World Food Festival. Food festivals: the most interesting gastronomic festivals. Flour fight on Clean Monday, Greece

And when people realized that this activity was quite interesting, enjoyable and useful, entire festivals dedicated to this “hobby” were born. We will tell you about the most famous of them.

RoadKill Cook-Off Festival. Gourmets prefer steaks made from rare animals or oysters, but those who like dishes made from animals killed on the roads gather here. The festival even hosts competitions in the art of cooking. As a result, guests can taste unique stews made from raccoon or possum that died under the wheels of traffic. The rules of the annual event state that all participants must come here with the corpse of an animal killed on the road. You also need to bring with you a set of utensils necessary for cooking and ingredients corresponding to the future dish. The preparation of the food takes place in front of everyone, but a special jury will evaluate it. This also takes into account appearance dishes and its taste. More recently, the organizers introduced a new rule. Now dishes made from dead animals should look as if these creatures had just been pulled out from under the wheels of a killer car. The winner of the competition is awarded as much as $300 as a prize. For those who were unable to come to the festival, but want to try a dish made from an animal that died on the road, this can be done in a special establishment. So, in the town of Seligman, Arizona, there is a cafe "Road Killers". There you can try the "Deer Rest in Peace" steak, fried ribs called "Raccoon Trap" and even "Chicken Almost Crossed the Road."

Sonya Pine Mushroom Festival. This event is held annually in Yangyang, South Korea, in September-October. Sonya are local delicacy mushrooms. It is believed that their quality is inferior only to truffles. These mushrooms have chosen a pine forest on Chilbosan Mountain. Its name translates as Mountain of Seven Wonders. The market price for the delicacy is quite high and amounts to up to $265 per kilogram. It is not surprising that dormouse is even nicknamed forest diamonds. When the leaders of South and North Korea met for the first time in a long time in 2007, the politicians first discussed these mushrooms. Kim Jong Il even gave his colleague an expensive gift - as much as 4 tons of recently collected pine dormouse. These mushrooms can be found in the fall, at the same time a festival in their honor is held in Yangyang Province. Here you can try unique dishes based on these gifts of the forest, buy medicines, one of the components of which is Soni. It must be said that mushrooms grow exclusively in natural conditions. You cannot collect them without a state license. Only once a year, tourists and local residents have the right to pick unique Sonya mushrooms. But this pleasure is not cheap. A walk with a basket through a beautiful forest in a state of “silent hunting” will cost a child about 11 dollars, and an adult - one and a half times more expensive.

Marunada Chestnut Festival. Every autumn, this festival is held over three weekends in the Croatian towns of Lovran, Dobrec and Liganj. The word "Maroon" itself has many meanings depending on the language. For example, in Jamaica these are freedom fighters who fought against the British colonial invaders. But in Croatia the word has a much more peaceful connotation. This is the name of the local chestnut variety, which is considered almost the best in the world. Once upon a time, local sailors brought unusual chestnuts from their eastern travels. They were then crossed with European varieties. This is how the Maroons were born. These chestnuts gave their name to the festival, which has now been held annually for almost 40 years. And the time of year for the celebration was not chosen by chance. After all, it is in the fall that chestnuts ripen and it’s time to collect them. Marunada starts in October. The first celebrations take place in the small town of Lovran, and the following weekend the festival breaks out in the villages of Dobrech and Ligan. The most interesting thing at the holiday is the tasting of maroons. Roasted chestnuts are most often prepared directly under open air and then sold in paper bags. Local chefs also learned to add maroons to fish and meat, cook sauces and soups from them, and prepare salads. Even sweets are made from chestnuts - at the festival there are candies made from them, mousses, cakes and even soufflés. After all, poor Croatian people learned to extract flour from maroons long ago, replacing ordinary flour with it.

Thorrablot Feast Festival. You can get to this festival in Iceland either on the third Saturday of January or at the end of February. This gastronomic festival is directly related to the Old Norse holiday. The month we call January was called Torri by the Vikings. At this time they made their sacrifices to the gods, while the warriors drank a lot, sang and walked. According to tradition, the holiday was dedicated to the main god - Thor. And even today at Thorrablot Feast they don’t forget to dedicate a few words to this saint. The ancient festival was forgotten for a long time until Norwegian students decided to revive national tradition. This happened at the end of the 19th century. Since then, festival guests have learned what real Viking cuisine actually is. Throughout Iceland, food prepared according to ancient recipes can be enjoyed during the festival. Many restaurants and small taverns will happily serve it to its guests. True, such “wild” dishes are not suitable for all pampered European stomachs. Few guests dare to try lamb stomach with minced meat in the form of coagulated sheep blood and lard. What are sheep's brain jelly or pickled ox's eyes worth? But the real highlight of the festival is the now famous hakarl. This is slightly rotten shark meat, reminiscent of either squid or sturgeon in taste. Only the smell of such a delicacy is very unpleasant. And such a dish costs as much as 100 euros. It also doesn’t bother you that at the Torrey festival all food is paid for - after all, the food comes with brennivin, local potato vodka, for free.

