CULINARY CALIFORNIA
Our favorite 2008 California food festivals
Crazy for crabs or fresh dates? Here's a list of food festivals throughout the Golden State for 2008.
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HOLTVILLE
61st Carrot Festival
Through Feb. 10: The root-vegetable celebration brings out amateur chefs and duffers with cookery contests for kids and adults, plus a golf tournament, a parade and midway. A low-key, family vibe prevails at the Feb. 10 Día de la Familia, where a cook-off (carrots not required) carries a $1,000 first-place prize.
Where: Holt Park, at Holt Road and 6th Street.
Cost: Free admission; $25 for cook-off entry fee.
Info: (760) 356-2923, www.holtvillechamber.com.
MADERA COUNTY
Feb. 9 and 10: Wine & Chocolate Weekend
Winemakers will be on hand to chat with visitors as 10 family wineries on the Madera Wine Trail open their doors. Current and new vintages will be available for tasting while visitors nibble on chocolate, cheeses, olives and other specialty foods. Also: live music and fine-art displays, including a juried show at Quady Winery.
Where: Various sites in Madera County.
Cost: $20 buys a wine glass, which covers wine and food tasting for both days.
Info: (800) 613-0709, www.maderavintners.com.
INDIO
Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival
Feb. 15 to 24: A different date concoction is whipped up daily at the annual fair by area chefs who stop in for a cooking show. Amateurs can compete for best date recipe or amble the grounds munching on date pastries washed down with date shakes (a popular choice) and watch the camel and ostrich races. Plus: big-name entertainment, with concerts included in the fair admission. This year, it's LeAnn Rimes, Heart and Blues Traveler.
Where: Riverside County Fairgrounds, 82-503 California 111, Indio.
Cost: $8, $6 ages 5 to 12, 4 and younger free.
Info: (800) 811-3247, www.datefest.org.
SANTA CRUZ
Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Cook-Off
Feb. 23: It might be the seaside location or the theme of the day, but participants are inspired to dress up as scuba divers, mermaids -- there was even a "clam fairy," a spokeswoman said. Teams compete in three divisions (individuals, restaurants and corporate/media) for "best clam chowder," be it Boston or Manhattan. There are cash prizes, round-trip plane tickets and other awards.
Where: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St.
Cost: Admission free; contest entry fees are $50 or $60; $7 to taste chowders.
Info: (831) 420-5273, www.beachboardwalk.com/clamchowder.
SAN FRANCISCO
6th annual Celebrity Crab Cracking
March: Players for the San Francisco 49ers show they have finesse as well as muscle when they team with Bay Area chefs to provide a crab-cracking how-to demonstration. After the demo, the players, the 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleaders and local VIPs compete in a timed crab-cracking-and-cleaning contest. Visitors can sample Dungeness crab and follow it with sips from the Wine & Beer Garden.
Cost: Free admission; tickets for tastings of food, beer and wine are $5 each or six for $25.
Where: Union Square, 301 Post St.
Info: (415) 781-7880, www.unionsquaresf.net.
PEBBLE BEACH
Pebble Beach Food & Wine
March 27-30: This high-end event features culinary dream teams creating multi-course meals, such as a rare-wine auction dinner. In addition, two grand tastings will be held in a 30,000-square-foot tent where 300 wines from 200 top wineries will be poured, and there will be edibles created by 16 celeb chefs. And master sommeliers will take part in the Sommelier Challenge, a blind tasting of wines.
Where: The Inn at Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach Resorts, 2700 17-Mile Drive.
Cost: $165 for a single-day event pass to $4,750 for a three-night stay with VIP package that includes after-hours parties with chefs and winemakers.
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