NC's top celeb chefs featured at new foodie festival

The festival, which is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, runs May 10-11 at City Market. Each night will include chefs, including Ashley Christensen and Vivian Howard, performing live demonstrations, samples from local restaurants and breweries and live music.

Thrive NC kicks off May 10 with an invitation-only summit addressing childhood nutrition and ways to combat food insecurity. That night, Chef and Farmer's Howard will be doing a live chef demonstration. She will be joined by pitmaster Sam Jones and Il Palio chef Teddy Diggs. Various restaurants, including 18 Seaboard, Bida Manda, Oro and Whiskey Kitchen, will be offering samples. Brewery Bhavana, Trophy Brewing, Durham Bull Beer Company and others will also be offering samples.

Entertainment for May 10 include Kasey Tyndall and A Tribute to the Johnny Cash TV Show.

The next day, more than 100 volunteers will pack 600 bags for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's Backpack Buddies Program, which helps provide more than 2,300 children with nutritious groceries for a weekend when free school breakfast and lunch are not provided. Volunteers also will prepare bags of groceries for Wake County senior citizens in need.That night, another grand sampling event with food and beverages will take place, with a special Chef's Table featuring live demonstrations from Lantern's Andrea Reusing, Garland's Cheetie Kumar and Raleigh's own Christensen.

Entertainment will include Joe Kwon and Friends and Jump, Little Children.

"We want improve the health and well-being of our customers and communities. Simply stated, we want to see our state thrive,” said Dr. Patrick Conway, president and CEO of Blue Cross NC. “Our vision is to mobilize top restaurants, award-winning chefs, and community-minded thought leaders to work together toward solutions for the food challenges our state faces.”