You’ve been there, seen this and done that, and now you’re looking for a new idea for a vacation road trip. Try tasting your way across California at some of the state’s many festivals dedicated to food, from garlic to strawberries and just about everything in between.
Where but California would one of the best-known food fairs be focused on garlic? The Gilroy Garlic Festival – gilroygarlicfestival.com/ – drew almost 130,000 people this past July. They don’t have details yet on the 2006 festival, July 28-30, but you can look under “Food, Beverages & Misc.” for an idea of the menu, including garlic ice cream. To get there, just take U.S. 101 southeast out of San Jose. If you can’t make it, the gift shop has cookbooks.
Southwest of Gilroy, past Watsonville, the Castroville Artichoke Festival – artichoke-festival.org/ – is set for May 20-21. Try the local ‘chokes fried, grilled, pickled and creamed, and save time for the parade and the classic car show.
A little earlier on the calendar, out in farm country east of San Francisco, you could eat your vegetables April 21-23 at the Stockton Asparagus Festival – asparagusfest.com/ – where the website says they served 40,000 pounds of asparagus at the 2005 event. Look under “Good Eating” for a link to recipes and the Asparagus Festival Cookbook.
Head north of the San Francisco Bay Area and add a little zest to your palate at the Napa Valley Mustard Festival – mustardfestival.org/about/invitation.html – where the atmosphere is a little more upscale and infused with the region’s wines. The event runs Jan. 28-April 1.
Looking for zest with a little more heat? Take Interstate 10 east out of Los Angeles to Indio and the International Salsa Festival – salsafest.org/ – coming up April 1-2.
For something a little cooler and sweeter, drive east out of Sacramento on I-80 to the Placer County Strawberry Festival – strawberry-festival.com/ – April 14-16. The website is a little short on specifics, but clicking on “The Juicy Details” will take you to “Venues and Attractions” for summaries of everything from Strawberry Alley to a spaghetti feed.
This is just a sample of California’s edible events. Visit the state’s Travel & Tourism Commission – gocalif.ca.gov/ – and look under “Activities & Attractions” for “Food & Wine.” There’s also a magazine, Taste California Travel – tastecaliforniatravel.com/ – with feature articles and a full calendar of events, and look under “News” for events such as “Dine About Town San Francisco.”
