BREAD BUFFET

FUN FOOD FESTIVAL

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to bring into notice that all festivals are cultural in one way or another and to get familiarized with various Food Festivals around the world and in India. 

INTRODUCTION

Festivals are an expressive way to celebrate glorious heritage,

culture and traditions.  They add structure to our social lives, and connect us with our families and backgrounds. They give us a distraction from our day to day, exhausting routine of life, and give us some inspiration. Festivals were started to pass the legends, knowledge and traditions onto the next generation.Some Famous Food Festivals are covered in the upcoming slides.

AROUND THE WORLD

Humongous Fungus Fest – Michigan, USA

Month: August

Humongous Fungus Fest began when the people of Crystal Falls,     Michigan found the largest mushroom in the world in their town. The giant fungus, covering an area of 37 acres and weighing around 11 tons, was found in 1988 the town authorities decided to hold a festival to celebrate this and all other edible fungi. “Humongous pizza”, a 10x10 foot mushroom pizza that is made at the fest for the attendees to eat. There are mushroom cook-offs, pancake breakfasts, and a mushroom  parade, tube float and horseshoe tournaments, and a fireworks display which completes the tournament. 

Madrid Fusion Festival – Madrid, Spain 

Month: January

Madrid Fusion is massive celebration of all kinds of cuisine, with seminars and talks, tasting sessions, competitions, demonstrations, workshops, and a whole lot more. The three-day festival has turned into one of the biggest and most important food festivals in Europe, and draws the best chefs in the country, who share their insights and their creations with the attendees.

The three-day festival has turned into one of the biggest and most important food festivals in Europe, and draws the best chefs in the country, who share their insights and their creations with the attendees.The Festival has become a major Culinary Expo and Exchange Festival and sharing platform  providing an amazing opportunity to Chefs.

Menton Lemon Festival – Menton, France

Month: February 

 Menton is a charming little beach town on the French Riviera, and its Lemon Festival has been going on for around 80 years. You can certainly taste the fruits and dishes made at the festival.

The focus is on the displays around the town. Monuments, gardens, and building facades are elaborately decorated with oranges and lemons

.Enormous sculptures and other displays are also made out of the fruits. The theme changes each year, and this year’s theme was Cinecittà (the great Italian film studio).

Legend has it that the lemon tree first took root in Menton, when no less than Eve herself chose the beauty of the Bay of Garavan as a paradise in which to plant this golden fruit. According to the story, Menton grew from a pip, to become the prime lemon-growing region in Europe.At the heart of the festival, magnificent lemon-themed parades take place day and night, with stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, musicians and acrobats providing a spectacular performance.This year’s floats featured creatures of the deep – dolphins, whales, giant squid and fantasy fauna will take over every festival venue, with citrus-scented works of art, all created from carefully-placed oranges, lemons and glorious Mediterranean flowers

Maine Lobster Festival – Maine, USA

Month: August

The Maine Lobster Festival takes place in Rockland, Maine during the summer every year.It focuses on celebrating local lobster-based cuisine, local culture in general, with parades, carnival rides, live music, displays of local arts and crafts, and races and other competitions. The various competitions include cooking contests, with a focus on seafood and of course lobsters in particular.

Another thing that’s great about the Maine Lobster Festival is that in spite of its size, it’s run entirely by volunteers, and all proceeds from the festival go to the local communities. The food is certainly enough reason to be here, the other events too tend to have a lobster element to them.

There’s the Great Lobster Crate Race, where you run across a row of lobster crates bouncing precariously in the ocean, and you’ll always see a few giant lobsters at the parades.

Monkey Banquet – Lopburi, Thailand

Thailand’s Monkey Banquet festival sets out a massive feast not for humans, but for local monkeys and takes place in Lopburi at the local Phra Prang Sam Yot temple where thousands of macaques are an integral part of the town’s life.

For the most part though, the human and monkey population live in harmony, and the monkeys are even considered to be lucky for the town and are worshipped by some. It begins with various invocations and cultural performances, after which the feast – which has been laid out in advance and consists of tons of fruits, vegetables, sticky rice, and dessert – is openeIt’s an intriguing, unique, and spectacular food festival that’s worth attending if you’re in the country when it happens.

Mistura – Lima, Peru

Month: September 

Peru is home to one of the best food festivals in the world. Mistura is only a few years old, but it is reportedly already the largest food festival on the continent.

