~ Top 10 Food Festivals around the World ~

[MysteRy]

Top 10 Food Festivals around the World

Ready for some gastronomic delights? Here are ten of the greatest food festivals on six continents. It's time for a feast to fascinate your taste buds. Time to meet and learn from the best chefs and vintners from around the world, whilst staying in some of the best hotels and vacation destinations there are.

   Sample everything from the wild foods of New Zealand to the hottest chillies of the deep south; wines from Australia's golden coast to Chicago ribs and pizza, taking in Asian delicacies and Atlantic seafood along the way.


1. Taste of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA



Each July, head for the Windy City for an outdoor celebration of the diverse dining available in the heart of the Midwest. Two and a half million people flock here to Grant Park on Lake Michigan each year, under the warm sunshine in America's iconic city. This is the biggest food festival in the world, lasting four days and bustling with ideas, music and delicious smells. As well as the chance to sample the fare of more than seventy food vendors, there are live bands and a funfair. So while you sample home-grown American and ethnic delicacies, you can enjoy entertainment from world-class acts that have included Moby, Carlos Santana and Kenny Rogers. Best of all, admission and events are free - leaving you more to spend on food! Chicago is proud to be a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, so you can taste superb dishes from all around the globe.

[MysteRy]

2. Festival Gourmet International, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico   



In November, flee the winter gloom and fly south to the warmth of Mexico. The Festival Gourmet International is held jointly between the wonderful, neighboring Pacific beach-side resorts of Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit. For ten days of food fiesta, international chefs present their very best dishes, with the emphasis on Mexican seafood. More than 27 restaurants and hotels take part, so you can spend your days wandering from venue to venue, sampling five-star cuisine in a 'dine around' program. And spend some relaxing time at the beach or pool. There are parties, fireworks, wine tastings and - naturally - tapas and tequila. From brunch through the dinner, you can dine out and watch demonstrations from master chefs.

[MysteRy]

3. The Good Food and Wine Show, South Africa   



This is not one, but three shows in South Africa depending on which time of year you plan to visit. The ten-year-old expo is by far the most prominent in the country, hitting Cape Town for the third week of May, Durban in August and moving to Gauteng just south of Johannesburg in September. Chefs come from not just South Africa but from the UK, Morocco and Thailand to give master classes and demonstrations, with a tasty emphasis on chocolate and wine! There are of course many healthy eating seminars and tastings, along with many sessions promoting good food for kids this year. Five-star hotels in each of the three cities offer different accommodation and ticket packages.

[MysteRy]

4. The World Gourmet Summit, Singapore   



At the end of April and beginning of May, head to one of Asia's most exciting destinations: Singapore. Here there is a conference, masterclasses and workshops by Michelin level chefs and vintners from all over the globe - from Norway to Australia. The Summit focuses on both the best in food and wine and has a great program of events that includes golf, themed and celebrity dinners and invitational parties. This is a high-class, epicurean celebration for the true connoisseur and those working in the industry. Over 140,000 people come here, and the summit has been running for fifteen years.

[MysteRy]

5. Hokitika Wildfood Festival, Hokitika, New Zealand   



This award-winning festival takes place in New Zealand's wonderful South Island every March. Hokitika lies on the west coast of the Tasman Sea, just an hour and a half north of the glacier country. This is a must for the adventurous gastronome! Wild foods are sometimes extreme. New wild food delights are  introduced at the festival each year, including the unforgettable cucumber fish and wasp larvae ice cream! Here, locals and visitors celebrate all the foods that grow and live wild here down under - the natural food sources of South Island. Wander amongst eighty stalls to try everything from bugs to whitebait, snails to sheep milk cheese. Join 15,000 others who come here every year and be entertained by music, dance, theatre and comedy - as well as the local Monteith's beer. It's fun, young and friendly.

[MysteRy]

6. Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, Arcata, CA, USA   



For 22 years, oyster lovers have flocked to Arcata Bay in Humboldt County each June. This is a massive area for oyster harvesting, lying on California's redwood Pacific coast and they celebrate the harvest in style! 18,000 people a day come to the downtown area to sample the wares of more than thirty vendors with plenty of entertainment for all the family. There is music, amusement park rides and competitions for the kids. You can shuck away to your heart's content, and try oysters in a whole variety of styles: from plain to roasted, barbequed to sauced; even on pizza. And even if they're not to your taste, there's plenty more delicious local food to sample, with an emphasis on seafood.  And as the oysters are caught using environmentally-friendly methods and no dredging, you can eat with a completely clear conscience.

[MysteRy]

7. Maine Lobster Festival, ME, USA   



The first five days of August are prime lobster time in Maine. Head to Rockland, under two hours' drive from Portland for a lively celebration. In 2012, the festival celebrates its 65th year and has a free day and reduced admission for the other four. Here in Habor Park, you overlook the Atlantic which produces so much lobster and seafood here. 20,000 pounds of fresh lobster is waiting for you, and the crowds are kept happy with parades, bands, races, carnival rides, fun runs and contests. There's lots going on for the kids and yes - more than lobster alone available. So if you prefer your turf to your surf or your Thai food to your Maine seafare, you're going to be happy.

[MysteRy]

8. Hatch Chile Festival, NM, USA   



Hatch Valley is known all over the world for its prolific, hot chile (or chili) crop. In these fertile fields, the farmers produce a huge variety of vegetables and nuts, but the chile is what this part of New Mexico is most famous for. So prepare for a sizzling festival. This fiesta with a distinctly south American feel takes place on Labor Day weekend each year and includes chile-eating competitions, parades, cook-offs, carnival amusement park rides and a lot of music. Over 30,000 people flock to the small town, vastly increasing the population. Try all sorts of recipes with chillis red and green, mild to hot and bring a cool drink! Hatch is directly on the Interstate 25.

[MysteRy]

9. Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Australia   



At the beginning of March, head for Victoria in the very south of Australia to its capital Melbourne, which proudly declares itself the food and wine capital of the continent. For twenty years, this celebration of the vintners and chefs has been going strong. It celebrates the very best produce and preparation in Victoria and attracts over 350,000 visitors each year. The festival actually lasts for twenty days with events all over the state. Over 100 local and international chefs come and give master classes, demonstrations and there are gala dinners. Now famous is the World's Longest Lunch and the Langham Masterclass.

[MysteRy]

10. Ludlow Food Festival, England   



The second weekend of September sees this historic town in Shropshire come alive to a foodie feast. In the grounds of the stunning medieval Ludlow Castle, 160 local companies bring their food and wine for your delight. Fifteen years old, the festival has risen from humble origins to being the toast of the Marches. The offerings here are all about slow food, local specialities and home-grown produce. You can take a tipple or two, with regional cider and real ales. Enjoy Shropshire sausages, pies and puddings. Ludlow is well known as a foodie town, so local restauranteurs also show their talents with hands-on events and demonstrations. And most of the events are free. There is entertainment for children and, on the Sunday, events spill over into the marketplace beyond the castle walls.


So, enjoy the art of fine food and wine around the world, in some spectacular locations. If you love your food or wine, you have a superb choice of the top ten food festivals to combine with a holiday. The majority of these festivals are far from stuff: designed very much with families in mind, with plenty of attractions for the younger members of the family. If you have the resources, you could spend a year travelling the world visiting a different gastronomic celebration almost every month of the year, taking in six continents!