Watermelon festival Chinchilla Melon. If you love watermelons, then get ready to head to Chinchilla, Australia. The Chinchilla Melon festival is held here every two years. One of its oldest traditions orders all guests to come here in old shoes and clothes. But it's easy to explain. Indeed, during the festival, all the streets of the town are literally strewn with watermelon seeds and peels. So it can be quite difficult to maintain balance and not get smeared in sweet juice. The first watermelon festival was held here in 1994. The celebration quickly became a kind of calling card of the city. He himself is directly related to watermelons - a quarter of the country’s total volume is grown here. No wonder Chinchilla is called the watermelon capital of Australia. This festival is somewhat reminiscent of the famous Tomatina, held in Spain. If in Europe residents destroy tons of tomatoes, then in Australia guests temporarily declare a real war on watermelons. There are even a number of competitions for breaking large berries. Watermelons are thrown into a ring and used as shoes when running races. The highlight of the festival is the weighing of the fruits. The heaviest of them is solemnly declared the Watermelon of the Year. Well, the most extreme competition takes place in breaking hard berries with your head. In 2009, a record was even set, listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Australian John Alwood was able to break 47 watermelons in a minute, which brought him fame.

Wild Foods Festival. For 22 years now, a permanent festival has been held in the New Zealand town of Hokitika. The first such celebration took place here in 1990. It was associated with the 125th anniversary of the city. It is believed that the festival was invented by Claire Briant, a native of New Zealand. One day she treated her friends to an unusual wine made from wild flowers. This idea formed the basis of the celebration. Local entrepreneurs quickly realized that this gastronomic idea was simply doomed to success. This is how the annual culinary weekend was born, dedicated to a variety of rare and unusual dishes from New Zealand cuisine. And on their basis, a festival was born, which increased the number of tourists in the small seaside town eightfold. Most of the food looks like sushi. Only “surprises” are hidden inside - slugs, larvae, worms, bull's eyes. Tourists happily eat crispy grasshoppers with sweet sauce and deep-fried shark meat. But the most famous dish at the festival is smelt pies. These small fish are considered a great delicacy in New Zealand, and their legal fishing season is very short. If guests also have the energy for dessert, then it’s worth trying ice cream with wasp larvae. To get to this gastronomic feast you need to pay 30 local dollars, and for another 15 you can get into a night disco.

Maple Syrup Festival. In Canada, the first major spring festival, Maple Syrup, takes place in March-April. And the collection of maple sap begins in the country at the end of February. Trees that are between 30 and 50 years old are suitable for this. A small hole is made in their trunks, from which the liquid flows into buckets. Subsequently, syrup is prepared from the juice. At the same time, 1 liter of finished product requires 30-40 liters of raw materials. But this is exactly how much one maple tree can give to an insatiable person in a season. The collection of juice throughout the country lasts until the end of April. At the same time, maple syrup festivals are held in Canada. The first mention of this festival dates back to 1760. Back then, the Indians were still collecting the refreshing liquid. They evaporated the juice and thus obtained sugar. Today, the festival features many dishes made from or with maple syrup. Some of them can only be tasted here. A classic use for sweet syrup is to use it with waffles or soup. But vegetable soup is also prepared on its basis, and chicken thighs are marinated with it. And we can’t forget about the famous crustless sugar pie. A special feature at the festival is the Wheelers Maple Syrup Museum. Every time he conducts master classes. Thanks to them, anyone can learn how to cook delicious syrup and immediately try what they have done.

Roast pig festival. Every year on June 24 in the Philippines, in the city of Balayan, a traditional festival is held. Roast pigs are a very popular dish on this island. And on the day when Catholics remember John the Baptist, the Filipinos organize their own holiday. It's called the Lechon Parade. In this country, this word is used to describe a whole roasted pig. Before the holiday begins, important preparations take place. First, the carcasses of the best suckling pigs are marinated in spices, vinegar and soy sauce. The meat is then stuffed with pandan leaves and tamarind. This piglet is roasted on a spit. However, the finished dish is not served to the table at all, but is dressed up in various colorful costumes and carried on the shoulders of the participant through the streets of the city. The parade features pigs in evening and wedding dresses, the piglets are dressed in national clothes, sports boxing uniform or even a Formula 1 racer's overalls. And only when the festive procession ends, the festival’s heroes are undressed and served to the table. Anyone can enjoy a delicious dish here. In the Philippines, they love suckling pigs so much that they treat them not only as a dish, but also as an excellent welcome gift. It is not surprising that the newlyweds will be given a little pig at their wedding.

