How to Watch the James Beard Awards Online

The 2018 James Beard Awards are happening tonight. The annual awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the food world, are among the highest honors for the American hospitality industry. As in years past, the James Beard Foundation announced the final list of nominees in March, following their announcement of the longer list of semifinalists in February. This year, The Chew star Carla Hall will host the Chicago ceremony, which recognizes food and beverage professionals in more than two dozen different regional and national categories.

The James Beard Foundation also honors the best in food books, journalism, and broadcast media at the Media Awards (previously known as the Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards) in New York City. Those awards were doled out Friday, April 27 in a ceremony hosted by broadcast journalist Tamron Hall. Check out the winners here, and below, find everything you need to know to watch tonight’s ceremony:

When and where are the James Beard Awards taking place?

For the fourth year in a row, the James Beard Foundation will name the chef and restaurant winners at a black-tie gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Chicago beat out San Francisco and New Orleans to win hosting privileges until at least 2021.) Festivities kick off at 6 p.m. CST — that’s 7 p.m. EST and 4 p.m. PST.

How can I watch?

For Eater’s in-real-time coverage of the festivities, head over to our Twitter feed. We’ll also be posting all the winners to the site as they’re announced. Look for the link here at the start of the ceremony.

This year, the Beard Foundation will be live streaming the event on Twitter only, and they’ve gone full-on awards show for the broadcast. Food writer Francis Lam, TV host and blogger Jaymee Sire, and red carpet correspondent Alex Hudgens will co-host the streaming event and give backstage and red carpet interviews. Watch live, or follow along on the Beard Foundation Twitter account shortly after everyone in Chicago gets settled at 6:30 p.m. CST.