It attracts more than 300,000 people, including the region’s best chefs, as well as actors, musicians, and other celebrities. There are food stands with an incredible range of foods for attendees to try, and lectures, presentations, classes, tasting sessions, and live music too. Information is hard to come by, since most published material is in Spanish, but we have it on good authority that this isn’t something you should miss if you’re in Peru when it happens. 

Ivrea Orange Festival – Ivrea, Italy

 Month: February

The Ivrea Orange Festival originated from the 12th century when during parades and city celebrations, girls would throw oranges from their balconies to gain the attention of the boy they fancied. The boys began to reciprocate and this evolved into a messy rivalry between the balcony girls and the street boys.It wasn’t until WWII when the intricate citrus battle rules were finally laid out. It is free for anyone to participate by joining one of the nine teams on foot or become a member of the carriage crew.It wasn’t until WWII when the intricate citrus battle rules were finally laid out. It is free for anyone to participate by joining one of the nine teams on foot or become a member of the carriage crew.

Dating back to 1808, the carnival is one of the oldest festivals in all of Italy, and features a range of traditional re-enactments parades and activities.One such example is the Battle of the Oranges, a much loved event that sees the people of the town re-imagining the war that broke out between the people of Ivrea and Royal Napoleonic troops the day a tyrannical family was overthrown in the 12-Century. The battle is made up of squads of aranceri, or orange throwers on foot and those in carts representing the Napoleonic troops.

People participating in the event wear protective helmets and padding from the oranges, while sweets and presents are distributed to spectators. This is followed by a traditional procession through the streets, including floats, musicians and folk groups from all over Italy. 

Thousands of people attend the three day carnival, which began last Sunday and ends on Shrove Tuesday. Onlookers wear bright red hats to distinguish them from those taking part in the orange fight. A similar event is held each year in Bunol, Spain that sees people pelting each other with tomatoes.

Napa Truffle Festival – Napa, USA

Month: January

Napa Truffle Festival is the place for you if you like the unique taste and aroma of these mushrooms known as black diamonds.

The sessions held explain how to pair truffle-based dishes with various wines here with truffle-tasting sessions, lectures on cultivating truffles, demonstrations of how to cook with truffles, and of course meals made with truffles.Truffle hunting is one of the more curious aspects of truffles, and the festival also hosts demonstrations of how this is done, with dogs and their trainers.

Truffles are notoriously expensive, so this is one festival that’s likely to burn a serious hole in your pocket; however, if you love truffles, you should try to visit at least once in your life. 

INDIA

National Street Food Festival

Month: December

Be it Chaat, Momos or the spicy Chole Kulcha, Delhiites just love their street food.

The NASVI National Street Food Festival brings much-loved street delicacies from different regions of India to one place. People enjoy various street foods available around the country at one place.

Mei Ram-ew

Month: December

A little-known ethnic food festival of Meghalaya showcases various dishes in Meghalayan Cuisine.

Mei Ram-ew is an effort by North-East Slow Food and Agro-biodiversity Society (NESFAS) to preserve and promote the various forest-foraged and locally-grown foods that are cooked and served by indigenous communities of the Northeast India.

It is held at Sacred Grove, Mawphlang, Meghalaya

The festivities begin with workshops and demonstrations with experts, taste workshops of indigenous food varieties and innovative dishes, and discussions on Agro biodiversity  related issues The numberparticipating in the festivities have grown from then to include as many as 150 community participators from Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, South India and Bhutan

The event drew the youth out from their shells and served as an opportunity to ensure their involvement through their common love for music, dance and food.

It is organized by NESFAS in collaboration with the Government of Meghalaya, various partners including the Indigenous Partnership for Agro biodiversity and Food Sovereignty, Slow Food International and the participating communities.

Asian Hawkers Market

Month: October

Spread over three days, the Asian Hawkers Market is a unique, one-of-its kind al fresco food festival with sights, sounds, smells and tastes that could easily be mistaken for the streets of a busy Southeast Asian market. It is held at Select Citywalk, Delhi

With food stalls serving a variety of dim sums, sushi rolls, tempura, stir fries and seafood platter, this fiesta brings the best of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines under one roof. Spread over three days, this provides a great chance to sample the best of five-star and casual dining restaurants. Think cuisine from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and expect carts full of sushi, dim sums, curries, baos, khao suey and stir fries. The last edition saw a bunch of restaurants, from high end five stars to street stalls.