Mango Festival. Every year in early July, New Delhi, India, celebrates this fruit. It occupies a special place in the life of the country. The national animal here is the Bengal tiger, the flower is the lotus, and the mango is without a doubt the main fruit in India. According to legend, Buddha himself once ate it when he was in deep thought. The philosopher ordered to bury the seed of a useful fruit in the place he indicated. They say that a sprout immediately appeared from the ground, and soon a tree grew, on which fruits appeared in the plural. Since then, mango has become a sacred plant for India. Here it is a symbol of abundance and health. Over the course of a year, the country harvests as much as 9.5 million tons of this fruit. At the local market, a kilogram of mango costs only half a dollar. Fruit picking reaches its peak in late June - early July. It is at this time that a festival dedicated to mangoes takes place in New Delhi. The main guests here are farmers from all over the country. They bring with them new and unusual varieties of fruit that they have developed. You can find mangoes here the size of a chicken egg, and there are also those that look like melons. Mango tastings are held at the festival, and you don’t have to pay for such entertainment. There are also competitions to see who can eat the fruit the fastest. As part of the holiday, there is also a women's competition for best recipe the dishes are all made from the same mango.

Gooseberry Festival. The country that loves gooseberries like nowhere else is England. Is it any wonder that a whole festival was dedicated to her here. It is held in Egton Bridge in early August. There is evidence that the British knew gooseberries even under King Edward I, that is, in the 13th century! Although the fact that berry cultivation began here in 1548 seems more reliable. In those days, medieval Germany used gooseberry bushes as hedges and fences. But in England, enlightened residents specially grew bushes and ate delicious berries. And today the inhabitants of Albion have not deviated from the traditions of their ancestors. On the first Tuesday in August, North Yorkshire hosts a festival dedicated solely to gooseberries. The main guests here are gardeners. They meet in the church of St. Hedda and argue whose gooseberries grew tastier, more beautiful and larger. For more than a hundred years there has been a glorious tradition of determining the heaviest berry. Just like once upon a time, giant gooseberries were weighed on old pharmacy scales. The weight of berries is measured in grains and drachms. The last winning gooseberry was more like a golf ball in size.

Festival La Tomatina. This is one of the most famous food festivals in the world. It takes place at the end of August - beginning of September in Buñol, Spain. For a week, the life of a small town is entirely subject to the laws of the tomato festival. An average of 35 thousand people come here for the festival. But the population of the town itself is 4 times smaller! And appeared unusual festival recently. They say that throwing tomatoes became a symbol of protest against the regime of dictator Franco. But a more plausible story is that the first tomato throwing in Buñol took place in 1945, when the city celebrated the day of its patron saint, Saint Bertrand. Tomatina has since been banned several times. But since 1959, tomato battles have been a regular occurrence in Buñol every summer. Until 1975, participation in the “battle” was paid. But in the end, first the monks, and then the city authorities, began to distribute tomato tools for free. After all, this paid off with the invasion of tourists in these places. The festival takes place in the city for a week. During this time, you can stroll through the fair, parade in costumes and take part in a paella eating competition. And on Wednesday, at 11 o'clock in the afternoon, firecrackers are launched from the city hall. This serves as a signal to start the battle with tomatoes. The battle lasts exactly an hour. There are no special rules - you can throw a tomato at anyone who happens to be nearby. The most important thing is to follow the unwritten norms of the festival. According to them, tomatoes should not be crushed before throwing, nor should they tear the clothes of another participant.

And when people realized that this activity was quite interesting, enjoyable and useful, entire festivals dedicated to this “hobby” were born. We will tell you about the most famous of them.

More recently, the organizers introduced a new rule. Now dishes made from dead animals should look as if these creatures had just been pulled out from under the wheels of a killer car. The winner of the competition is awarded as much as $300 as a prize. For those who were unable to come to the festival, but want to try a dish made from an animal that died on the road, this can be done in a special establishment. So, in the town of Seligman, Arizona, there is a cafe "Road Killers". There you can try the "Deer Rest in Peace" steak, fried ribs called "Raccoon Trap" and even "Chicken Almost Crossed the Road."

Sonya Pine Mushroom Festival. This event is held annually in Yangyang, South Korea, in September-October. Sonya are local delicacy mushrooms. It is believed that their quality is inferior only to truffles. These mushrooms have chosen a pine forest on Chilbosan Mountain. Its name translates as Mountain of Seven Wonders. The market price for the delicacy is quite high and amounts to up to $265 per kilogram. It is not surprising that dormouse is even nicknamed forest diamonds. When the leaders of South and North Korea met for the first time in a long time in 2007, the politicians first discussed these mushrooms. Kim Jong Il even gave his colleague an expensive gift - as much as 4 tons of recently collected pine dormouse. These mushrooms can be found in the fall, at the same time a festival in their honor is held in Yangyang Province.

