October 19-25, 2026Â | Wolfville, Nova Scotia
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Featured at the Fest
Opening Night at Devour! The Sea
 Devour! The Sea officially sets sail with a night that moves from an all-out celebration of Nova Scotia food and drink to the rugged coast of Maine—and finishes back at Devour! Studios for one unforgettable after-party.
 EVENT
DEVOUR! OPENING GALA RECEPTION
Presented by Taste of Nova Scotia
Wed: 5-7 pm
Raise the curtain on Devour! The Sea with one of the Festival’s most anticipated nights. Nova Scotia’s leading chefs, restaurants, food producers, and beverage makers take over Devour! Studios for an evening of exceptional food, drink, and East Coast hospitality.
Roam between eight chef-led action stations and eight beverage stations, meet the people behind what’s in your glass and on your plate, and experience the incredible flavours of Nova Scotia—all under one roof.
Film
DEVOUR! OPENING GALA FILM: BUCKS HARBOR
Sunday: 7:30-9 :30pm
From Emmy Award-winning director Pete Muller comes an intimate journey to the rugged coast of Downeast Maine, where generations of lobster fishermen have built their lives around the sea. Beautifully observed and deeply human, Bucks Harbor goes beyond the lobster boat to explore family, masculinity, vulnerability, and survival in a rapidly changing coastal world. As these fishermen haul their catch from the ocean floor, the film reveals the powerful—and often unspoken—ties between identity, tradition, and the waters that have shaped them for generations.
EVENT
THE EXCLUSIVE DEVOUR! OPENING GALA AFTER-PARTY
Wed: 9 pm - 12:00am
The film ends. The party doesn’t.
Head back to Devour! Studios and toast the official start of Festival week with visiting chefs, filmmakers, delegates, and special guests. Hit the Sober Island Oyster Bar, grab a few late-night bites from Chef Sam Hayward of Maine, raise a glass, and settle in for a night of East Coast revelry before the chefs have to get back to work
Admission with eligible Festival ticket or badge
Devour! Packages
Devour! Day Passes
Devour! Day Passes bundle some of the Festival's best films, food, workshops, parties and live entertainment into easy, curated experiences. Pick your day and let us take care of the itinerary. Every Day Pass includes one complimentary film ticket—a $15 value—to use at another eligible screening during the Festival.
Opening Night Package • Follow the Big Tuna • Watch. Sip. Drive Home • Taste. Sip. Discover • Chowder Smackdown • The Ultimate Devour! Saturday • The Devour! Sunday Send-Off Â
Devour! VIP Pass
Our Devour VIP All Access Pass gives you access to all events like all films, workshops, tasting and foraging tours, Opening Gala Evening, the Chefs & Shorts Gala , plus perks like a VIP welcome reception, private workshops, chef meet & greets, front-of-line access, gift bags, and transportation to select events.
2026 Festival: Devour! The Sea
DEVOUR! SERVES UP OCEAN STORIES OCT. 19-25 IN WOLFVILLE, NS
This fall, the sea takes centre stage at Devour! The Food Film Fest, as Wolfville becomes a gathering place for chefs, filmmakers, fishers and food lovers who connect us to the ocean. From October 19–25, Devour! The Sea will feature 50 films and 63 events celebrating seafood, coastal communities, sustainability and the stories behind what ends up on our plates.
The festival opens with Bucks Harbor, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Pete Muller’s powerful documentary about generations of lobster fishermen on the coast of Maine and the changing realities of family, masculinity and survival in coastal communities.
On the culinary side, Michelin-starred Chef Joël Watanabe brings his celebrated French-Japanese perspective to Wolfville for a very special bluefin tuna demonstration. Watch as Watanabe takes on an extraordinary tuna and shares the precision and technique behind preparing this prized catch—before guests get to taste the results. The new Neptune Night Market will showcase the latest seafood products and gourmet bites, from sushi and tuna poke to lobster rolls, while also providing a platform to showcase our province’s world-class seafood sector to consumers, chefs, and industry from across Canada.
“There are so many ways to experience Devour! The Sea this year. You can join Chef Stéphane Levac and Inuit chef Ethan Angnatok for a seaside foraging tour or go to the Tide & Vine Luncheon at Benjamin Bridge. It’s delicious, it’s hands-on, it’s unexpected, and it’s exactly what Devour! does best.”
Michael Howell, Executive Director of Devour! The Food Film Fest
This year’s festival includes an amazing lineup of culinary guests, including Ned Bell, one of Canada’s leading sustainable seafood advocates, who has spent his career championing ocean stewardship through food. PEI-born chef Charlotte Langley, founder of sustainable tinned seafood company Nice Cans, brings a fresh perspective to one of the sea’s most humble and increasingly fashionable ingredients. Inuit Chef Ethan Angnatok of Nain, Labrador, will share cuisine shaped by Inuit Nunangat and a deep connection to the land and sea. They’ll be joined by Atlantic chefs including Chef Laureate Chris Aerni, former Chef-owner of the Rossmount Inn, New Brunswick; Chef-owner Ken Pittman of Snow White Laundry in Newfoundland; Adam Loo of Ada Culinary Studio in Prince Edward Island; Renée Lavallée, chef-owner of The Canteen in Nova Scotia; Indigenous chef Stéphane Levac and chocolatier and pastry chef Julien Rousseau of ROUSSEAU Chocolatier; Martin Ruiz Salvador, Chef-owner of the Beach Pea Kitchen + Bar and four other seafood-forward restaurants in Lunenburg; along with additional culinary guests from across Canada.
Nova Scotia’s vineyards and coastline tell a shared story of place, shaped by cool climates, salt air and the people who work the land and sea. Devour! brings those worlds together with The Art of Pairing: Nova Scotia Wine & Seafood, celebrating the natural affinity between the province’s wines and its extraordinary seafood. The connection continues at Benjamin Bridge with the Tide & Vine Luncheon, where Atlantic Canadian chefs will serve seafood-inspired bites alongside Nova Scotia sparkling wine, including bubbles aged beneath the sea. And for those exploring what’s beyond the bottle, the film Going Dry and a hands-on zero-proof cocktail workshop offer a spirited look at the rapidly evolving world of alcohol-free drinking.
Festival signature events include the Taste of NS Opening Gala, Chowder Smackdown, Tour de L’Acadie Bike Ride, the Lobster Fais Do Do, Golden Tines Awards Brunch and the Great Devour! Community Chicken Supper. For guests who don’t want to miss any films or events and have a personal concierge manage their Festival week, VIP All  Access Passes are recommended. For those who want to try Devour! For the first time, our popular Day Passes are back and include a film, culinary workshop, community event, and a free film.
Limited VIP All Access Passes are now available at devourfest.com. This exclusive pass grants access to all Devour! events, plus VIP perks like a welcome reception, private workshops, chef meet-and-greets, front-of-line access, gift bags, and transportation to select events.
Gallery
We are in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq who have been living on these lands since time immemorial. We acknowledge the treaties of peace and friendship and we thank the Mi’kmaw people for their generosity in sharing their homeland with us. We recognize this is a small, but meaningfuI step in reconciIiation and the continued efforts of a strong Nation-to-Nation relationship. We are all Treaty People.