Metro Roundup: 5th Annual Mac and Cheese Festival returns this month

A Birmingham tradition, the Mac and Chest Fest hosted by Community Grief Support, will return for its fifth year at Back Forty Beer Company on Sunday, Nov. 13, from 1 to 4 p.m.

The festival is “part competition and part celebration of the South’s ultimate comfort food” as well as a fundraiser for Community Grief Support, according to a press release by CGS.

CGS expects over 3,000 participants this year, per the press release. The festival will feature different mac and cheese dishes from local restaurants, food trucks, corporate teams, caterers and home chefs.

Mac and Cheese Fest will also feature live music and a kid's zone with activities such as face painting, arts and crafts and balloon animals.

All proceeds from this year’s Mac and Cheese Fest will be donated to CGS, a Homewood-based nonprofit organization that helps people suffering from the loss of a loved one.

“Early bird” tickets are $15, same-day tickets are $20, tickets for children 12 and under are $5 and children under 5 get free admission.

“The Mac and Cheese Festival has been a community tradition for the past five years,” said Erin Slaughter, CGS events & marketing manager and junior board coordinator. “We decided on an annual Mac and Cheese Festival to represent the comfort that mac + cheese brings, just as CGS brings comfort to those who are grieving.”

CGS provides free individual, couples and family grief therapy; hosts more than 20 loss-specific grief support groups annually; and provides grief education to residents throughout the Greater Birmingham area.