Here you can try unique dishes based on these gifts of the forest, buy medicines, one of the components of which is Soni. It must be said that mushrooms grow exclusively in natural conditions. You cannot collect them without a state license. Only once a year, tourists and local residents have the right to pick unique Sonya mushrooms. But this pleasure is not cheap. A walk with a basket through a beautiful forest in a state of “silent hunting” will cost a child about 11 dollars, and an adult - one and a half times more expensive.

Every autumn, this festival is held over three weekends in the Croatian towns of Lovran, Dobrec and Liganj. The word "Maroon" itself has many meanings depending on the language. For example, in Jamaica these are freedom fighters who fought against the British colonial invaders. But in Croatia the word has a much more peaceful connotation. This is the name of the local chestnut variety, which is considered almost the best in the world. Once upon a time, local sailors brought unusual chestnuts from their eastern travels. They were then crossed with European varieties. This is how the Maroons were born.

These chestnuts gave their name to the festival, which has now been held annually for almost 40 years. And the time of year for the celebration was not chosen by chance. After all, it is in the fall that chestnuts ripen and it’s time to collect them. Marunada starts in October. The first celebrations take place in the small town of Lovran, and the following weekend the festival breaks out in the villages of Dobrech and Ligan. The most interesting thing at the holiday is the tasting of maroons. Roasted chestnuts are most often cooked directly in the open air and then sold in paper bags. Local chefs also learned to add maroons to fish and meat, cook sauces and soups from them, and prepare salads. Even sweets are made from chestnuts - at the festival there are candies made from them, mousses, cakes and even soufflés. After all, poor Croatian people learned to extract flour from maroons long ago, replacing ordinary flour with it.

You can get to this festival in Iceland either on the third Saturday of January or at the end of February. This gastronomic festival is directly related to the Old Norse holiday. The month we call January was called Torri by the Vikings. At this time they made their sacrifices to the gods, while the warriors drank a lot, sang and walked. According to tradition, the holiday was dedicated to the main god - Thor. And even today at Thorrablot Feast they don’t forget to dedicate a few words to this saint. The ancient festival was forgotten for a long time until Norwegian students decided to revive the national tradition. This happened at the end of the 19th century. Since then, festival guests have learned what real Viking cuisine actually is. Throughout Iceland, food prepared according to ancient recipes can be enjoyed during the festival. Many restaurants and small taverns will happily serve it to its guests.

True, such “wild” dishes are not suitable for all pampered European stomachs. Few guests dare to try lamb stomach with minced meat in the form of coagulated sheep blood and lard. What are sheep's brain jelly or pickled ox's eyes worth? But the real highlight of the festival is the now famous hakarl. This is slightly rotten shark meat, reminiscent of either squid or sturgeon in taste. Only the smell of such a delicacy is very unpleasant. And such a dish costs as much as 100 euros. It also doesn’t bother you that at the Torrey festival all food is paid for - after all, the food comes with brennivin, local potato vodka, for free.

This festival is somewhat reminiscent of the famous Tomatina, held in Spain. If in Europe residents destroy tons of tomatoes, then in Australia guests temporarily declare a real war on watermelons. There are even a number of competitions for breaking large berries. Watermelons are thrown into a ring and used as shoes when running races. The highlight of the festival is the weighing of the fruits. The heaviest of them is solemnly declared the Watermelon of the Year. Well, the most extreme competition takes place in breaking hard berries with your head. In 2009, a record was even set, listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Australian John Alwood was able to break 47 watermelons in a minute, which brought him fame.

For 22 years now, a permanent festival has been held in the New Zealand town of Hokitika. The first such celebration took place here in 1990. It was associated with the 125th anniversary of the city. It is believed that the festival was invented by Claire Briant, a native of New Zealand. One day she treated her friends to an unusual wine made from wild flowers. This idea formed the basis of the celebration. Local entrepreneurs quickly realized that this gastronomic idea was simply doomed to success. This is how the annual culinary weekend was born, dedicated to a variety of rare and unusual dishes from New Zealand cuisine.

And on their basis, a festival was born, which increased the number of tourists in the small seaside town eightfold. Most of the food looks like sushi. Only “surprises” are hidden inside - slugs, larvae, worms, bull's eyes. Tourists happily eat crispy grasshoppers with sweet sauce and deep-fried shark meat. But the most famous dish at the festival is smelt pies. These small fish are considered a great delicacy in New Zealand, and their legal fishing season is very short. If guests also have the energy for dessert, then it’s worth trying ice cream with wasp larvae. To get to this gastronomic feast you need to pay 30 local dollars, and for another 15 you can get into a night disco.

