Revelers at the Holiday Ale Fest. (cleverswine/Creative Commons)
December is a notoriously busy month, no matter which holiday one chooses to celebrate. The same end-of-the-year bustle extends to food and drink festivals as well, with some of the best gastronomical gatherings occurring at the tail end of 2009.
Here's a quick look at some of the best food festivals across the country --and the world-- this December.
Holiday Ale Festival December 2-6 (Portland, Oregon USA)
While the fall season is usually prime time for beer festivals, Portland, Oregon's Holiday Ale Festival touts itself as the only outdoor beer fest in the Northwest US to be held during the chilly, dank month of December. It's a genius idea to hold a five-day beer event when a lot of folks could use it the most. Under a cozy heated tent that covers Pioneer Courthouse Square, attendees can taste more than 50 specially-crafted winter beers, including some limited releases of seldom-seen vintage beers.
Homemade chicken tamales. (lucianvenusian/Creative Commons)
Upper Crust Show December 4-6 (Mumbai, India)
India's premiere food, wine and style magazine Upper Crust hosts its huge trade fair for the seventh consecutive year. With over 100 exhibitors and cooking demos from renowned chefs around the world, the event attracts more than 130,000 attendees from both the consumer and the trade end of the food business. While Indian food is in copious supply, guests can also expect to sample wine, cheese, chocolate, pastries, meats and more from all over the globe.
Indio International Tamale Festival December 5-6 (Indio, California)
The Food Network ranked the Indio International Tamale Festival one of the top ten food festivals in America for several reasons, but you really only need one: tamales. Since 1992 the festival has been centered around the tamale in all its incarnations, from the gourmet fusion inventions (like dessert tamales) to the solidly traditional, covering several whole city blocks in Indio. Live Latin music, tamale eating contests and beaucoups of kids' events round out the weekend. Come hungry.
Caerphilly Castle in Wales. (fillbee/Creative Commons)
Caerphilly Medieval Market December 12-13 (Caerphilly, Wales)
You might know the town of Caerphilly in connection with its three-day cheese festival, but for one weekend this December, the area will transform into its previous incarnation as a bustling market town (with a medieval theme) featuring foods of all kinds --including Caerphilly cheese. In the presence of one of the great medieval castles of western Europe, browse over 100 stalls, or learn new Christmas recipes at the Medieval cookery demonstrations.
A Sussex Christmas December 26-January 1 (Chichester, West Sussex, England)
On the day after the holiday, Christmas is just beginning at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in Sussex, where the theme is the spirit of Christmas past. The museum is home to more than 45 historic buildings on a scenic 45-acre site, decked out in the style of the period they were built (for many, that means Tudor or Stuart). Sample sweetmeats, mulled cider, and chestnuts roasting on an open fire in a setting that evokes the origins and traditions of the holiday.
Food history buff? Then how did you miss the story of Dame Nellie Melba, the woman who inspired four famous food dishes with her singing voice? Find out how something as simple as toast can be an homage to a diva.
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Comments
Those all sound great but that tamale festival is on my list for sure. Love tamales.
Fun!
Third culture kids examiner
Seattle stay-at-home moms examiner
Mmmm...ale festival please!!
Buffalo Events
Buffalo Sports Travel
Wish I could get to Wales!
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