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Three January Food Festivals for Forgetting Your New Year's Resolutions

January is kind of a slow and sleepy month, but even if it’s not quite harvest time that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of foods to celebrate. There’s spicy stuff, sweet stuff, and everything in between...so here’s our picks for three fun food festivals that might be worth your time this month:

· Kumquat Festival – Dade City, Florida:
Of course the Sunshine State is known for oranges and grapefruits, but they’re also pretty darn awesome at growing kumquats. Dade City wants to share their love for the little orange fruits, and each year they invite like 40,000 friends to come check things out. This year’s festival is scheduled to run from 9am to 5pm on January 28—that’s a Saturday—and it’s free for all to enjoy.

Kumquat ice cream, kumquat pies, and kumquat cookies are just some of the special delicacies on display for sampling and snacking. Organizers are expecting around 350 different vendors to set up shop in the city’s downtown, so expect the usual arts, crafts, car shows, and entertainment in addition to all the tasty treats. There’s recipe contests too, and there’s even a chance to do your thing in hopes of scoring the title of Miss or Mister Kumquat.

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It's South Beach Wine and Food Fest Tix Time

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival may be four months away, but the date to mark on your calendar—the day tickets go on sale to the general public—is much sooner: October 24.

And if you're an AMEX card holder, you can go ahead and start plotting your February gluttony now, via the American Express pre-sale. After standing on many a line and overhearing many a desperate plea for spare tickets at this year's fest, we recommend making your plans for February 23–26 pronto.

Here's what's new for 2012:

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Three Upcoming Pumpkin Festivals to Help Celebrate the Season

Somehow it’s already October, and while we’re still working on selecting a Halloween costume it’s definitely time to start planning for pumpkin season. There’s seasonal stuff all over the country, but here’s three picks to get your fill of jack-o-lanterns:

· Pumpkin Festival 2011 – Keene, New Hampshire:
This one might be the best of them all, and it’s up to you to help the festival retain its glory. There will be thousands of jack-o-lanterns on display as the night approaches, but organizers encourage—if not demand—that you bring your own to share and display as well.

The fun takes place on Saturday, October 22, between noon and 8:30 in the evening. You’ll want to get there early to enjoy all the different food and entertainment offerings including pumpkin bowling at 2pm, as well as to score a good seat to see all the pumpkins illuminated in the town’s Central Square. Admission is free, but they would appreciate a $10 donation—you know, to keep things running smoothly.

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Cranberries, 'Kraut, and Pumpkins: Three Fun Fall Food Festivals

Even though it feels like summer has been over for a few weeks, fall doesn’t really arrive until later this week. To celebrate we’ve been looking for a few good fall food festivals here and there, and here are just three that we found to be well worthy of the season:

· Warrens Cranberry Festival:
Although its starring role as a Thanksgiving side dish is still a couple months away, it’s already time to celebrate and honor the mighty cranberry in Warrens, Wisconsin. Things kick off this weekend, as the fun is scheduled for to run on September 23, 24, and 25. It’s the world’s largest cranberry festival, so if you only have time for one cranberry festival this year—make it this one.

Get there early, as lots of the booths open right at 7am. You don’t want to miss the biggest berry contest, 350 flea market booths, or 850 arts and crafts tables. There were well over 100,000 cran-fans in attendance last year alone. Besides all the food and fun the best part are the marsh tours. Only $6 will get you a ride out into the middle of an active cranberry marsh along with plenty of options to buy some samples to bring back home. Other than the tours, admission is free, so make sure to bring the whole family along.

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Five Fresh Fruit and Veggie Festivals to Sample This Month

There’s all kinds of stuff to celebrate during the summer, but one of the best things has to be its food. Fresh vegetables and fruits are both delicious—especially when deep fried—so bring your appetites to five of the best fresh fruit and veggie food festivals hitting the country this August:

· The National Lentil Festival:
For those who have overindulged this summer on hamburgers and hotdogs it might be time to bite into something a little healthier. The National Lentil Festival certainly is focused on good-for-you eating, so it’s a good place to start—especially since there’s free admission. It all goes down on August 19 and 20 in Pullman, Washington. Expect wine tasting, beer tasting, live entertainment, and of course plenty of the little legumes. The Lentil Marketplace and Lentil Lane Food Court are two spots where you can sample a little of everything lentil, and be sure not to miss the Little Lentil Sprout Parade.

· Potato Days:
When it comes to food that comes out of the ground, there’s nothing much tastier than the potato, and that’s even more true when the little spuds are fried. Plenty of tubers will be attendance in Barnesville, Minnesota on August 26 and 27, and there’s usually a few fans visiting as well—last year’s attendance was just around 17,000.

This year’s festival features plenty of chances to chomp down on a few food treats, but we’re most interested in events like Mashed Potato Wrestling, Potato Days French Fry Feed, or the Potato Peeling Contest. Potato samples and some events do charge a fee, but general admission is totally free.

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Put On Your Lobster Bib! Three Seafood Festivals To Check Out This August

Sure the summer is all about hamburgers and hot dogs, but let’s not forget about some of those delicious delicacies that come from under the sea. The summer months are a great time to crack into a lobster, crab, or other slice of seafood and August has plenty of food festivals to help you get your fill. Here’s just three seafood festivals arriving next month that we think are worth your time::

· Maine Lobster Festival:
We love all the tasty treats that come out of the sea, but if we had to choose just one delicious crustacean it would be the mighty lobster. Of course Maine knows the most about this clawed creature, so it’s not surprising that they’re the ones throwing a festival dedicated to all things lobster at the beginning of August. The Maine Lobster Festival is set to run between August 3 and August 7 in Rockland, and if you have $8 extra in your food festival budget this one is a must-see.