In Canada, the first major spring festival, Maple Syrup, takes place in March-April. And the collection of maple sap begins in the country at the end of February. Trees that are between 30 and 50 years old are suitable for this. A small hole is made in their trunks, from which the liquid flows into buckets. Subsequently, syrup is prepared from the juice. At the same time, 1 liter of finished product requires 30-40 liters of raw materials. But this is exactly how much one maple tree can give to an insatiable person in a season. The collection of juice throughout the country lasts until the end of April. At the same time, maple syrup festivals are held in Canada.

The first mention of this festival dates back to 1760. Back then, the Indians were still collecting the refreshing liquid. They evaporated the juice and thus obtained sugar. Today, the festival features many dishes made from or with maple syrup. Some of them can only be tasted here. A classic use for sweet syrup is to use it with waffles or soup. But vegetable soup is also prepared on its basis, and chicken thighs are marinated with it. And we can’t forget about the famous crustless sugar pie. A special feature at the festival is the Wheelers Maple Syrup Museum. Every time he conducts master classes. Thanks to them, anyone can learn how to cook delicious syrup and immediately try what they have done.

Every year on June 24 in the Philippines, in the city of Balayan, a traditional festival is held. Roast pigs are a very popular dish on this island. And on the day when Catholics remember John the Baptist, the Filipinos organize their own holiday. It's called the Lechon Parade. In this country, this word is used to describe a whole roasted pig. Before the holiday begins, important preparations take place. First, the carcasses of the best suckling pigs are marinated in spices, vinegar and soy sauce. The meat is then stuffed with pandan leaves and tamarind. This piglet is roasted on a spit.

However, the finished dish is not served to the table at all, but is dressed up in various colorful costumes and carried on the shoulders of the participant through the streets of the city. The parade features pigs in evening and wedding dresses, piglets dressed in national clothes, sports boxing uniforms or even a Formula 1 racer's overalls. And only when the festive procession ends, the festival’s heroes are undressed and served to the table. Anyone can enjoy a delicious dish here. In the Philippines, they love suckling pigs so much that they treat them not only as a dish, but also as an excellent welcome gift. It is not surprising that the newlyweds will be given a little pig at their wedding.

Since then, mango has become a sacred plant for India. Here it is a symbol of abundance and health. Over the course of a year, the country harvests as much as 9.5 million tons of this fruit. At the local market, a kilogram of mango costs only half a dollar. Fruit picking reaches its peak in late June - early July. It is at this time that a festival dedicated to mangoes takes place in New Delhi. The main guests here are farmers from all over the country. They bring with them new and unusual varieties of fruit that they have developed. You can find mangoes here the size of a chicken egg, and there are also those that look like melons. Mango tastings are held at the festival, and you don’t have to pay for such entertainment. There are also competitions to see who can eat the fruit the fastest. As part of the holiday, there is also a women's competition for the best recipe for a dish made from the same mango.

The country that loves gooseberries like nowhere else is England. Is it any wonder that a whole festival was dedicated to her here. It is held in Egton Bridge in early August. There is evidence that the British knew gooseberries even under King Edward I, that is, in the 13th century! Although the fact that berry cultivation began here in 1548 seems more reliable. In those days, medieval Germany used gooseberry bushes as hedges and fences.

But in England, enlightened residents specially grew bushes and ate delicious berries. And today the inhabitants of Albion have not deviated from the traditions of their ancestors. On the first Tuesday in August, North Yorkshire hosts a festival dedicated solely to gooseberries. The main guests here are gardeners. They meet in the church of St. Hedda and argue whose gooseberries grew tastier, more beautiful and larger. For more than a hundred years there has been a glorious tradition of determining the heaviest berry. Just like once upon a time, giant gooseberries were weighed on old pharmacy scales. The weight of berries is measured in grains and drachms. The last winning gooseberry was more like a golf ball in size.

This is one of the most famous food festivals in the world. It takes place at the end of August - beginning of September in Buñol, Spain. For a week, the life of a small town is entirely subject to the laws of the tomato festival. An average of 35 thousand people come here for the festival. But the population of the town itself is 4 times smaller! And an unusual festival appeared relatively recently. They say that throwing tomatoes became a symbol of protest against the regime of dictator Franco. But a more plausible story is that the first tomato throwing in Buñol took place in 1945, when the city celebrated the day of its patron saint, Saint Bertrand. Tomatina has since been banned several times. But since 1959, tomato battles have been a regular occurrence in Buñol every summer.

Until 1975, participation in the “battle” was paid. But in the end, first the monks, and then the city authorities, began to distribute tomato tools for free. After all, this paid off with the invasion of tourists in these places. The festival takes place in the city for a week. During this time, you can stroll through the fair, parade in costumes and take part in a paella eating competition. And on Wednesday, at 11 o'clock in the afternoon, firecrackers are launched from the city hall. This serves as a signal to start the battle with tomatoes. The battle lasts exactly an hour. There are no special rules - you can throw a tomato at anyone who happens to be nearby. The most important thing is to follow the unwritten norms of the festival. According to them, tomatoes should not be crushed before throwing, nor should they tear the clothes of another participant.

