America's Kitchen: 250 Years of Flavor, One Sweet Home

America's Kitchen: 250 Years of Flavor, One Sweet Home

Watch four top Alabama chefs fire up the stage with live cooking demonstrations inside our Liberty Ballroom, a replica of the historic East Room of the White House – then cheer on brave gastro competitors as they battle it out in fast-paced, crowd-roaring, unforgettable food-eating contests.

BUY TICKETS FOR SWEET HOME 250
BUY TICKETS FOR SWEET HOME 250
Friday with patriotic fireworks and stars on a dark blue background.
Jonathan Harrison with a beard and short dark hair, wearing a white short-sleeve shirt and a beige apron, standing against a plain gray background.

Celebrity Chefs’ Kitchen

Jonathan Harrison is a chef from Columbiana, Alabama obsessed with southern food and local ingredients. After a run on Gordon Ramsay's Next Level Chef in 2022, Jonathan has been all over the world cooking and spreading the gospel of southern cooking. See Jonathan and other Alabama chefs cooking their hearts out (and letting you sample their creations!) at the Sweet Home 250 Celebrity Kitchen. It all takes place on Friday only!

A promotional graphic with a blurred background of a food festival, chefs working in a kitchen, and signs announcing a chef lineup, food festival, and upcoming events. A cartoon chef in grayscale holding a knife and a spoon is centered. Text overlay reads: "TO BE ANNOUNCED. STAY TUNED FOR OUR CELEBRITY CHEF LINEUP AND FOOD FESTIVAL."
A promotional announcement for a celebrity chef lineup at a food festival, with a silhouetted chef figure holding a knife and spoon in front of a busy kitchen scene with signs for 'Food Festival', 'Celebrity Chef Live', 'Coming Soon', and 'Festival'.
Announcement poster with a chef illustration, background of a busy food festival kitchen, and text stating 'To Be Announced. Stay tuned for our celebrity lineup and chef lineup'.
Celebratory graphic with fireworks and stars, featuring the word "Friday" in bold white text on a dark blue background, with red, white, and blue colors.

Eating Contests

Think you’ve got what it takes? Step up to the table for Sweet Home 250 Eating Contests! Three iconic Alabama food items. Three separate showdowns for the title and the prize. Competitors will have five minutes to eat as many of the items as possible in front of a live audience. Legendary radio personality, Rick Burgess, will serve as Host.

Registration is $25 and space is limited. Registration will open on Monday, June 1st!

Rick Burgess with glasses, beard, and short hair wearing a light blue-patterned button-up shirt, framed by circular text.

Rick Burgess is the co-host of The Rick Burgess Show, which is heard and seen by 1.5 million people weekly. Rick is also the director of TheManChurch.com, which is a hub for resources and a strategy designed to reach and disciple men

Featured Eating Contests

Priester’s Pecans Mini Pie Eating Contest

Presented in partnership with Priester's Pecans, an Alabama original known for handcrafted pecan treats since 1935. What began as a small roadside stop in Fort Deposit has grown into one of the South’s most beloved pecan brands—still family-owned and rooted in tradition.

Contestants will face off to see who can eat the most of Priester’s famous mini pecan pies in five minutes—or race to be the first to finish 15 pies.

First place will receive a $100 Priester’s Pecans gift card!

Also, audience members will have the chance to sample Priester’s famous mini pecan pies!

Blue Bell Brain Freeze Challenge

Think you can handle the cold? Step up and prove it!

Watch (or compete!) as brave contestants race against the clock to devour as many Blue Bell Vanilla Mini Ice Cream Cups as possible in just 5 minutes. It’s fast, it’s freezing, and it’s guaranteed to have the crowd cheering—and shivering!

The ultimate champion will take home $100 in half-gallon certificates of Blue Bell ice cream… if they can beat the brain freeze!

Also, audience members will have the chance to sample Blue Bell’s classic Homemade Vanilla ice cream!

Third Featured Eating Contest (To be announced)