Save the date of April 12 as Sipp & Savor, an annual food-and-drink event to benefit the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, returns to downtown Meridian in 2025, marking its fifth anniversary.

A celebration of the South’s rich culinary history, Sipp & Savor offers Meridian residents, and attendees from throughout the region, a one-of-a-kind culinary experience.

Nearly 50 chefs from around the Deep South, as well as master mixologists and craft distillers, are lined up to present signature bites and sample tastings for attendees at the upcoming festival, which will take place in The MAX Courtyard and along Front Street.

“I am really excited about this year’s event. We have tried to make Sipp & Savor bigger and better every year, and we are going to try to blow it out this year because it’s our fifth anniversary and we have a lot to celebrate,” said Elizabeth Williams, festival producer for The MAX.

Black Friday shoppers will be able to purchase tickets for Sipp & Savor when they go on sale this Friday. About 3,000 tickets will be available for the event. General admission tickets are $85 and premium passes are $135. Both admissions include unlimited food and beverage samples, though premium passes allow you to skip the line and enter the event an hour earlier at 5 p.m. General admission gates open at 6 p.m.

Set to headline the 2025 event is Chef Vishwesh Bhatt of John Currence’s City Grocery Restaurant Group in Oxford. Bhatt, who started as a prep cook at City Grocery in 1997, worked his way up to become executive chef of Snackbar, which opened in 2009.

Bhatt was awarded Best Chef: South by the James Beard Foundation in 2019. His first book, “I Am From Here,” published in 2022, was awarded the James Beard U.S. Foodways Cookbook Award in 2023.

Williams said several festival favorites will be returning in the spring including Hunter Evans of Elvie’s, a two-time James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef South; Alex Eaton of Aplos and Smoke Show, also a previous James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef South; Brandon Cain of Saw’s BBQ; Alex Perry of Vestige, a two-time James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef South and Most Outstanding Restaurant; Loma Xayalinh of Lomakase; Cory Bahr of Parish Restaurant, a Food Network star finalist and Food & Wine Magazine winner of Best New Chef award; and Delta Chef David Crews, a festival favorite and former competitor on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Supermarket Stakeout”shows.

Perry, who has been involved in Sipp & Savor since 2019, said the Vestige staff has looked forward to attending the festival ever since its inception.

“With a super friends assembly of talent, it’s the perfect setting where nary a long face is to be had, and a wonderful bite of food is just around the corner,” he said.

Xayalinh, a Sipp & Savor chef committee member and featured chef, said the festival is like having all the restaurants where you want to dine in one place.

“You not only get to sample their signature dishes, but you also get to meet and interact with the chefs up close and personal,” he said.

Among the chefs new to this year’s festival, Williams said, are Sophina Uong of Mister Mao in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wade Price of Slurp Society Ramen Shop in Mobile, Alabama; Phillip Powell of Aww Shucks Fire Roasted Corn in Birmingham, Alabama; Damien Cavicchi of Hal+Mals in Jackson; Geno Lee of Big Apple Inn in Vicksburg; and Leslie Roark Scott of Ubon’s Barbeque in Yazoo City.

She said beverages this year will include exciting lineups from Mitchell Distributing, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Queen’s Reward Meadery; Caymus Wines, Wonderbird gin, Ole Smoky Moonshine, Coca-Cola Botting of Meridian and more.

The party band Fly By Radio will provide entertainment.

Sipp & Savor will coincide with an upcoming exhibit at The MAX, “Thank You Please Come Again,” featuring photographs from Kate Medley’s James Beard-nominated book of the same title. The exhibit will spotlight service station restaurants through the South.

Sipp & Savor is an annual fundraiser for The MAX, with proceeds going to support the center’s educational arts efforts around the state.

Tickets will be available starting this Friday at www.sippandsavor.com. A presale for MAX members will begin Tuesday. For more information about The MAX visit msarts.org.