Los Angeles has a constant stream of food and wine (or beer) festivals throughout the year and there are new ones popping up too fast to track. These range from all-inclusive ticketed events to pay-as-you-go street fairs. Some feature LA's top chefs; others focus on street food or a specific ethnic cuisine. They are organized here more or less chronologically.
Drink Eat Play Events
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© 2009 Kayte Deioma, courtesy of www.KayteDeioma.com
Drink Eat Play organizes a variety of food, wine, beer and spirits events throughout the year including the Los Angeles BBQ Festival, LA Sake Festival, Los Angeles Beer Festival, Orange County Beer Festival, Septemberfest, International Wine Festival, Dessert Decadence and the Gourmet Five Year Old Party. Check their website for details.
Belmont Shore Chocolate Festival
The Belmont Shore Chocolate Festival is a sidewalk food festival focusing on sweet and savory chocolate delicacies on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore, Long Beach in Febraury.
Orange County Food and Wine Festival
The Orange County Food and Wine Festival features California wines and local Orange County restaurants each February or March.
Latin Food Festival
The Latin Food Festival is a four-day celebration of food from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal with numerous individually ticketed events and live music. It takes place in March.
Laguna Beach A La Carte and Uncorked
Laguna Beach A La Carte is a four-day foodie festival which includes chef-hosted dinners and special prix fixe menus at restaurants and the Laguna Beach Uncorked outdoor food and wine festival on Saturday. It takes place annually in March.
Taste of the Eastside at Barnsdall Art Park
Taste of the Eastside presents food, wine and beer tastings, and cooking demos showcasing the tastes of dozens of restaurants from Silver Lake, Echo Park, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Los Feliz, Atwater and beyond. The festival takes place in a picnic atmosphere on the hilltop at Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. The site is home to Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House and the LA Municipal Art Gallery. May.
Garden Grove Strawberry Festival
For the most exotic creations made from Strawberries, head to Garden Grove in Orange County on Memorial Day weekend, the last weekend in May, for the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival.
Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation
Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation is a foodie benefit featuring local restaurants to raise money to end child hunger. There are events in Los Angeles and Orange County in June with other related events during the year.
Calabasas-Malibu Wine and Food Festival
The Calabasas-Malibu Wine and Food Festival features hundreds of wines and local restaurants each year in June.
LA Wine Fest
LA Wine Fest is all about the wine; the food is secondary. The event takes place in June at Raleigh Studios.
Long Beach Crawfish Festival
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The Long Beach Crawfish Festival celebrates the food and music of Louisiana with a giant crawfish boil in July or August.
Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival
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Co-sponsored by Food & Wine Magazine, the star-studded Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival is one of the biggest food and wine events in LA, featuring over 100 chefs and 200 wineries at multiple events over several days each August.
LA Street Food Fest
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LA Street Food Fest is the original gourmet food truck roundup. It doesn't have a fixed date every year so check the website for the next dates.
OC Foodie Fest
The OC Foodie Fest is Orange County's food truck festival with live music and merchandise vendors in August.
LA Times Celebration of Food and Wine
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LA Times Food and Wine: The Taste is a four-day celebration of food and drink, from the most casual to the most elegant, spread across multiple LA cities and neighborhoods. September
Lobster Festivals
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The LA area hosts three different Lobster Festivals every September in Long Beach, San Pedro and Redondo Beach.
The Los Angeles Chocolate Salon
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The Los Angeles Chocolate Salon is an expo and competition featuring the best of local and invited chocolatiers that takes place in Pasadena each September.
Taste of Soul
Taste of Soul is a soul food and music festival in South Los Angeles each October.
Taste of the City
There are multiple "Taste of" events around the southland including:
- Taste of Huntington Beach - April/May
- Taste of Encino - October
- Taste of Downtown Long Beach - April, June & August
- Belmont Shore Stroll and Savor in Long Beach - Multiple dates
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