In 2015, Andy Wells and Christin Yates went to the Memphis Italian Festival. The next day, they went to brunch where the thought occurred to them: Why didn’t Memphis have a brunch festival?
“Memphis loves food, and Memphis loves festivals,” says Yates.
And, so the pair set about making that brunch festival happen and they did it just four months later.
The second BreakFest is set for September 24th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Water Tower Pavilion on Broad.
They describe the festival as sort of a mini BBQ Fest, with teams (both restaurants and “amateurs”) competing in the categories Omelet, Bacon Lovers, Breakfast Sandwiches, and Anything Goes. There’s also a Bloody Mary contest.
Food trucks will be serving a breakfast menu. French Truck will be there with free coffee, and Bedrock Eats is providing a waffle bar.
There will be games as well and live music from Southern Avenue, Brennan Villines, and others.
In addition, BreakFest has formed a partnership with the BikeSmith. The first 50 people who park their bikes at the BikeSmith will receive a glass and a free beer.
Last year, they sold about 550 tickets. This year, they’ve upped the number to 750. Proceeds from the event go to the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry.