This NC town hosts a festival dedicated to pimento cheese, Southern Living says
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- Cary hosts eighth annual Pimento Cheese Festival with 50+ vendors and contests.
- Local restaurants compete for Cary’s best pimento cheese in public tasting rounds.
- Festival features creative pimento cheese dishes, sculpting contest and family events.
A sure sign of spring is returning to North Carolina; just follow the smell of pimento cheese.
In Cary, the beloved Southern staple gets its own spotlight each year with a festival that leans fully into the region’s favorite spread, an event that Southern Living recently highlighted.
The eighth annual Pimento Cheese Festival — the only of its kind, according to the Town of Cary — is set to take over Downtown Cary Park on Saturday, April 11, running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will feature more than 50 vendors, along with live music, games and activities, drawing crowds eager to celebrate the versatile dish in all its forms, Southern Living says. At the center of it all is a competition between more than a dozen local restaurants and caterers, each vying for the title of Cary’s best pimento cheese.
The festival lineup leans heavily into over-the-top uses of pimento cheese, with vendors working it into just about everything imaginable. Classic comfort foods dominate, like brisket sandwiches, burgers, mac and cheese, fries and BBQ, often loaded or stuffed with pimento cheese.
Chefs are also mixing pimento cheese into global dishes like tikka masala, empanadas, chow mein and pupusas, while others push into novelty territory with items like donuts, milkshakes, ice cream and even drinks with pimento cheese rims.
Beyond the food, the festival’s most eye-catching tradition may be its pimento cheese sculpting contest, where attendees turn the spread into edible art, according to the Town of Cary.
For more information and to plan your visit, head to downtowncarypark.com/things-to-do.
More Southern Living accolades for NC
Southern Living recently recognized Sunset Beach for its white sand and crystal clear waters, along with Boone as the one place in North Carolina everyone should visit, highlighting it for its outdoor adventures, rich history, walkable downtown, nearby High Country attractions, upgraded lodging and diverse dining scene.’
The magazine also highlighted Calabash this month, a town in the Outer Banks known as the “seafood capital of the world.”
North Carolina swept up several Southern Living’s 2025 South’s Best Awards, including:
- Best Classic Hotels: Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands
- Best Resorts: The Inn on Biltmore Estate and The Omni Grove Park Inn and Spa in Asheville
- Best New Hotels: The Cozy Mountain Retreat in Highlands
- Best Cities: Asheville and Wilmington
You can find the full list of the best beach towns in the South online at southernliving.com.
Portions of this story were previously published in The Charlotte Observer.
