Blueberry Festival
August 12 | Ellenville, NY
Maine may have the monopoly on blueberries, but this festival, now in its 18th year, celebrates a long history of cultivating the fruit in the Hudson Valley. Sit down to a blueberry-pancake breakfast, shop for the perfect pie (or enter one of your own into the contest), and pick up jams and artisan crafts from some of the 175+ vendors.
Pittston Tomato Festival
August 17–20 | Pittston, PA
More than 50,000 visitors descend on this Pennsylvania town annually for tomatoes, carnival rides, and parades. The main event: Saturday’s tomato fights (yes, exactly what it sounds like), protective eyewear strongly recommended.
Hudson Valley Ribfest
August 18–20 | New Paltz
Come see which of the 60 teams smoke the competition at New York State’s official ’cue championship. Then stick around (and walk off that impending meat coma) for live music, cooking demonstrations, and lots of local vendors.
Loaded tots from a truck at Mohegan Sun |
Dutchess County Fair
August 22–27 | Rhinebeck
It’s not technically a food festival, but anyone who’s ever been to a county fair knows the old-fashioned food vendors selling apple crisp, fresh-squeezed lemonade, taffy, ice cream, frozen custard, and fried dough shaped every which way, are the main attraction.
New England Food-Truck Festival at Mohegan Sun
September 2–3 | Uncasville, CT
During Labor Day weekend, 30 food trucks — serving everything from lobster rolls, steamed burgers, and loaded fries, to cannoli, Belgian waffles, and whoopie pies – transform a Mohegan Sun parking lot into a mobile food hall. (Saturday night includes a fireworks show.)
Norwalk Seaport Association Oyster Festival
September 8–10 | Norwalk
Returning for its 40th-straight end-of-summer shindig benefiting the Seaport Association’s educational programs and preservation initiatives, the Oyster Fest features big-name and local music, carnival rides and games, and boatloads of shellfish for your slurping pleasure. Don’t pass up the pizza fritta — fried dough topped with red sauce or powdered sugar.
Shucking oysters in Norwalk |
Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest
September 9–10 | Rhinebeck
Sample your way through more than 60 wineries, distilleries, and cideries; pick up a few gourmet products to pair with your new favorite wines; grab lunch from one of the local food trucks; and shop vendors selling local crafts and kitchen wares (everything from tea sets to Champagne sabers).