Great Indian Food Festival

Month: January

With over 75 food stalls from over 12 states – from Paranthas to Butter Chicken, Halwas to Ice Creams, Galouti kebabs to a multitude of chaat – the Great Indian Food Festival has enough variety to send you straight into a culinary coma.

The festival also hosts exciting competitions such as Golgappa-Gulping competitions and Vada Pav-Eating competitions!

The places you always wanted to visit, the street food you always heard of is made available at one location.

It is held at Dilli Haat, Delhi

Goa Food and Cultural Festival

Month: April

A Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) initiative, Goa Food and Cultural Festival is a celebration of the sunshine state’s authentic cuisine, rich heritage and vibrant folklore.

 A host of professionals from the tourism and hospitality industry; hoteliers, restaurateurs, beverage brands and lifestyle outlets showcase their premium offerings.

Palate Fest

Month: February

It is a much-awaited three-day food and music festival. Palate Fest brings together some of the most loved restaurants, food stalls and even some embassy kitchens from across Delhi. There is also a Palate Fest Mini, a smaller version of the main festival, that sees Delhi crowd coming over in huge numbers for a high dose of fun, food and frolic, in no particular order.

Palate Fest brings all the latest cafes, delis, restaurants, bakeries, brands, and the hottest musicians from the country under one roof every single time Cakes, cupcakes, fries, flavoured popcorn, kebabs, curries, dim sums, tacos, baos, satays, loaded pizzas fresh from the oven, banta, and cold pressed juices are just a few of the hundreds of items you can munch and sip on here. Live cooking demos by the top chefs of the country, music and dance performances, and more have made sure that we faithfully come back every single time and go back with happy hearts and smiling faces. It is held at Nehru Park, Delhi.

The Grub Fest

Month: March

The Grub Fest is a perfectly enthralling assemblage of food, fun and entertainment.

The Grub Fest is India's biggest food festival with the best restaurants displaying their signature delicacies over some good music and hearty performances to keep people entertained. Along with culinary workshops, an organic food market, music performances and a host of popular restaurants, the festival also has a special arena for mini-food trucks called the Grub Mile. To top it all, they also screen films about food. It is held at New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

Ahare Bangla

Month: October

Food is a subject that evokes extreme passion in Bengalis. A five-day food festival organized by the West Bengal government, Ahare Bangla is a great place for foodies to get a taste of classic Bengali dishes like Bhapa Ilish and Kosha Mangsho.

 It's a novel venture by the Government of West Bengal to serve the people with age-old as well as modern delicacies of Bengal-food with an aim to create awareness about the irresistible taste and the convenient source of the food products along with the promotion of the food industry in the state of West Bengal.

Unique delicacies like Emu Steaks and aromatic Tulai Panji rice are also available.It is held at Milan Mela Grounds, Kolkata.

IMPORTANCE

•          Platforms for sharing agro-biodiversity, and are a cultural expression of traditional food and agricultural traditions.

•            Exchange ideas and highlight the challenges, empowering communities with a sense of ownership.

•            Re-integrate value back into food systems and food culture.

•            beautify food through presenting traditional dishes, explaining and documenting the cultural and ecological links.

•            Community driven initiatives empowering people.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. What’s so unique about food festivals?

•          Provide equal opportunity to the upcoming/promising brands.

•          Oberving and learning platform for the newly launched food and beverage establishments how the already established brands deal with their customers.

•          It is not about copying existing establishments but crteating your own style.

•          You need give your enterprise its own identity, something that defines it, a thing that cannot be re-created by anyone else.

2. Capital

•          Most of the times, new companies do not have high budgets to promote themselves.

•          They do not get noticed by their targeted audiences.

•          Such food festivals are the best way to present yourself, and inform the people about your tempting menu and food items.

•          You must grab every opportunity to set up your own stall in the food festival and you can make much more money than you usually do.

.  Promotion

•          Social Media

•          Online quizzes, Prizes, Gift Vouchers or Coupons.

•          Banners and Samples.

4. Final Touches

•          Fun activities

•          Fests

•          Create Connections with Associates and Clients. 

Create your own position in the market place

CONCLUSION

•            We can conclude that food festivals are excellent way to promote and inform people about the various cuisines and dishes.  Food Festivals are a wagon for sharing agro-biodiversity, and are a cultural expression of traditional food and agricultural traditions.  They should be encouraged and held more often to promote Social gatherings and culture.