Live with Alyssa Maute Smith: Charleston Wine + Food (Charleston, SC)

The Southern Fork

Charleston Wine + Food is a multi-day wine and food festival that takes place the first full weekend each March, and I have covered it as a media person, and/or participated as talent for all of its going-on 18 years excepting one. The following interview took place live in the midst of the Culinary Village at this year’s festival, and I’m sharing it now because I already have the 2024 festival on the brain. Not only is my behind the scenes planning well underway, but tickets go on sale to the public on October 19. I lovingly call it my Super Bowl, because it is, and the connections and education from it seeds much of the work I do. One of those relationships is with Alyssa Maute Smith, my conversation partner here and the festival’s Executive Director. Alyssa, a native Charlestonian, stepped into the Interim role in April of 2022, having successfully served as the festival’s Marketing + Communications Director for 6 years, then in 2023 was officially granted the title. There’s no mistaking the energy of Charleston Wine + Food, and Alyssa's enthusiasm for the work and for this community she calls home is a good compass for its future. And I’m proud to call her my friend.