FoodieLand opens at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a weekend of food, shopping and entertainment. The event runs from 18 to 20 September 2026 at 5555 Concord Parkway South, Concord, North Carolina — the racetrack north of Charlotte, not a downtown site.

The festival’s city page sets different hours for each day. On Friday 18 September the gates are listed from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time. On Saturday and Sunday the window is 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Organisers present a mix of food and dessert stalls, retail products and activities for visitors, in the form of a large public fair rather than a seated restaurant.

The format combines dishes influenced by several cuisines with the atmosphere of a mass event. Visitors can find local businesses, internationally inflected recipes and goods from independent traders in one place. Games and entertainment sit alongside the food, but the line-up of individual stalls should be checked on site, because it can change.

Logistics matter as much as the menu. General parking at the speedway is advertised at 10 dollars a vehicle, cash or card. Organisers recommend carpooling or rideshare because space is limited. Accessible parking is described as first come, first served at the junction of Concord Parkway South and Bruton Smith Boulevard.

Entry rules are strict. Tickets are for single use: there is no re-entry. Children aged five and under are admitted free, according to the official notice. Large bags, coolers, weapons, drones and smoking are among the items prohibited. Reusable bottles, strollers, umbrellas and bags within the stated size limits are allowed.

Anyone travelling from outside the Charlotte area should note the distinction between the city and Concord, to avoid a misleading GPS pin. The circuit was built for racing; FoodieLand uses the same access, parking and crowd infrastructure, not a separate food park. Visitors arriving late on Friday should remember that the programme starts in the afternoon, not the morning.

As with any outdoor festival of this scale, hours, vendor lists and last-minute changes remain on the organiser’s site. Visitors are advised to read the rules before they travel, not after they reach the gate.

Photo: tequilamike / Wikimedia Commons. Lowe's Motor Speedway (now Charlotte Motor Speedway) during a race, the FoodieLand venue, not the food stalls. CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: FoodieLand Charlotte; Charlotte Motor Speedway.