A large, airy expanse with fancy tables and two large screens on one side.

Smithsonian Food History Gala

October 17, 2024

Join us for the much-anticipated 2024 tenth annual Smithsonian Food History Gala, where we'll celebrate culinary excellence and honor a distinguished figure in the food world! This year's event will take place on October 17, 2024, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. While we're currently finalizing the recipient of the coveted Julia Child Award and the stellar lineup of presenters, we guarantee an unforgettable evening dedicated to the vibrant intersection of cultural, economic, and gastronomic richness. Stay tuned for updates on the incredible lineup, ticket sales, and more.

 

The Julia Child Award

The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts was created by Julia Child in 1995 and became operational in 2004. Its mission is to honor and further Julia’s legacy, which centers on the importance of understanding where food comes from, what makes for good food, and the value of cooking. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, the Foundation is a non-profit which makes grants to support research in culinary history, scholarships for professional culinary training, food writing and media as well as professional development and food literacy programs. Since becoming operational, the Foundation has made more than $2.7 million in grants to other nonprofits.

For more information on the Julia Child Award, please visit the website of the Julia Child Foundation.

 

About our programs

Julia Child Award

We hope that you will help support food history programming at the National Museum of American History. By becoming a donor, you will be supporting the important new initiatives of the Smithsonian Food History Project, which will help us to continue our paid internship program which provides mentoring and professional learning experiences to candidates from communities that are underrepresented in the museum and food history fields. Internships are an important way to build inclusive museums in the future.

 

The Food History Curatorial internship gave me the opportunity to learn about the many facets of museum work, build relationships with fellow interns and staff, collect oral histories, and contribute to museum programming, such as Cooking Up History and Food History Weekend. What I learned from during my time at NMAH continues to support my passion for telling stories through food!
-Marsha Ungchusri (2019 Intern)