In total, organizers are going to go through roughly 20,000 pounds of lobster—and god only knows how much butter—as visitors from all around the country arrive at Rockland Harbor. Arts and crafts, cooking contests, and plenty of lobster are just some of the festival’s highlights, but we have to recommend attending the lobster crate races. It’s exactly what it sounds like and it’s open to everyone, so sign up and try to run on top of the crates without taking a premature dip in the Atlantic Ocean. Just remember to leave your wallet back on shore, as you’ll need $14 for each lobster you plan on enjoying during the weekend.

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Lick Your Way Through Five Different Ice Cream Festivals This Summer

Independence Day is now behind us, but that hardly means that the summer is anywhere near over. There's a lot of outdoor fun to be had, and we're thinking that Mother Nature still has plenty of heat in store for us. If you need a way to beat the heat this summer you might want to consider scooping up a little fun with five of the best ice cream festivals this summer:

· Austin Ice Cream Festival:
It's just one of many festivals devoted to the sweet stuff this summer, but the Austin Ice Cream Festival just might be the best ice cream festival in all the land. This year's fun starts at 10am on Saturday, August 13 and runs until 7pm at Waterloo Park. The very best part is that there's free ice cream. Just don't overdo it, as you'll want to be firing on all cylinders to participate in the festival's screaming contest. After all, we all scream for ice cream!

There will be plenty of music-this is Austin after all-along with games, entertainment, and fun stuff for the little ones. There's also a popsicle stick sculpture contest where one and all can their best to make the best of pretty much anything out of popsicle sticks. Just remember that pre-notched sticks aren't allowed, but you can use glue and plenty of decorations. Good luck with your sculptures and your plans on overeating!

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Five Food Festivals to Sink Your Teeth into This July

There’s all kinds of stuff to celebrate during the summer, but one of the best things has got to be its food. Fresh vegetables and fruits are both delicious—especially when deep fried—so bring your appetites to five of the best fresh food festivals hitting the country this July::

· MangoMania:
Down in Florida it’s all about mangoes once the end of July rolls around. This year’s festival dedicated to all things mangoes runs on July 30 and July 31, and it will only set you back $5 if you remember to snag some tickets in advance. Expect recipe contests, mango juggling, mango pie eating, and the world’s largest mango contest. So plan on visiting Pine Island in Matlacha, Florida and remember to bring your best hat, as the hat parade runs on both Saturday and Sunday.

· Lanai Pineapple Festival:
Skip the stuff that comes in the can, because when you’re in Hawaii the fresh pineapple comes straight from the fields. The fun starts on July 2 at Dole Park on the island of Lanai with promises of plenty of food, entertainment, and activities. Weldon Kekauoha and Anuhea will be performing during the day’s events along with other local entertainment. It’s the 19th year of the festival, so it definitely has some experience on how to throw a successful food festival. Just don’t be looking for any pineapple infused booze, as it’s an alcohol free event—which is fine—as we’re thinking there will be plenty of aloha to set the mood anyway.

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See Giada, Ludo, Duff and Other Celeb Chefs at LA's Newest Food Fest, The Taste

Start preparing your competitve-eating-like skills for Los Angeles' brand-new foodie festival, The Taste. The citywide event will be served up from September 2 to 5, but you'll want to get your tickets now if you want to eat later.

This being L.A., of course celebrity chefs will be in attendance. Food truck godfather Roy Choi, Giada De Laurentiis, Ludo Lefebvre,Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio, Oprah's personal chef Art Smith and Charm City Cakes' Duff Goldman are among some of the big-name chefs to be featured at the inaugural event.

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Meatloaf Cupcakes and Popcornsicles Take Over at Tomorrow's Taste of Chicago

Chicago, which used to be summer festival central, has taken some big hits lately, with a number of popular fests axed due to budget constraints. The city has had to say goodbye to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival, the city's Fourth of July fireworks (Navy Pier gets the honors this year) and Gospel Fest, among others. Luckily, the standout summer soiree, Taste of Chicago, will go on—it opens tomorrow.

Those who miss the canceled fests will especially want to visit the Taste, since it is incorporating Viva! Chicago Latin Music, Country Music, Gospel and Celtic fests into the musical offerings.

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Tripadvisor Picks Ten of the Summer's Craziest Festivals

Mashed potato wrestling at Minnesota's Barnesville Potato Days

There must be something about the hot air that brings out the crazies, because summer is when the weirdest festivals pop up all over the country. If you want some cray-cray in your life, TripAdvisor recently released its list of top wacky summer happenings, though some have passed so we added a couple of our own picks. Whether you want to do some mashed potato wrestling or eat bull balls, this calendar will keep you crazy through the warm-weather months.

See the top 10 wackiest summertime fests after the jump.

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How to Get Tickets to the New York Wine and Food Festival

Mmm food festivals. When it comes to the best events in the USA for wining and dining here, there and everywhere, the NYC Wine and Food Fest totally ranks high enough to get people all in a tizzy over it. The event, which brings together the best chefs and restauranteurs (and those who love them) for around 200 mini-events, happening all over the city, all weekend long. For 2011, the dates you need to know are September 29 - October 2, and tickets have just gone on sale.

Ranging in price from $20 to $500, the tickets aren't just to make The Food Network or Food & Wine magazine richer. 100% of proceeds go to charity, so it shouldn't be too hard to justify dropping that $500 to attend a dinner honoring His Royal Highness Prince Robert of Luxembourg and Jacques Pépin. To gauge how quickly certain events are selling out, here's a nice page with little pie charts illustrating just that.

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