July 17, 2015 3081 0

La Tomatina Festival

This is one of the most famous food festivals in the world. Takes place at the end of August - beginning of September in Buñol, Spain. For a week, the life of a small town is entirely subject to the laws of the tomato festival. On average, 35 thousand people come to the festival, but the population of the town itself is 4 times less! It is said that tomato throwing became a symbol of protest against the regime of dictator Franco, but a more plausible story is that the first tomato throwing in Buñol took place in 1945, when the city celebrated the day of its patron saint, Saint Bertrand. Tomatina has since been banned several times. But since 1959, tomato battles have been a regular occurrence in Buñol every summer. The festival takes place in the city for a week and during this time you can stroll around the fair, take part in a paella eating competition and become part of a costume parade. And on Wednesday, at 11 o'clock in the afternoon, a firecracker is launched from the city hall - a signal for the start of the battle with tomatoes. The battle lasts exactly an hour. There are no special rules - you can throw a tomato at anyone who happens to be nearby. The most important thing is to follow the rules of the festival, according to which you cannot crush tomatoes before throwing, and also tear the clothes of another participant.

RoadKill Cook-Off Festival

Gourmets prefer steaks made from rare animals or oysters, but those who like dishes made from animals killed on the roads gather here. The festival even hosts competitions in the art of cooking. As a result, guests can taste unique stews made from raccoon or possum that died under the wheels of traffic. The rules of the annual event state that all participants must come here with the corpse of an animal killed on the road. You should also bring with you a set of utensils and ingredients necessary for cooking. The preparation of the food takes place in front of everyone, but a special jury will evaluate it. In this case, both the appearance of the dish and its taste are taken into account. More recently, the organizers introduced a new rule. Now dishes made from dead animals should look as if these creatures had just been pulled out from under the wheels of a killer car. The winner of the competition is awarded as much as $300 as a prize. For those who were unable to come to the festival, but want to try a dish made from an animal that died on the road, this can be done in a special establishment. So, in the town of Seligman, Arizona, there is a cafe "Road Killers". There you can try the "Deer Rest in Peace" steak, fried ribs called "Raccoon Trap" and even "Chicken Almost Crossed the Road."

Wild Foods Festival

For 22 years now, a permanent festival has been held in the New Zealand town of Hokitika. It is believed that the festival was invented by Claire Briant, a native of New Zealand. One day she treated her friends to an unusual wine made from wild flowers. This is how the annual culinary weekend was born, dedicated to a variety of rare and unusual dishes from New Zealand cuisine. And on their basis, a festival was born, which increased the number of tourists in the small seaside town eightfold. Most of the food looks like sushi. Only “surprises” are hidden inside - slugs, larvae, worms, bull's eyes. Tourists happily eat crispy grasshoppers with sweet sauce and deep-fried shark meat. But the most famous dish at the festival is smelt pies. These small fish are considered a great delicacy in New Zealand, and their legal fishing season is very short. If guests also have the energy for dessert, then it’s worth trying ice cream with wasp larvae. To get to this gastronomic feast you need to pay 30 local dollars, and for another 15 you can get into a night disco.

mango festival

Every year in early July, New Delhi, India, celebrates this fruit. It occupies a special place in the life of the country. The national animal here is the Bengal tiger, the flower is the lotus, and the mango is without a doubt the main fruit in India. According to legend, Buddha himself once ate it when he was in deep thought. The philosopher ordered to bury the seed of a useful fruit in the place he indicated. They say that a sprout immediately appeared from the ground, and soon a tree grew, on which fruits appeared in the plural. Since then, mango has become a sacred plant for India. Here it is a symbol of abundance and health. Over the course of a year, the country harvests as much as 9.5 million tons of this fruit. At the local market, a kilogram of mango costs only half a dollar. Fruit picking reaches its peak in late June - early July. It is at this time that a festival dedicated to mangoes takes place in New Delhi. The main guests here are farmers from all over the country. They bring with them new and unusual varieties of fruit that they have developed. You can find mangoes here the size of a chicken egg, and there are also those that look like melons. Mango tastings are held at the festival, and you don’t have to pay for such entertainment. There are also competitions to see who can eat the fruit the fastest. As part of the holiday, there is also a women's competition for the best recipe for a dish made from the same mango.

