May 19th 2017 - J. Vigotsky
America’s Best Summer Food Festivals
As a heat wave sets record temperatures in the North East, we’re reminded that summer has nearly arrived. With only about a month until the summer solstice, it’s time for travelers and food enthusiasts to start planning their vacations. Food festivals are great options for people who crave fun, excitement, and delicious food. The following is a list that includes some of America’s favorite summer food festivals.
Taste of Chicago – Chicago, Illinois – July 5-9
Touted as the nation’s premier outdoor food festival, Taste of Chicago is a 5-day spectacle that takes place at the famed Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. But the best part about the festival: entry is free! Many of Chicago’s top restaurants set up booths where they offer mouth-watering dishes. Some booths are of the pop-up variety and feature new restaurants each day. Since the Taste of Chicago’s inception in 1980, the festival has grown significantly and attracted over 1-million festival-goers to last year’s summer celebration. Featuring some of the most popular stars in music, the “Taste” has acts like Alessia Cara, Ben Harper, and Passion Pit scheduled for this year. Lesser-known local performers are also on the bill. For festival-goers who are willing to pay for a more premium experience, sit-down three-course meals prepared by renowned chefs are also available. The Kitchen with Mariano’s gives attendees the opportunity to watch local and celebrity chefs show off their skills and offer cooking tips.
Austin Ice Cream Festival – Austin, TX – August 12
This one-day ice cream extravaganza provides Texans with a much-needed respite from the summer heat. A place where adults, kids, and even dogs are encouraged to indulge in ice cream, the Austin Ice Cream Festival features contests that are fun to watch and even more fun to participate in. A popsicle stick sculpture contest lets attendees flex their creative muscles and build something completely unique. Sculptures can be built at home or on site. Like to make ice cream at home? Submit your most delicious homemade creation and let the festivals’ esteemed judges decide if it stands above the competition. But this festival’s main event is the ice cream eating contest. Once won by legendary competitive eater and reigning Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Champion Joey Chestnut, the contest requires participants to eat a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream. Whoever finishes first wins!
Gilroy Garlic Festival – Gilroy, CA – July 28-30
Founded in 1979, the Gilroy Garlic Festival takes place in Gilroy, California—the garlic capital of the world. Delicious foods like shrimp, calamari, steak, sausage, pasta, mushrooms, bread, and fries are all available with fresh garlic flavoring. The Great Garlic Cook-Off selects the most delicious-sounding garlic-based recipes from some of the best amateur chefs in the United States and Canada. After each recipe is prepared by the finalists, the meals are tasted by celebrity judges. The contestant with the best dish takes home a cool $5,000! In addition to awarding cooking skills, the festival also holds eaters in high esteem. For the first time ever, the festival will feature The Great Gilroy Garlic Eating Contest. Ten garlic-loving contestants will attempt to eat as many garlic cloves as they can stomach in a one-minute span—all with Guinness World Records in attendance to verify any new world record. The winner receives VIP tickets to the 2018 Garlic Festival, bragging rights, and possible immortality in the Guinness Book of World Records. Other entertainment includes live music, arts & crafts, and the Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen Pageant—open to local women between the ages of 18-24.
Maine Lobster Festival – Rockland, ME – August 2-6
Celebrating its 70th birthday this year, the Maine Lobster Festival was founded in 1947 and has been a New England tradition ever since. Operated by local volunteers, the nationally renowned food festival is a non-profit event that donates its proceeds to local programs and charities. Receiving international attention from media outlets, the Maine Lobster Festival has also been featured on the Food Network and other programs. The site of the festival is right along the Penobscot Bay, which provides beautiful scenery by which to consume massive amounts of clams, shrimp, mussels, and most of all—lobster! An amateur chef contest awards a total of $525 to its winners and is judged by a panel that weighs creativity, suitability of seafood to the recipe, and simplicity. The contest’s only rule is each dish must contain seafood that’s native to Maine waters. Also featuring live music, the festival has attracted artists like Willie Nelson, Don Mclean, and Smashmouth. A Steins & Wines event is a relatively new addition to the Maine Lobster Festival and allows attendees to try a variety of beers, wines, and spirits—all made in Maine. But the most popular event is The Big Parade, which always draws the largest crowd and is a spectacle that’s not to be missed.
National Buffalo Wing Festival – Buffalo, NY – September 2-3
Taking place over Labor Day Weekend, the National Buffalo Wing Festival is a perfect farewell to summer. 2017 marks the 16th year in the festival’s storied history. After the 5K Chicken Wing 5K Run debuted last year and attracted 500 chicken wing-loving runners, the race will make a much-anticipated return to the festival schedule. Another popular event is the Buffalo Ninja Warrior Challenge—an intense obstacle course that tests participants’ mind, body, and will. Each day of this weekend festival is accompanied by live music and mass consumption of chicken wings. In total, 2.4 million wings have been eaten at the festival throughout its 16-year history. The National Chicken Wing Festival also features pageants and cooking contests. And of course—no chicken wing celebration would be complete without a variety of competitive eating contests. The Triple Atomic Hot Wing Eating contest pits teams of 8 against each other to see who can consume the most wings that have been tossed in ridiculously hot sauce. But it’s every man for himself in the festival’s main event—the U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championship. With 12 minutes on the clock, each contestant needs to consume as many wings as possible. Famed eater Joey Chestnut is the contest’s three-time defending champ.
Georgia Peach Festival – Peach County, GA – June 3rd and June 10th
Although not technically taking place during summer, any Georgian will attest to the sweltering summer temperatures that accompany the arrival of June in the south. Taking place in Byron, GA on June 3rd and in Fort Valley, GA on June 10, the Georgia Peach Festival attracts upwards of 10,000 visitors. Celebrating the same delicious peaches that its state is known for, the festival features pageants, concerts, parades, and the World’s Largest Peach Cobbler—which measures 11 by 5 feet and is about eight inches deep. Festival-goers are encouraged to bring their own containers and take as much cobbler as they can handle.
These are just a few of the many great summer food festivals that are scheduled to take place across the United States during the next few months. Since each festival offers such a unique experience, there’s nothing wrong with attending multiple events. If you don’t see a festival close to where you live, just google your state and “summer food festivals.” There are sure to be at least a couple options.
