Foobooz La Fête: Giving Back to the Industry We Love

Foobooz La Fête illustration by Philly Mag

This year’s spring party, Foobooz La Fête, is a lot of things. It’s a big, fancy picnic under the stars at the Mann Music Center. It’s a showcase for 10 of the city’s best chefs, coming together over two nights to cook two unique, family-style menus inspired by the flavors of Philadelphia. It’s the good time we all need right now.

But La Fête is also something else. When we first started planning this year’s event, we knew we wanted to give back to the restaurant community. It was important to us that the chefs and their teams were being paid for their labor. We wanted to cover most (if not all) of their food costs, so that working with us wouldn’t be a financial burden. And we wanted to make sure that a portion of the ticket price would go to a worthy cause. Which is why we’ve partnered with Hospitality Assistance Response of Pennsylvania — a non-profit managed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association.

HARP’s mission is to “provide swift financial assistance to employees of Pennsylvania hospitality businesses during times of unforeseen hardship such as personal illness, injury, accident [or] natural disaster.” Born during the pandemic as a way to mitigate some of the unprecedented strain put on the hospitality industry and its employees, HARP is funded by private, community and individual donations.

When you buy your tickets to one (or both) nights when La Fête will be taking over the Mann (May 9th and 10th), you’ll be helping out, too. Representatives from HARP will be in attendance both nights, to raise awareness about their programs and, hopefully, to hustle up some extra coin.

Read more about what to expect from Foobooz La Fête, and learn about the good work HARP is doing throughout the state here. If you’re looking for tickets to the event, we’ve got all the details you need in one convenient place.