Community Grief Support brings mac ’n cheese food festival to Avondale

Macaroni and cheese is a staple comfort food, and when Community Grief Support’s junior board was brainstorming a potential food festival, it was an easy choice to make it the center of attention.

“The tie-in was that ‘comfort food,’ like comfort during grief,” said Megan Rykaczewski, co-chair for the first Magic City Mac N Cheese Festival, hosted by Community Grief Support.

CGS is a nonprofit that provides free grief counseling and other grief services. The festival’s goal is to raise money so that CGS can continue providing these services, as well as to raise awareness, said Junior Board Chair Erin Slaughter.

“[Grief counseling] can rack up a lot of cost, just counseling in general, and I think when we offer our free services, more people are likely to come and get the services they need,” Slaughter said. 

The festival will be from 1-4 p.m. Aug. 6 in Avondale, where Second Avenue will be blocked off to allow for restaurant and vendor tents. Slaughter said they hope to have more than 20 restaurants at the event.

A $15 ticket gets admission to the food festival, as well as free mac ’n cheese samples from the restaurants and food trucks. Soft drinks and water will cost $1, and Avondale Brewing Company will have its beers for sale.

“We’re excited to have this event be large because we think this is going to be a staple event [in Birmingham],” Slaughter said.