Tickets on sale now for Thrive NC

The festival will be held in downtown Raleigh's City Market on May 7 and 8.

Thrive NC, which held its inaugural festival in 2018, was developed to help raise awareness about food insecurity in the Triangle, where more than 1.5 million North Carolinians struggle with hunger on a daily basis.

“Thrive NC has become an event that the Triangle community looks forward to each year,” Christensen said via a press release. “Many chef activists, myself included, see the event as an opportunity to continue moving the needle forward in our quest to make good, healthy food available to all North Carolinians.”

As with previous years, the first day will include a food summit that delves into ways to address hunger in the state. A service project will be held on the second day involving members of the community in partnership with a local non-profit.

Each night includes a food festival with more than 65 local restaurants and beverage purveyors, live entertainment, chef demonstrations and music.

Tickets for Thrive NC's food festivals are $30 each.Tickets have sold out each year.

Proceeds from last year's event went to nonprofits including the Conetoe Family Life Center, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, NC Future Farmers of America, the Alliance Medical Ministry, Band Together and Meals on Wheels Wake County.

This year, proceeds will go to TABLE, Farmer Foodshare, Urban Ministries of Wake County and Urban Ministries of Durham.