To my fellow food lovers, I think we can all agree that there is nothing better than food festivals. What can possibly be better than being able to stuff your face with numerous kinds of clam chowder, desserts, or wine at a single festival? Nothing. With the hundreds of food festivals occurring throughout the year in the New England area alone, it can be quite difficult to pick out the noteworthy ones.
Deciding between a clam chowder festival and a lobster roll festival is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child; it's virtually impossible but we all know deep down that you can never go wrong with steaming bowl of clam chowder.
So instead of wasting your time trying to find your food heaven, check out these great food festivals all within Connecticut.
1. New England Regional Chili Cook Off
With endless amounts of chili, hot peppers and hot wings eating contests, and great music, the New England Regional Chili Cook Off hosted by the International Chili Society (because apparently that's a thing) is the place to be on May 7th. I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a nice bowl of spicy chili? Located in Somers, Connecticut, this food festival is a great way to kick off the start of the summer season.
2. Shoreline Wine Festival
An end of the summer wine festival? You can absolutely count me in! The Shoreline Wine Festival, taking place on August 12th and 13th, features a large selection of wines, different food vendors, and entertainment. For all of my wine lovers out there, be sure to head over to Bishop's Orchards in Guilford to be in your wine-crazed utopia.
3. Milford Oktoberfest
What could possibly be better than hundreds of different types of beer, American food, and German food all under one large tent? Milford's annual Oktoberfest celebration takes place at the end of September and is definitely the place to be for all things German. From the great food, amazing beer, German dancers, Oompah band, and local musicians, it's no wonder why this festival has been going strong for 29 years.
4. New England Chowdafest
What is New England's classic comfort food? Chowder, of course! For all those looking to stuff their face with the greatest comfort food around, the New England Chowdafest will be held on October 1st in Westport. This festival's competition contains five categories: New England Clam Chowder, Traditional Chowders (Manhattan/Rhode Island's), Creative Chowder, Soup/Bisque, and Vegetarian. With all these amazing soups just a few miles away from Fairfield University, I think us stags know where we'll be headed the first day of October this year
5. Connecticut Garlic and Harvest Festival
Love all things garlic-related? Or maybe you just want to keep the vampires off of you? Then the Connecticut Garlic and Harvest Festival is where you'll want to be on October 7th and 8th. Aside from its copious amount of garlic available, this food festival also offers a variety of other great dishes such as different pastries, clam chowder, burgers, falafels, fried Oreos, and smoothies
These five festivals are only a fraction of all the amazing food-related events that Connecticut has to offer throughout the year. From different restaurant weeks to a potato and corn festival, Connecticut is definitely the go-to state for all your food festival needs. Be sure to check out the website for each of these great food events to get all the details you may need.