SunFest 2024: What’s to eat? Here are 4 tasty things to know.

SunFest, the big annual waterfront music festival, will take over the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront from May 3-5, bringing more than rhythms, vibes and views.

As always, tempting street foods will be part of the mix. And this year, as SunFest turns 40 years old, that mix carries star chef shine.

When the fest starts Friday, that lineup includes acclaimed chefs such as Tim Lipman (Coolinary/The Parched Pig), Rick Mace (Tropical Smokehouse), Pushkar Marathe (Stage Kitchen/Ela Curry & Cocktails), Tommy Nevill (Nevs Barbecue) and the pitmasters from Okeechobee Prime Barbecue (sibling of Okeechobee Steakhouse). Last year, Mace and Marathe were named among the semifinalists for a prestigious James Beard Award for “Best Chef” in the South.

The Jupiter-born craft brewery Civil Society will join the food-and-drink lineup as well.

Here are four SunFest foodie experiences to put on your radar.

Try Ela Curry & Cocktail’s Indian bites.

At Ela’s SunFest booth, you’ll find some of chef Marathe’s most popular dishes.

Start with a well-stuffed lamb samosa and cilantro-mint chutney and you’ll be eager to try more of Marathe’s cooking. He’ll also make the dish he doesn’t dare remove from his menu — butter chicken. Also on the SunFest menu: tandoori hanger steak with burrata and Kai-Kai Farm tomato salad.

Says Marathe of his and his fellow chefs’ participation at SunFest: “... Food and music go hand in hand. So they’re upping their game this year.”

Hit the ‘VIP’ street food experience.

One of SunFest’s new themed VIP culinary pop-ups, the Friday night street food spree offers bites by Lipman’s Palm Beach Gardens restaurant Coolinary. You’ll find pickled shrimp, smoked jalapeño-cheddar beef sausage with pickled green tomato, and sweet corn hush puppies with hot honey.

Marathe’s Ela will be there as well, offering spicy tuna “bombs” (in a crisp puri shell). Bites also will be offered by North Palm Beach’s Draft House Bar & Grille.

The unlimited food and drink tasting event ($125) goes from 6 to 9 p.m.

The pop-ups are located at The Palm VIP section, set up within view of the Ideal Nutrition Stage, and are priced at between $125 And $145, which includes admission to SunFest.

Gobble up the BBQ.

With some of the top pitmasters in the county present, SunFest’s “BBQ, Bourbon & Beats” VIP pop-up event promises some good, smoky bites on Saturday night.

This is where you’ll find tasty offerings from chef Mace’s beloved Tropical Smokehouse. Those include brisket empanadas, pull brisket sandwiches, crinkle fries, cornbread and house-made barbecue sauce.

Tropical will be joined by Okeechobee Prime Barbecue and Nevs Barbecue at the pop-up event, which goes from 4 to 7 p.m. and is priced at $145.

More SunFest food! New sumptuous bites by award-winning chefs at West Palm's 2024 fest

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

Toast to the Mexican triumph at the 1862 battle of Puebla with a West Palm Beach waterfront view. This SunFest celebration includes bites such as tacos and ceviche and sips of tequila.

Part of the VIP foodie pop-ups, the Cinco sampling goes from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday and is priced at $145 per person.

SunFest 2024 music festival info, tickets, VIP access

When: May 3 through 5, 2024. For festival lineup, schedule and logistical information, visit SunFest.com.

Where: 101 S. Clematis St., West Palm Beach - Along the Intracoastal Waterway in downtown West Palm Beach. The festival grounds are officially on Flagler Drive in between Banyan Boulevard and Lakeview Avenue.

VIP events: Those who plan to be at SunFest every day may wish to consider a three-day VIP pop-up pass, priced at $290.  Pop-up tickets and information are available at SunFest.com/ThePalm.

Also good to know: SunFest is a cashless festival. Accepted payment methods throughout the festival are credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover), Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: SunFest 2024: West Palm music festival includes foods from star chefs