BagelFest is coming to LA. New York water not required

BagelFest, the regularly sold-out New York bagel festival, is heading to L.A. for the first time. BagelFest West takes over the Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Koreatown on April 12, featuring 15 specially picked bagel bakers from west of the Rockies, with early bird tickets on sale now through March 1.

The organizers say L.A. was the obvious choice for expansion.

"We are seeing a global bagel renaissance, and there are so many skilled, talented artisans bringing this amazing food into their local communities on the West Coast," said BagelUp founder Sam Silverman. "We wanted to lower the barrier to entry and give all of these incredible shops a chance to get some of the spotlight they so deserve."

Silverman pointed to L.A.'s range of styles as a draw — "ranging from a classic New York style to Courage Bagels paving the way of this new wave, to Calic Bagel doing a Korean stuffed bagel. There's just so much diversity."

The local angle

Carlos Perez, owner of Boil and Bake in Costa Mesa, was the first West Coast vendor to exhibit at BagelFest in New York two years ago.

"It was fun to get feedback from New Yorkers, especially 'cause bagels have always been their thing," Perez said. "They would go, 'California?' and then they would try it and go, 'Oh, that's actually pretty good.'"

Now that the festival is coming to his turf, Perez sees it as validation.

"Having them put this project together here, it speaks to the culture that L.A., Southern California has built in bagels," he said. "When they told me, 'Are you interested?' I said, 'What do I sign? Let's go.'"

Silverman says this West Coast iteration is an experiment of sorts.

"This first event is going to be a much tighter, high-touch, curated version of what we've built in New York, with the goal of dipping our toes into the market and then eventually building up to that same scale," Silverman says.

The weekend begins with a Saturday night mixer at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, part of a new partnership with the temple's Jewish Food Lab to "celebrate the bagel's origins as a Jewish food," Silverman said. Sunday features a morning industry session followed by a public session from 1 to 5 p.m., with sampling, demos, panels and competitive awards, including Best of the West, Best Bagel, Best Sandwich, Most Creative, Rising Star and Schmear of the Year.

The awards carry weight. Past BagelFest winners include PopUp Bagels, which took Best Bagel in 2021 and 2022 and is now scaling toward 300 locations nationwide, and Starship Bagel, a two-time James Beard nominee that won Best Bagel in 2023 and 2025. A dedicated kids' area rounds out the afternoon with hands-on activities.

"The response from the bagel shops, the businesses and the media has been frankly overwhelming," Silverman said. "It's such a testament to how actively people on the West Coast want to engage and participate."

Perez sees the scene only heading in one direction.

"I can only see it growing," he says. "For the longest time, all we had were the chains. It's nice that now we have other options."

The full exhibitor lineup will be released in the first week of March. Tickets start at $65 (use code EARLYBAGEL for 18% off through March 1), with $199 all-access passes that include parking. Find them at https://www.bagelfest.com/tickets.