We Love Buford Highway is bringing its signature fundraiser back to the venue where it all began, with Feast 2026: Threads of South Asia set for Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Spring Hall Events Venue in Doraville. The fourth annual gathering will spotlight food, art, music and storytelling representing India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to the event listing on Givebutter.
Executive Director Lily Pabian and henna and makeup artist Maisa Asim previewed what to expect at the fundraiser during a Wednesday appearance on ATL Live, the Atlanta-focused morning segment produced by Atlanta News First, which airs from 10 to 10:30 a.m. and features food, fun and entertainment around the city. The two joined the show to describe how Feast 2026 offers an experience of South Asian diversity through food, culture, art and storytelling, per the segment.
Spring Hall, located at 7130 Buford Highway NE, is more than just this year's backdrop — it's where the very first FEAST celebration launched, according to the event's Givebutter page. Bringing the fundraiser back there for its fourth iteration ties the 2026 event directly to the roots of the annual gathering along the corridor.
From Peruvian Plates to South Asian Storytelling
Feast has changed its cultural focus every year since its debut. The third annual fundraiser, held in August 2025, was hosted at Factory Atlanta in Chamblee and centered on Peruvian culture, with a menu crafted by 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist chef Arnaldo Castillo, according to We Love Buford Highway. The nonprofit's approach each year is to select a specific international region represented along the corridor and highlight it through food and art, per the event's page on 285 South.
That rotating format has produced real fundraising momentum. In 2024, Feast raised $55,000 in unrestricted funds while drawing approximately 200 attendees, according to Rough Draft Atlanta. Unrestricted revenue from the event has become critical for sustaining the nonprofit's operations as suburban redevelopment reshapes the corridor, the outlet reported.
A Corridor Rooted in Immigrant History
We Love Buford Highway began in 2015 as a grassroots project started by Marian Liou, who launched an International Dining Guide to Buford Highway to draw attention to family-owned immigrant businesses before the organization officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2018, Rough Draft Atlanta reported. Pabian took over as executive director in 2019; she spent her own childhood living in an apartment complex directly along Buford Highway after her family immigrated to Atlanta, learning English and becoming a U.S. citizen while living in the corridor, according to We Love Buford Highway.
The corridor itself stretches roughly 30 miles across DeKalb and Gwinnett counties through Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville and Norcross, serving as a hub for more than 50 years of multi-ethnic immigrant history, per the Givebutter page citing research from Wirks Moving. It's often described as metro Atlanta's original international corridor, home to hundreds of Asian, Hispanic and South Asian small businesses.
Where the Money Goes
Proceeds from Feast directly support several of the nonprofit's core programs, including the Feeding Families food distribution project, the Buford Highway Business Circle, the Youth Orchestra Project and the Oral History Archive, We Love Buford Highway states. The Feeding Families initiative was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to address food insecurity among immigrant households along the corridor.
The fundraiser follows other recent community pushes from the nonprofit. In June, We Love Buford Highway launched its Goal Buford Highway: Let's Go campaign, a soccer-themed initiative encouraging residents to explore and patronize international small businesses along the highway, according to Mundo Hispánico. Together with Friday's fundraiser, the campaigns reflect the organization's broader strategy of using cultural programming to support small businesses facing rising commercial rents and redevelopment pressure across DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.
