There are many gastronomic festivals in the world. Some are dedicated to a regional specialty (like pizza in Naples or seafood in Portugal),
and during others you can appreciate the work of chefs from all over the world. The best restaurants and picnics on the lawn, street food and haute cuisine, as well as music, communication and fun – we will tell you about the best gastronomic festivals around the world.
1. Bacon Fest – bacon festival in Sacramento, USA
When: February 11, 2018
@fredmarriage/Unsplash.com
More than 100 chefs from America and Europe prepare a variety of dishes from farm pork raised in California during the Bacon Fest. Bacon is present in all dishes prepared during the festival, even in desserts. In 2017, bacon salad, ramen with bacon noodles and bacon ice cream were especially popular. In addition to all kinds of pork dishes, visitors can expect chef competitions, master classes, excellent craft beer and live music.
2. Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Australia
When: March 16 — 25, 2018
Photo: @oheyrose/Instagram
The Melbourne Festival is one of the most famous food festivals in the world. It lasts two weeks, brings together the world’s best chefs and attracts 300,000 visitors. The festival features award-winning Australian restaurants, farmers and winemakers. During the festival, the whole city is transformed – many chefs cook not in pavilions, but in cafes, bars and restaurants in the city, where tastings with live music are also held. During the festival, more than 300 events take place: on the banks of the Yarra River, a lunch for 1000 people is held at a huge table, culinary seminars, master classes and picnics take place every day in nature and on the roofs of the city. Hawkers Markets serves up the best street food, the Southgate Promenade stops for a wine fair from private wineries, and gala dinners take place at the Royal Exhibition Building.
3. Lisbon Fish Festival (Peixe em Lisboa),
Portugal
When: April 5 — 15, 2018
Photo: @catherinethebrave/@heloisanass/Unsplash.com
This festival is dedicated to the key products of Portuguese cuisine – fish and seafood. For eleven days of the festival, the city will host a “Gourmet Market” with the best fish and delicacies, thirty restaurants and cafes will host tastings from chefs from Portugal and Europe, and the remaining Lisbon restaurants open on the occasion of the festival will offer special menus until midnight. The main venue of the festival is located in the “Carlos Lopes Pavilion” in Parque Eduardo VII. Master classes and culinary courses will teach you how to cook dozens of dishes and even desserts from fish, crabs, mussels, octopus and lobsters. The Lisbon Fish Festival is also known for its Portuguese wine fair and fun competitions, the most famous of which are the “Barker Competition” and “Best Butter Cake.”
4. Street food festival (Brussels Food Truck Festival) in Brussels, Belgium
When: June 1 — 3, 2018
Photo: lavizzara/Shutterstock.com
Brussels Food Truck Festival is the largest street food festival in Europe. Organizers receive more than a thousand applications, from which the hundred best street food trucks are carefully selected. They all fill the Brussels Parc Tour & Taxis,
and feeds and entertains 150,000 visitors for three days. The choice is huge: Belgian, French, Breton, American, Japanese, Mexican, Chinese and vegetarian street food. For alcoholic drinks, there are several vans with excellent Belgian beer and cocktails. On the last day of the festival, the most popular dish of the festival is chosen and the best food truck is awarded.
5. Pizzafest in Naples, Italy
When: June 16 — 24, 2018
Photo: @jamiegoodwin/Unsplash.com
Pizza is one of the symbols of Italy, and bustling southern Naples is the birthplace of pizza. It is here that Pizzafest, the most delicious Italian festival, has been taking place since 1997. It attracts the best pizzaiolos (pizza makers) from all over Italy to show their skills, and more than 500,000 participants from all over the world. Hundreds of thousands of different types of pizza are eaten during the festival, but the most popular are the traditional Margherita, Neapolitan and Marinara. In addition to tasting excellent pizza, from morning to evening the festival hosts master classes on pizza preparation for amateurs and professionals, as well as dozens of contests and competitions. And on the Caracciolo embankment, concerts and theatrical performances take place.
6. Taste of Chicago Food and Music Festival, USA
When: July 4 — 8, 2018
Photo: @brookelark/Unsplash.com
Taste of Chicago is one of the largest food festivals in the world. It has been held since 1980 and attracts more than 3 million people. Restaurants from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, American and European chefs and pastry chefs participate in the festival. The festival takes place outdoors in Grant Park in the heart of the city. The park area is filled with tents and awnings, where hundreds of dishes are prepared and tasted and master classes are held for children and adults. The choice of dishes is huge – classic American cuisine and street food, national cuisines of the world: Italian, Mexican, Irish, French, African, Chinese. The most popular dishes: Chicago-style pizza, tacos, Chicago hot dogs and barbecue, Ellis cheesecake, ice cream and various desserts. In addition to tastings, the festival offers master classes, courses and lectures for adults, competitions and attractions for children. “Taste of Chicago” is also famous for its concerts, where famous artists perform.
7. Seafood Festival in O Grove, Spain
When: October 4 — 14, 2018
Photo: @lauren_lester/Unsplash.com
The seafood festival (Fiesta del Marisco) has been taking place in the Spanish city of O Grove for more than half a century. The variety and excellent quality of seafood attracts two hundred thousand visitors every October. O Grove is a tiny fishing town that cannot accommodate such a flow of tourists, so in the fall a tent town is built on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean for the festival. Tastings take place every day: crabs, squid, scallops, shrimp, oysters, lobsters and langoustines are caught at dawn, prepared according to local recipes and served with Albariño white wine. All this takes place to the sounds of folk music and the clicking of the dancers’ heels. Also during the festival there is a competition for the best mussel dish and a competition for the largest crab caught.
8. Chocolate Festival (Salon du chocolat) in Paris, France
When: October 31 – November 4, 2018
Photo: @vladdeep/Unsplash.com
The first chocolate festival was held in 1922 in Paris and has since gained enormous popularity: such festivals are now held in 29 cities around the world. The Paris Chocolate Festival brings together 9,000 participants and 7 million visitors. In addition to sweets and chocolate from all over the world using thousands of different recipes, during the festival you have the opportunity to try desserts from the best pastry chefs in Paris. The exhibition space is divided into two zones – one for tasters, the other for professionals; there is also a chocolate library, a street food department, and a children’s room. During the festival, lectures and master classes are held, as well as a fashion show, during which models show clothes made entirely of chocolate.
Preview photo: @hero/Unsplash.com
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