Unique Food Festival Returns to Waterloo Featuring Special Guest from Netflix

Eastern Iowa has its fair share of festivals. From Iowa Irish Fest to various music festivals, our neck of the woods is a hub for major events like this.

Well, a unique (and delicious) festival is returning to Waterloo for the second year in a row!

The Iowa Eats Food & Drink Festival is anticipated to be even bigger than it was last year. A Netflix star is even set to make an appearance at this food fest!

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Iowa Eats Food & Drink Festival Details

The Iowa Eats Festival is the one and only event in all of Eastern Iowa to showcase 100% all Iowa foods, products, chefs, authors and agriculture-related products.

Sponsored by Hy-Vee and Iowa Corn, Iowa Eats is slated to take place on April 6th at the Waterloo Convention Center.

It kicks off at 11:00 AM (right around lunch time, how convenient!) and wraps up at 5:00 PM. So, you are sure to go home nice and full!

There are three different focuses of the festival.

• The Kitchen
• The Meat Locker
• The Bar

Each of these topics will have specific demonstrations/speakers throughout the day of the event.

Proceeds from the event benefit Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area.

Netflix Star Set for BBQ Showcase

One of the big names set to be the star of one of these showcases appeared on the second season of the Netflix program 'Barbecue Showdown.'

Thyron Mathews is set to headline the foodie event!

Mathews founded T&T BBQ and is a famous pit master from Oelwein, Iowa. His goal with T&T is to bring southern explosive taste to northeast Iowa!

Mathews appeared in the food competition show last year and ended up coming out on top. He took home the title of season two champion and made all of us here in Eastern Iowa proud!

If you took one look at some of the food he cooked up on the show or just want to watch a pro show you how it's done, you're in luck!

Mathews will be showing his skills during a showcase at the Iowa Eats Food & Drink Festival at 3:00 PM.

Tickets For Iowa Eats

Tickets to get into the event are $10. This pass to a delicious world of Iowa food and drink will get you food/beverage samples.

If you plan on snagging some extra food and beverages from some of the vendors, then you'll have to pay those vendors directly.

Also, children five and under can attend this festival for FREE, while all kids 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Don't forget to bring your ID if you are 21 years of age or older so you can sample some of the boozy beverages.

Make sure to purchase your tickets to the Iowa Eats Food & Drink Festival here!

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