Keith Lee fully understands how hard it is to pull off a food festival.
The acclaimed food influencer explained to PEOPLE just how difficult the process has been to get his Famille Day festival off the ground.
“We’re still locking in stuff as we speak to this day,” Lee says. “It’s the most exciting thing. But also the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.”
Lee also spoke about what inspired him to launch his own festival.
“I was standing on top of the fire escape. And I was watching the line move, and it kind of felt like a movie — one of those moments where it’s like, ‘Oh, I can actually do something like this,’ ” Lee said.”So we start talking about our own festival. This is the first one that we’re actually throwing.”
Before the festival, Lee came to prominence with his viral FamiLee Food Tour. He would review local restaurants in cities across the country.
“With Food Tour, we were in the van for eight to 10 hours a day, and I got my screaming babies in the background. I got all my family with me, and it became very hectic very fast,” he told PEOPLE.
Lee went on to share why he doesn’t like to be out in the “forefront” of everything because it’s a family affair.
“I don’t like things to be Keith Lee this, Keith Lee that, Keith Lee this, because one of the main reasons why I’m here is the team that’s behind me and that’s my family.”
“Even when we go do food tours, the main focus is always the small businesses and mom and pop shops,” said Lee. “I’m never really [at the] forefront of anything. So when we start thinking about an event, my main goal goes to how does my family go on the forefront?”