Chinchilla Melon Watermelon Festival

If you love watermelons, then get ready to head to Chinchilla, Australia. The Chinchilla Melon festival is held here every two years. One of its oldest traditions orders all guests to come here in old shoes and clothes. But it's easy to explain. Indeed, during the festival, all the streets of the town are literally strewn with watermelon seeds and peels. So it can be quite difficult to maintain balance and not get smeared in sweet juice. The first watermelon festival was held here in 1994. The celebration quickly became a kind of calling card of the city. He himself is directly related to watermelons - a quarter of the country’s total volume is grown here. No wonder Chinchilla is called the watermelon capital of Australia. There are even a number of competitions for breaking large berries. Watermelons are thrown into a ring and used as shoes when running races. The highlight of the festival is the weighing of the fruits - the heaviest of them is solemnly declared the watermelon of the year. Well, the most extreme competition takes place in breaking hard berries with your head. In 2009, a record was even set, listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Australian John Alwood was able to break 47 watermelons in a minute, which brought him fame.

Food festivals continue to be popular with tourists. Sardines, truffles, scallops and onion ice cream - we tell you where to go and what to try.

Scallop Festival In the French city of Villers-sur-Mer in Basse-Normandy, the Fête de la Coquille scallop festival takes place in the fall. From October 29 to 30, a large fair is held in the city center, where they sell not only scallops, but also oysters, mussels, shrimp and cheeses. The best chefs prepare local cuisine and arrange free tastings for everyone. Sardine Festival In Lisbon, from June 12 to 13, they celebrate the feast of St. Antonio, the patron saint of the city and all lovers. The main venue for public festivities is Avenida Liberdade. For two days, folk festivities take place here, among which festive marches occupy a special place. Those who decide to come to the Portuguese capital at this time will need to be prepared for an influx of brides. Getting married on the feast of St. Antonio is considered a good omen, so all churches and cathedrals are booked for this day several months in advance.

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Unofficially, this holiday is also called the sardine festival. Local residents and experienced travelers advise buying them not in restaurants, where they will serve only two or three small fish on a plate, but in street stalls that appear throughout the city during the festival. Sardines are cooked over charcoal and served on a piece of bread. Dried bakalau cod is no less popular among local residents, which, no matter how strange it may sound, is caught very far from the coast of Portugal. To see this, just go to the ancient Mercado da Ribeira or any other market in Lisbon. White Truffle Fair

www.fieradeltartufo.org

The International White Truffle Festival in Alba (Italy) runs only from October to November. This time is considered the season for collecting truffles. They are looked for with specially trained pigs - they sense these mushrooms better than anyone else. Connoisseurs go to Italian forests to pick mushrooms on weekdays and sell them at the fair on weekends. During the festival, there is even an online auction: the largest truffles are bought by connoisseurs from different parts of the globe. They also sell truffle oil, cream and paste made from these mushrooms. Onion festival

www.weimar.de

The first autumn festival in Weimar (Germany) took place on October 10, 1653. At that time, no more than 5,000 people lived in the city. And today about 300 thousand come to the Onion Fair alone. Within a few days, the Onion Queen is chosen from the local residents, who, during the opening of the festival, cuts a traditional onion pie together with the burgomaster. In addition to it, here you can enjoy onion cakes, onions in powdered sugar and even onion ice cream. Advice It would be a shame to come to a food festival and not try anything. Changing your usual diet, overeating and heavy food can ruin your vacation experience, so we recommend taking with you on your gastronomic tour a first aid kit with reliable medications to solve digestive problems: – an anti-diarrhea remedy that works for an hour 1 ; - helps with bloating, nausea and heaviness in the stomach. Both medications are available in a convenient lozenge format that does not need to be taken with water. For constipation (which also often happens due to a change in the usual diet), it is best to take a microenema; the drug acts within 5-15 minutes 2, quickly solving a delicate problem. 1 Study by Ameri et al. “Multicenter, double-blind study: comparison of the effectiveness of loperamide in acute diarrhea with two popular antidiarrheal agents and placebo,” 1975. 2 According to the instructions for use of the drug.

Incredible facts

You probably heard more than once in childhood that you should not play with food.

However, in some cities it is not only not prohibited to play with food, but its worship, throwing, cutting and other inappropriate actions are encouraged.

Here are 10 holidays where you can pay tribute to your favorite product and have plenty of fun.

Throwing oranges, Italy

Every year, residents of the city of Ivrea in Italy celebrate the three days before Lent by throwing oranges at each other. According to legend, the medieval prince of Ivrea was so stingy that he gave his peasants only one pot of peas every six months. As a sign of protest, residents began throwing peas on the streets. A few years later, peas were replaced by oranges, which grew in abundance in southern Italy. During the tradition of throwing oranges, revelers caught in the parade crowd are pelted with these fruits. Quite often this leads to minor injuries, so it is best to take swimming goggles and a helmet with you.

