Food Festivals in Europe: Spain, Italy, England & More
As you know, food is the central theme at a food festival. Food is a crucial cornerstone of most cultures, and a food festival preserves society’s cultural heritage. Promoting local services and products at festivals increases social sustainability and fosters the local economy. Food festivals in Europe and elsewhere are also increasingly becoming vital to the extensive food tourism industry.
Below are just a few food festivals in Europe that you should attend whenever you travel to the continent.
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La Tomatina, Spain
La Tomatina is a tomato festival held in Buñol every last Wednesday in August since 1945. It all started from a fit of rage that had young people pelting one another with tomatoes from a nearby market stall.
In 2002 La Tomatina was even declared as a Festivity of International Tourist Interest attracting visitors from around the globe with a current attendance limit of 22,000 people. Visitors arrive on trains in Spain at the festival site around 10 am.
At the signal of a water cannon, fellow festival-goers pelt each other with squashed tomatoes while having massive fun at it. After about an hour, another water cannon announces the end of pelting. Visitors then queue to wash off while firefighters hose down the street in less than an hour. A party continues after with lots of music, dance, food, and merrymaking.
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Taste Florence, Italy
With over 14 years of treating attendees, Taste Florence is a food and wine tour that hopes to keep you thoroughly satiated after your visit. If you decide to hop on the food tour, it is a strict one with no detours to other attractions in Florence. You visit local markets, culinary artisans, and shops chosen by the organizers.
Apart from inducing into a food coma at the end of the day (because there is more than enough to eat), you also get to learn about these foods culinary and historical relevance. There is an optional wine tasting available with a Sommelier also.
Foodies Festival, UK
Foodies Festival is the biggest celebration of food, drink, and music in the United Kingdom. There are exhibitions, recipe secrets, cooking tips from top chefs; cakes from the Cake & Bake Theatre; and wine, beer, cocktail, and champagne masterclass at the Drinks Theatre.
A Kids Cookery School is also present. All weekend various live bands perform at the event. You can enjoy delicious food worldwide while kids can play in the Kids Zone, take rides, and have fun at the bouncy castle. Foodies Festival is carefully curated to satisfy everyone. The festival is a perfect family-and-friends outing.
Copenhagen Cooking and Food Festival, Denmark
In August of every year in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, tens of thousands of food lovers gather to sample and indulge in Nordic foods and cuisine. Copenhagen Cooking and Food Festival is a ten-day event that features over 100 events at the Main Festival Square in the middle of Copenhagen. Available events range from talks, workshops, show kitchens, and street events to formal dinners. Top chefs and seasoned producers grace the event; therefore, it is a great networking event apart from enjoying food.
Onion Market, Switzerland
This food festival at Bern is about the bedrock of cooking in most cultures worldwide – onion. Walking through the streets of Bern, numerous creative designs of onion braids and garlands grace about 200 stalls. These designs are artificial, but they are deftly created to wow you.
The kitchen and restaurant in the city of Bern make and serve anything with onion too! Sausage with onions, onion tarts, onion pizza, and onion soup. Though, not only onion dishes are available at the market. Candies and treats are also available for you to snack on.
Smaka Good Food Festival, Stockholm
Attracting over 350,000 visitors and has been around for 30 years, Smaka Good Food Festival offers delicious food and good music from various genres. Traditional and worldwide cuisines made by top chefs are available to be enjoyed by visitors. This festival also has a focus on sustainability.
Apart from entertaining the food tourists, the festival also educates and creates more awareness about the sustainability of the environment and shares models for sustainable farming and food production.
Taste of Amsterdam, Netherlands
World-class chefs, future food heroes, top restaurants, and several delicious food tastings all gather at Taste of Amsterdam. At Amstelpark, participants can also participate in food workshops and join marches.
Taste of Amsterdam is deliberate at being inclusive, as terrains, parking places, pathways, and restrooms are especially created to include the disabled.
During this three-day festival, you have the avenue to be enlightened about the culinary diversity of Amsterdam and the Netherlands at large.
Food festivals provide visitors with an immersion in the visited culture. Apart from all the economic and social advantages they come with, they are pretty simply organized to curate and provide fun for locals and visitors. Therefore, have some fun, satisfy your cravings, and treat the foodie you are at heart!