A curated antique marketplace is returning to Jekyll Island Club Resort for its second year, and this time it arrives with a fuller slate of food and beverage events designed to keep guests on property and spending. Braderie South runs August 28–30, 2026, welcoming 21 exhibitors—including the Gray Benko Home Collection—into the resort's gilded-age halls, with Magnolia Network personality Gray Benko serving as the weekend's featured guest.

The F&B Programming

For hospitality operators, the event's ticketed food and beverage lineup is the most actionable detail. The weekend opens Friday with Caviar, Croquet & Champagne on the resort's historic Croquet Lawn ($50 per person), setting a tone that pairs heritage programming with premium F&B. After-hours access to the Alexander Bar & Boar's Head Lounge follows both Friday and Saturday evenings under the Braderie After Dark banner, keeping guests in cocktail mode through 10 p.m. Saturday brings a guided Coffee with the Curator session ($17.29) before the marketplace opens, then an evening Murder Mystery Dinner in the Grand Dining Room priced at $75 for adults and $45 for children. The weekend closes Sunday with a formal High Tea with Gray Benko in the Grand Dining Room ($68 adults, $40 children), featuring tea sandwiches, scones, and pastries alongside a Q&A session.

The programming reflects a broader hospitality trend of layering experiential F&B events around anchor cultural or retail activations—turning a weekend marketplace into a multi-touchpoint revenue driver for the resort's six on-site food and beverage venues.

Operator Takeaways

Managing Director Shane Pappas framed the partnership as a natural extension of the resort's identity. "Braderie South perfectly aligns with what Jekyll Island Club Resort represents—a celebration of timeless beauty, rich history and refined experiences," he said, noting that the expanded programming creates space for storytelling through craftsmanship and culinary experience alike.

Braderie South founder Kelly Broome-Smith pointed to last year's reception as the catalyst for growth. "We've purposefully expanded the experience to deepen the connections between collectors, designers and our exceptional exhibitor community," she said. The addition of an industry-only designer pass—which unlocks a private meet-and-greet with Benko and priority seating at Sunday's Q&A—signals that the event is also cultivating a trade-buyer segment alongside its consumer audience.

Overnight guests receive complimentary marketplace access with their stay, and rooms during the event start at $179 per night. A bundled package (promo code: BRADERIE, valid August 27–31) layers in marketplace admission, Caviar, Croquet & Champagne tickets for two, High Tea access for two, a gift tote, and late checkout at 3 p.m.—a packaging strategy that hospitality revenue managers will recognize as a proven conversion tool for shoulder-season weekends.

Jekyll Island Club Resort, originally established in 1888 as a private retreat for families including the Rockefellers, Morgans, and Vanderbilts, is managed by Noble House Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio spans more than 75 restaurants, bars, and lounges across North America. The company was named one of Travel + Leisure's top 25 hotel brands in both 2024 and 2025.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.