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Blog August 30, 2023

Honeyland Festival 2023: 3 Reasons Why I Didn’t Go to This New Black Food & Music Festival

Last updated on October 16th, 2024 at 09:11 pm

When I published this Honeyland Festival article a few months ago, it was titled ‘How to Prepare for the Newest Black Food Festival.’ But the original title was going to be, ‘Honeyland Festival: Should You Go?’

Ultimately, I didn’t use that title because I thought it would come off as me being messy. Even though my concerns for the festival and lack of communication about the festival were valid.

But now, I’m going to talk about it – from the perspective of someone who writes about the intersection of food and business with a focus on Black chefs & Black entrepreneurs.

And from the perspective of someone who was expecting this to be a food event and would have attended mainly for the food.

“Ok, but you didn’t go so why are you being a hater from afar?”

I promise I’m not a hater. In fact, I wanted this festival to be great. I hope it was amazing and I hope you had a great time if you went.

I also think that the music lineup was fantastic, and that alone was worth the general admission price. 

However, the constant changes, upcharges for *everything*, unanswered questions from attendees before, during and after the festival, and overall confusion about this festival over the past few months was a mess. 

It was enough for me to not buy a ticket. 

And the reason why I’m updating this article is because I think it’s useful feedback for any event organizer to understand what makes a person buy tickets (or not) for their event. 

3 Reasons Why I Didn’t Go to the Festival

1. Are there food samples or nah?

Between Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, I’ve seen more than 100 posts about this festival.

But you know what I didn’t see much of? Food. Or drinks.

Remember that Honeyland was heavily marketed as a food and music festival.

So much so that Marcus Samuelsson and Fawn Weaver were food & drink curators for this event. 

Eventually, I saw mentions on the website about food vendors, which means that attendees would pay for food.

I’ve been to at least 3 food events in Houston since September and food and drink samples were included in the price. Even for general admission:

2. The official food vendor list, as far as I’ve seen, was not released

I like to plan in advance what I’m going to do and what I’m going to eat at an event. 

But I couldn’t do that, because we didn’t get the food vendor list ahead of time.

It was up to the individual vendors to post that they were going to be at the festival.

The food vendor fees were not made public (but according to the application, the cost to be a non-food vendor at the marketplace was $1,500) but I imagine they weren’t cheap. 

So, why wouldn’t the event organizers feature them prominently on their website and social media?

Also, I thought that some of the people on the ‘Eats’ and ‘Sips’ lineup would be the vendors. 

But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

3. The food festival that ran out of food

This was the list of vendors I was able to piece together for Honeyland Festival based on recaps on social media:

According to reviews, the lines for food were long AND they ran out of food on Day 1 before 7 pm. 

There’s probably a few food vendors missing from this list, but you don’t need to be an event organizer to see that there were not enough food vendors. 

But don’t take my word for it: Honeyland Festival Reviews

Really, because I didn’t go. 

BUT here are reviews from people who went to the festival:

And please enjoy the original article I wrote back in August, below.

Honeyland Festival is the newest Black food festival happening November 2023 in Sugar Land, about 30 minutes outside of Houston, TX.

More than a food festival, Honeyland Festival will not only feature some of the best chefs & food producers but also has a great music lineup, including Mary J. Blige, Tems, Summer Walker, Lucky Daye and Slim Thug.

Whether you’re on the fence about going or you already secured your tickets, learn more about the festival and how to plan your trip.

Note: This is not a sponsored post nor am I affiliated with this festival or its organizers.

Honeyland Festival in Sugar Land: An Overview

Honeyland Festival Location & Dates

Honeyland Festival is scheduled for Saturday, November 11 through Sunday, November 12, 2023, at Crown Festival Park in Sugar Land, TX. 

Important: Sugar Land is NOT Houston and is at least 30 minutes outside of Houston, TX (without traffic). Keep this in mind when planning transportation & booking accommodations.

Honeyland Festival Tickets 2023: Prices & how to purchase tickets

The current pricing for a 2-day General Admission ticket starts at $175 USD.

Early bird pricing was $150 USD. 

Pricing for General Admission+ and higher tier pricing ranges from $250 USD to $1,111 USD.

1-day tickets became available at the end of September and start at $95 USD.

These prices do not include fees.

Stay up-to-date on pricing & buy tickets and parking passes using the link on the official website.

And make sure to check @HoneylandFest on Instagram because they’ve posted several 20% off codes for 2-day General Admission and 2-day General Admission+ tickets.

Honeyland Festival Schedule

The festival schedule is available but does not include specific times.

According to Instagram responses, these times will be made available closer to the festival dates.

Honeyland Festival Lineup 2023

Music Lineup

  • Mary J Blige
  • Coco Jones
  • Summer Walker (added to the lineup as of Friday, Oct 27)
  • Slim Thug
  • Chloe (Bailey)
  • Miguel
  • and more

Note: Jazmine Sullivan was on the initial lineup, but will not be performing.

Food & Chef Lineup

The food & chef lineup is curated by Marcus Samuelsson and includes:

Beverage Lineup

The beverage lineup is curated by Fawn Weaver (Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey) and includes:

How to become a vendor

The deadline to submit your application for a food space at the festival was Thursday, Sept 28. However, the application is still available, as of Friday, Oct 27.

If you have a beverage brand with distribution in Texas, you can email the organizers to potentially get your brand added to the festival bars: eats@honeylandfestival.com

Applications to be a vendor for the marketplace showcasing small and local businesses are closed.

Honeyland Festival: Plan your trip

Where to stay

Continuing with the theme of celebrating Black culture and Black owned businesses, here are two Black owned hotels in Houston:

If you are looking for accommodations closer to the festival, according to the website, they are planning on giving discount pricing for hotels later.

Related post: More Black food festivals to put on your travel list

What to eat in the Houston area

There should be plenty to eat at the festival, but if you venture out to Houston, these are my favorite food spots. And they are all Black owned:

Mo Better Brews (vegan)

Cauliwing Basket from Mo Better Brews

Mico’s Hot Chicken

Loaded chicken fries from Mico's Hot Chicken

The Funnel Bar

Diddy Kong banana pudding with cookie butter, vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries
Diddy Kong banana pudding with cookie butter, vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries
Related post: 13+ Houston Ice Cream Spots (Dairy Free & Vegan Options) to keep you cool this summer

ChopnBlok

This post was all about Honeyland Festival and how to prepare for your Sugar Land & Houston trip.

More about the Houston food scene

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