Food festival

A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season. They can be traced back thousands of years to celebrating the arrival of harvest time, the autumnal equinox, and the honoring of earth gods. Some food festivals are also harvest festivals. Note this list includes festivals focused on beverages, such as wine festivals and beer festivals, as well.

List of food and drink festivals

Africa

Festival name	Type	Country/city	Years	Notes
Lagos Seafood Festival	festival	Nigeria
Leboku	festival	Nigeria
New Yam Festival of the Igbo	festival	Nigeria
Nnewi Afiaolu Festival	festival	Nigeria
Ashanti Yam Festival	festival	Ghana
Asogli Yam Festival	festival	Ghana
Fofie Yam Festival	festival	Ghana
New Yam Festival of the Igbo	festival	Ghana

Oceania

Festival name	Type	Country/city	Years	Notes
Bankstown Bites Food Festival[1]	Food	Australia
Hokitika Wildfoods Festival	Food	New Zealand
Caxton Street Seafood and Wine Festival	Wine festival/Food	Australia
Good Food & Wine Show	Wine festival/Food	Australia
Grampians Grape Escape	Wine festival	Australia
Kings Cross Food and Wine Festival	Wine festival/Food	Australia
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival	Wine festival/Food	Australia
Taste Festival	Food	Australia
Vegfest (AU)	Food	Australia
Darwin Beer Can Regatta	Beer festival	Australia
GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of the Year	Beer festival	Australia
Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular	Beer festival	Australia
Schützenfest (Adelaide)	Beer festival	Australia
Warners Bay Beer Festival	Beer festival	Australia

North America

Canada

See List of food festivals in Canada.

Mexico

• Puerto Vallarta festival

United States

There are several Florida food festivals and New Jersey food festivals. Other festivals include the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California; Brentwood Cornfest in Brentwood, California; Mushroom Festivals in various locales; the Castroville Artichoke Festival, in Castroville, California; the Stockton Asparagus Festival, in Stockton, California; the ¡Latin Food Festival! in San Diego, California; the Lexington Barbecue Festival in North Carolina; the Posen Potato Festival, in Posen, Michigan; the Norwalk Oyster Festival, in Norwalk, Connecticut, Vaisakhi Festival at Yuba City, and the Howell Melon Festival in Howell, Michigan, known for electing the Howell Melon Queen.

Vegetarian food festivals include Vegfest in Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California.

South America

Brazil

• Festival de comida de rua Fortaleza: Fortaleza, Brazil.
• Festival de comida de rua São Paulo: São Paulo, Brazil.

Peru

• Mistura: Lima, Peru. Held annually since 2008, is the largest food festival in Latin America.

Europe

Italy

• Asti's Festival of Festivals held in Asti in September.
• Battle of the Oranges is a traditional orange fight held in Ivrea each February.

Spain

• La Tomatina - a tomato-throwing festival held in late August in Buñol.
• L’Aplec_del_Caragol - a snail-eating festival held in Lleida in May.

Switzerland

• The Räbechilbi turnip festival is held annually in September.
• A cheese festival is held in Gruyére in May.

United Kingdom

References

1. Bankstown Bites Food Festival, Accessed 3 November 2013

External links