoers with global flavors from their internationally inspired Atlanta restaurants. The host chefs for the evening are Hector Santiago of El Super Pan, Eddie Hernandez of Taqueria del Sol, and Archna Becker of Bhojanic, but more than two dozen Atlanta chefs and restaurants are participating, including Porch Light Latin Kitchen, Tiny Lou’s, and Donetto.

WHEN

: Friday, October 19, 6:30 – 11 pm

HOW MUCH

:

$85 perperson

, which includes all food and drink, as well as live music

Saturday: Full festival day 1

WHAT

: The first full day of the foodie festival will feature presentations such as “The Sexiest Dish in Atlanta,” “Grilling with Wine,” and “Eat Better One Morsel at a Time,” in addition to celebrating the expansive local restaurant scene.

WHEN

: Saturday, October 20, 12 – 7 pm

HOW MUCH

:

Generaladmission tickets

are $25 per person,

VIP tickets

are $75 per person

Sunday: Full festival day 2

WHAT

: The second full day will also be full of tasting tents throughout the park, as well as presentations such as “Brunch-a-Holics,” “Sharpen Your Southern Cooking Skills,” and the tenth annual Barcraft Celebration.

WHEN

: Sunday, October 21, 12 – 6 pm

HOW MUCH

:

Generaladmission tickets

are $25 per person,

VIP tickets

are $75 per person

Quick note on tickets:

General admission tickets

include an RFID wristband preloaded with 10 tasting points, which you can spend on any of the bites at the festival. You can always add more tasting points to your wristband for $1 per tasting point.

VIP tickets

come preloaded with 20 tasting points, which you can spend both inside the VIP tent and in the general festival areas.

In case you're curious, here's my

recap of the 2016 Taste of Atlanta

.

Details for getting down to Taste of Atlanta: Street

parking

is limited, but there is additional parking in Deck B of the Atlanta Medical Center. Ride sharing, taking MARTA, or riding an electric scooter down the Beltline are highly recommended instead of driving.

As an incentive to take alternative methods of transportation, Taste of Atlanta is offering

promo codes

for existing

and

new Lyft riders (

TASTEATL

and

TASTEATLNEW

), as well as a complimentary shuttle to the park from the Civic Center MARTA station.