A city made magic by its people

Workers from across the US traveled south to look for work in Birmingham during the early 20th century. To them, Birmingham was a chance for promise and opportunity. Our explosive growth earned us the name Magic City.

These days, we’re experiencing another burst of culture and vibrancy: this time, through food. Our name reflects Birmingham’s surge of creativity while uplifting all of us bound to our city by heart.

Together, we become a place where neighbors near and far are always welcome.

About Southbound

Since we started as Food+Culture in 2022, we’ve worked hard to shine a light on our talented chefs and neighbors, providing a platform for sharing delicious food and meaningful conversation. We’re proud to have become an award-winning festival and Birmingham’s biggest party.

Like our city, we’ve grown quickly these past few years. This year, we’re partnering with over 100 chefs in several events over ten days. Southbound is an invitation: a celebration put on by and for Birmingham—and a summons for visitors to head south and experience what makes our city truly Magic.

The Festival from Scratch

In 2021, sisters Cathy Sloss Jones and Leigh Sloss-Corra successfully courted the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) to bring their annual cookbook awards and convention to Birmingham, Alabama. The event was centered around two of the city’s most iconic and meaningful venues: Sloss Furnaces and Pepper Place. Both sites are deeply intertwined with Birmingham’s industrial and cultural history, as well as the legacy of the Sloss family. The Sloss family once owned Sloss Furnaces, now preserved as a National Historic Landmark, while Cathy Sloss Jones spearheaded the redevelopment of the old Dr Pepper bottling plant into what is now Pepper Place—a vibrant hub that helped spark the revitalization of Birmingham’s city center.

The convention’s success sparked a simple question: why didn’t a vibrant food city like Birmingham have its own world-class festival? Determined to change that, Cathy, Leigh, and IACP president Nancy Wall Hopkins created Southbound Food Festival, bringing in festival veteran Keri Lane—who had helped make the convention a success and brought over 40 years of event production and marketing expertise—to bring the vision to life.

With support from city and state leaders, Southbound launched in 2022 with a celebratory concept unveiling. The following year, the team expanded with program director Rebecca Gann, adding her ten plus years of food festival programming experience to the mix.

Today, Southbound has earned national acclaim and established itself as one of Birmingham’s premier cultural events, drawing visitors from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe and shining a spotlight on the South’s rich culinary traditions.

Purpose Driven Recipe

Southbound Food Festival is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about Birmingham’s rich culinary heritage from farm to table. Through the festival, we celebrate the stories, history and people behind the region’s vibrant food culture, connecting chefs, farmers and foodmakers with the broader community.

Southbound is more than a cultural celebration—it’s a powerful economic driver. By drawing locals and visitors into Birmingham’s restaurants, bars, markets, and small businesses, the festival fuels the city’s culinary and hospitality economy while spotlighting the talent that makes it thrive.

In partnership with institutions like Auburn University’s Culinary Science Center and the International Association of Culinary Professionals, we’re committed to preserving, sharing and shaping the future of Alabama’s food landscape.

Southbound remains rooted in equity, the arts, sustainability and community growth. We celebrate all forms of culinary arts, with equal parts reverence for tradition and excitement for innovation.