Rolling cheese on Cooper's Hill, England

Every spring in England there is a festival where a large wheel of cheese is rolled down a steep hill with dozens of Britons rolling after it. The competition threatens them with sprained ankles, broken bones and huge bruises. So why are the participants trying so hard? The winner only gets the honor of holding a wheel of cheese.

No one knows exactly how or why the race for cheese began, but according to local legend, the tradition dates back to the times of ancient Rome. However, this festival did not always go smoothly. During World War II, when there was a shortage of cheese in the country, not a whole wheel of cheese was rolled down the mountain Double Gloucester, but a small piece of this cheese placed in a wooden wheel. An even greater threat loomed over the competition in 1997, when participants suffered so many injuries that authorities decided to take action. On next year, it was allowed to roll the cheese, but no one was allowed to run after it. However, new tradition did not take root and lasted only a year, after which thrill-seekers continued the tradition of cheese riding.

Monkey Festival in Lopburi, Thailand

Like many other places in Thailand, the city of Lopburi is overrun with macaques. They swing freely through the streets, ride on top of cars and snatch food from the hands of unsuspecting tourists. And, despite the fact that these monkeys can be quite annoying, Thais idolize them. According to Hindu legend, a god named Hanuman (monkey king) once ruled here. In his honor, the city celebrates with a buffet for 2,000 monkeys. The tables are filled with tropical fruits, spicy rice dishes and modern drinks such as Coca-Cola, while the monkeys themselves go on a rampage.

Night of the Radish, Mexico

When Spanish explorers brought radishes to Mexico in the 16th century, farmers near modern-day Oaxaca immediately began growing the vegetables. Unfortunately, no one wanted to buy them. Sellers, not knowing what to do with the excess product, began to make various crafts from radishes in order to attract buyers.

Surprisingly, it worked. The new product became so popular that farmers began to leave radishes in the ground, allowing them to grow to incredible and bizarre shapes and sizes. Now on December 23 of every year in Mexico, the city of Oaxaca celebrates the Night of the Radishes. Residents gather in the town square to display and admire radish sculptures representing saints, Nativity scenes and the town itself.

Oil wrestling, Türkiye

Turkey loves olive oil so much that it plays a major role in one of the nation's favorite entertainments - the Kirkpinar wrestling competition. For 650 years, this tournament has been one of the most popular continuously held sporting events in the country. Every June, more than 1,000 wrestlers smear themselves with the slippery olive oil, before entering the ring. All that fat makes the fight ridiculously slippery, but that doesn't stop the competitors, who take this competition seriously. The competition lasts three days, and the winner is awarded the country's outstanding sports star.

Gastronomic feast of del Gato

In the small Peruvian farming town of La Quebrada, people honor their ancestors in a strange way. Every year they celebrate by eating cats. Local residents who organize a cat festival are trying to pay tribute to the settlers of the city. Once upon a time, poor slaves survived only by eating cat meat. Despite outrage from animal rights activists and cat lovers around the world, the festival is becoming more and more popular every year. Recent festivities have offered such delights as "Milanese cat" and "grilled cat with Peruvian black mint."

Culinary competition for preparing dishes from roadkill animals, USA

Every year West Virginia hosts a cooking competition that stems from a 1998 law that allows people to eat any meat found on the side of a highway. The holiday's motto is: " You killed him - we fried him!“The holiday menu is quite varied, including deer fajitas, buzzard barbecue, squirrel sauce and other dishes.

Flour fight on Clean Monday, Greece

In many parts of the world, people go wild during carnivals, but in the Greek coastal town of Galaxidi, the fun begins after a festival known as Clean Monday. At this time, the residents of the town begin to shower each other with multi-colored flour from bags, dusting the entire city like donuts. The paint added to the flour is quite durable, leaving stains on old buildings, so before dumping more than a thousand kilograms of flour on the city, residents cover most of the city with polyethylene.

Mamemaki Ritual, Japan

For centuries, the Japanese have celebrated the beginning of spring by driving out the devil from their homes. The most common way to achieve this is through ritual. mamemaki, during which families scatter soybeans around the house, saying: " Demons out! Happiness to the home!"At the end of the ritual, participants collect the beans and eat one bean for each year of their life, ensuring their happiness for the whole year.

Today, on the streets of Japan, children can often be seen furiously throwing soybeans around the streets, while monks and famous people hold celebrations in large temples, showering the public with soybeans.

Shepherd's Scandal Festival, New Zealand

Few people can surpass New Zealanders in eccentricity. New Zealand hosts the Shepherd's Scandal festival, which is a 3km race where shepherds and their dogs are put through an obstacle course with various food challenges. In previous races, participants were offered sheep's eyes and insects pickled in oil, but 2008 was marked by the strangest delicacies. Participants had to run 50 meters while holding raw bull eggs in their teeth. After the taste of this “treat” had evaporated, they had to eat a dry breakfast, a raw egg and drink a mug of warm beer.