Festival-happy Atlanta is getting another chance to celebrate next spring. And this one’s pretty big.

Some of the best names in Atlanta’s culinary scene announced Thursday the first annual Atlanta Food & Wine Festival will be held May 19 to May 22, 2011, in Midtown.

The event, patterned after the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., will be devoted to authentic Southern cuisine, wine and spirits.

Atlantans Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter created the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.

“We are excited to introduce our plans for this dynamic event in Atlanta. Our deep love for our Southern heritage and the many food and beverage traditions that influence our culture is what motivated us to create the Festival,” Feichter said in a news release.

The festival’s advisory council features some of Atlanta’s culinary elite, who are recruiting members from other Southern states.

Among the board members are:

Hugh Acheson of Athens’ Five & Ten and The National; Greg Best of Holeman & Finch Public House; Tony Conway of A Legendary Event; Joe Best of Quality Wine & Spirits Inc.; Shaun Doty of Shaun’s Restaurant; Restaurant Eugene’s Linton Hopkins; Pano Karatassos Jr. of Buckhead Life Restaurant Group; Community Q’s Jim Laber and David Roberts; Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun’s; Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia; Kevin Maxey of Craft Atlanta; Steve Simon of Fifth Group Restuarants; Steven Satterfield of Miller Union as well as Todd Richards and Duane Nutter of Rolling Bones.

“We’re planning an experience like no other that will unite leaders of their craft – barbecue pit masters, award-winning chefs and mixologists, Master Sommeliers, fry cooks and local growers – to provide Festival guests the opportunity to sip, savor and learn about the best of Southern food and beverage traditions,” Love said in the release.

The event will start with a private reception May 19.