For the fourth year in a row, the Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival at Atlantis Paradise Island is bringing together the world’s top chefs with celebrities, influencers and foodies alike.
Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival is a five-day festival hosted at the Atlantis resort. This year’s festivities, running from March 11-15, include new headliners Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio, Antonia Lofaso and Ian Kittichai, in addition to returning chefs José Andrés, Aaron Sánchez, JJ Johnson, Michael Symon and Michael White.
While Ray is hosting a sunset wine dinner on March 13, Colicchio is in charge of A Taste of Paradise, the festival’s signature tasting event with offerings from local Bahamian restaurateurs and the Top Chef star.
Two standout events from the annual celebration are the Jerk Jam and Tacos and Tequila as both feature live music. This year, Tacos and Tequila will be helmed by Symon and Sánchez — and complete with entertainment from DJ Pauly D on March 12. Jerk Jam — previously attended by The Bachelor’s Matt James — is hosted by Johnson and Lofaso and will include a performance by Sugar Ray on March 14.
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If past years are any indication, Mark McGrath and co will put on a party. At the 2025 festival, Shaggy was the one to take the stage at Jerk Jam to perform a series of hits, including “It Wasn’t Me,” “Angel” and “Boombastic.”
“This is the Bahamas, my home away from home. All of the energy, all the music that is made is part of the soundtracks of everybody’s lives. It’s not very hard [to agree to this],” he told Us Weekly at the time. “Caribbean people have an ease of life. Wake up, go to the beach, fish, carnival — it’s a lifestyle.”
Wyclef Jean, who performed at the festival in 2023 and 2024, brought his own signature style.
“The secret to my performance is [that] I’m a church boy. When you grow up in the Black churches, the No. 1 thing is called improvisation. James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder — improvisation. So, I never have a set list. I just go with energy,” the “Hips Don’t Lie” performer told Us in 2024. “When you come to a Wyclef show, what’s amazing about it is — you are not at karaoke, I promise you — but you are gonna sing your heart out like you’re at the best concert of your life.”
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Both Shaggy and Jean could be seen enjoying the food pre and post-performances — and would highly recommend trying the conch.
“I’m a sucker for conch salad,” Shaggy told Us, while Jean previously said, “The conch out here — that conch salad is addictive. … The jerk chicken out here was amazing. But, the conch … this is the best conch in the world.”
Other events at the 2026 festival include a cocktail clinic with Tony Abou-Ganim, Paella on the Beach with Andrés and a fishing adventure with Colicchio, which, of course, turns into a chance to cook and taste what you catch.
For more information and reservations — including details on how proceeds from the festival go to the nonprofit Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, which is on a mission to protect and preserve marine wildlife and its endangered habitats throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean seas — visit atlantisbahamas.com.
