Ten tips to get the most out of the 11th Annual Broad Appétit this weekend

This Sunday starting at 11 AM is Broad Appétit, a food festival like no other in the area.

Over 75 food vendors from near and far will line W. Broad Street between Henry and Adams. Expect all your local favorites, but this is a great opportunity to check out that restaurant at which you always forget to make a reservation because they’re always busy. Strolling down the street, you’ll suffer from sensory overload.

The festival is a lot to take in, but we at RVAHub consider ourselves somewhat experts at both eating and festival-ing.

Here are our ten tips to make the most of Broad Appétit:

1. Don’t eat breakfast. This is an obvious one but bears repeating. Your belly needs to be close to empty since you’re going shove it full of as much food as possible.
2. Beer takes a backseat. Beer is only to wash the food down. Focus on food. Don’t fill your belly with beer–it’ll get in the way. Roll to your favorite watering hole after Broad Appétit for libations and digestions.
3. Go early and be chill. It’s going to get crowded. Be prepared to deal with strollers, upset kids, and those damn people who just stop in the middle of the pathway.
4. Travel in a pack. Five to six food warriors is perfect. It helps if you have similar food tastes. Five carnivores and one vegan do not a good pack make.
5. Do your recon. Upon arrival take a brisk walk around to check out all the booths and prioritize your targets. Hopefully the map and menu located here will be updated soon so you can start planning prior to Sunday.
6. Send out the pack. Disperse the food warriors to previously prioritized targets and regroup at designated spot, a.k.a. home base. If you’ve found a really prime spot it might be necessary to leave one person to protect the home base. Make sure you bring extra for the protector.
7. Share your booty. Once back at home base, everyone gets a bite of everyone else’s food. If you’re a germophobe, this whole affair is going to be a rough one.
8. Rinse & Repeat. This is when you sip beers or wine and opine poetically on the food you just shoved in your collective faces before heading out to the next set of prioritized targets and returning to home base.
9. Ask. You’re going to run into friends, co-workers, ex-lovers, and strangers. Ask them what the best thing they’ve had so far is. Adjust your priority list accordingly.
10. Save room for dessert. Duh.

Below is a map with some of your parking options marked out. As always, bikes, walking, public transportation, taxi/Uber and carpooling are great options, especially if you’re planning and drinking a few beers.

It’s not just food that you’ll be able to enjoy. There’s also live music. Two stages will keep your toes tapping as you’re grazing.

Henry Street Stage

11am – 11:45am Hayes Elverston (Americana)
12pm – 12:45pm  Blue Chords (Motown)
1pm – 1:45pm  Instant Karma (Beatles Tribute)
2pm – 2:45pm Hazy Dave & The Mission Band
3pm – 3:45pm Soul Providers (R&B)
4pm – 4:45pm  Paulo Franco Band
4:45pm – Best Dish Awards
5:00pm – 6:00pm Mother Teresa’s Mafia (Rock)

Metro Sound Stage

11am – 11:45am  Tina Marie (Acoustic)
12pm – 12:45pm  Mad Children (Jazz Infused Rock)
1pm – 1:45pm Drew Perkins & The Powhite Boys (Texas Swing)
2:00pm – 2:45pm Brass in Pocket (Pretenders Tribute)
3:00pm – 3:45pm  West Groove Street (Grooving Soul)
4pm – 4:50pm  Johnny Lee Long (Funky & Smooth)
5:10 pm – 6:00pm  Just Us (Motown Funk)