Top Food Festivals Worldwide

People worldwide frolic to food festivals as soon as the weather starts to get warm. The delights to be found at food festivals lead hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to stand in line to sample various types of food.

Crowds – no problem. Long waits – no problem. The only thing that matters when it comes to visiting food festivals is the need of people to gather en masse and share a common experience centered on delectable, unique food.

Often the vendors at the top food festivals are the best restaurants in town. (tweet this) This makes it nice for travelers who can’t get a reservation at the restaurant itself, but they can sample the fine food at the food festival.

The only problem we see with food festivals might be in determining which ones are worthwhile and which ones aren’t.

To that end, we’re going to look at the top food festivals worldwide. So, as you start your travels, you might pick your dates around the best food festivals in the world.

Here is a must-visit list of the top food festivals worldwide.

Napa Truffle Festival

This interesting festival features the mushroom, or as aficionados call them, truffles. In Napa, California, visitors to this top food festival can expect an entire weekend filled with truffles and wine.

Chefs from corners all over the world who are known for their truffle cuisine join truffle experts and scientists. The truffle scientists even have workshops on truffle cultivation including how to forage for mushrooms. Other workshops include tips on pairing wines with truffles and cooking demonstrations.

Another interesting activity involves truffle dogs. You can participate in a tour and dog/training tour.

You’ll enjoy a truffle-based dinner prepared by master and Michelin-starred chefs and an artisan marketplace. A la carte truffle menu items, local wines and fresh truffles are available for purchase.

Visit Napa Truffle Festival

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

Melbourne’s strong culinary history is celebrated at this top food festival. Food and wine lovers gather in the hundred-thousands to enjoy more than 200 events that fill Melbourne and spill into regional Victoria.

With events for the whole family to enjoy, you’ll also find specialty events as well as master classes to learn from some of the world’s finest chefs.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is a 10-day celebration that also includes multi-course meals and The Longest Lunch, one of the event’s signature features. At this event alone, more than 1,600 diners from across the globe ate at a 580 yard-long table for a three course lunch.

Visit Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

Taste of Madison

Held at Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin, this celebration of food, entertainment, and fun has been attracting people for 33 years. It features over 80 restaurants, 200+ menu items, 26 beverage stands, three stages and more than 35 live musical performances.

An estimated 250,000 people visit the festival over the course of the whole weekend.

This event benefits local charities, and the prices and portions are kept low and small so attendees can sample a wide-range of food.

Visit Taste of Madison

Madrid Fusión

Held in Spain’s capital city, more than 100 international chefs descend on Madrid to explore food and drink.

This is one festival worth checking out. Peruse their website for more information, but we must advise, reading Italian is helpful!

Visit Madrid Fusión

Maine Lobster Festival

Close your eyes. Now, imagine freshly caught lobster in salads, on rolls or boiled and covered in a rich buttery sauce.

More than 20,000 pounds of lobster and more than 1,700 pounds of butter are served at this festival that also features live music, art shows and stand-up comedy.

Just four hours from Boston and two hours from Portland, this festival is five days of fun on the coast of Maine. It’s an internationally-recognized celebration of local seafood. People come from all over the United States, Europe and Asia.

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Maslenitsa Pancake Festival

Celebrating a traditional Russian holiday, this festival which is a Russian Mardi Gras, is a great way to usher in spring and say goodbye to winter.

Served at this festival are pounds of thin, golden pancakes and crepes that symbolize the sun in shape and color. Festival goers eat them with jams, butters, fruits and caviar.

Also on the menu are sweet rounds of bread (sushki), and they are often strung together and hung around the neck as an edible necklace.

In addition, you’ll enjoy snowball fights, sleigh rides, and much family fun each day of the festival.

Visit Maslenitsa Pancake Festival

Salon du Chocolat Festival

Where else would you have a chocolate festival but France?

If you’re a chocoholic who just happens to be in Paris for this festival, you’ll enjoy all things chocolate. With more than 220 chocolatiers, pastry chefs and confectioners, you’ll be dizzy with the choices.

Enjoy not only the chocolate marketplace and cooking demonstrations, but be sure to visit the fashion show featuring clothes made entirely from chocolate!

Visit Salon du Chocolat Festival

Final Thoughts

We’ve put together a list of some of the top food festivals worldwide. We can also tell you that there are hundreds of worthwhile food festivals all across the globe.

So, if you aren’t traveling to one of the locations featured here, be sure to check your destination for food festivals in the area. You just might find an interesting, intriguing festival to add great food and great fun to your travels.

Before you venture out to one of the top food festivals worldwide, there’s a bit of preparation to be done. (tweet this)

The top food festivals worldwide are pop-up venues of people and restaurants serving their best food. You want to remember the following:

• You will have to wait in line.
• The vendors might run out of food.
• You will probably get hot and thirsty.
• Wear sunscreen, and depending on the location, bug spray.
• There will be large, pushy crowds of people – probably shoving each other.
• You might have to eat standing up.

Now, knowing all of that, run, don’t walk, to the top food festivals worldwide. You’ll enjoy the mass experience and the incredible food. Just make a game plan, be prepared, tote your own water and bring a blanket for a picnic meal!

Have you been to a food festival? Did you like it? Where was it? We’d love to hear about your experience with one of the top food festivals worldwide. What did you like? Where did you visit it? Share your comments below – we’d love to hear them and add your favorite food festival to our list.

Images: Brian Chan and Cel Lisboa