Ep 29 - Growing a Food Festival with Hayden Walker, Austin Food Magazine

In this episode we talk to Hayden Walker, the organizer of the highly successful Mac and Cheese Festival held in Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon. Hayden is the Executive Director at AFM Media and Editor in Chief of Austin Food Magazine. With his finger on the pulse of all things foodie in Austin. Hayden created Austin's Mac and Cheese Festival which became a huge sell out success, enjoyed and embraced by attendees and vendors. Now in its 4th year in Austin and 2nd year in Portland, the Mac and Cheese Festival has a winning event recipe that is set to grow, and take on more cities in 2020. Episode Topics: -Turning something you love into a career -Creating the Mac and Cheese Festival experience -Research and inspiration -Evolving a food festival, growing in size and locations -Managing event stakeholder relationships -Testing event formats and target audiences -Ticket pricing and event promotion -Benefits of prepaid events -Preparing vendors for success -Event day gate management