While several tantalizingly tasty food and drink festivals take place around the Valley, there are others around the world that are perfect to pair with a vacation. Let your taste buds lead the way from pizza in Italy to chiles in New Mexico to food and drink in California.
ST. BARTH GOURMET FESTIVAL
St. Barth
For 2023: Nov. 7-12
This yearly festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It showcases local chefs and guest chefs, including chef Kelly Rangama of Le Faham, a Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, who will be a guest chef at Hotel Manapany St. Barth. The chefs display their talents and create gastronomic masterpieces using the finest local and international ingredients. The festival also includes interactive workshops and tastings, a bartending competition, waiter races, and a banana-themed kids’ cooking competition. SaintBarthGourmetFestival.com
HERITAGE FIRE
For 2023: Nov. 12 (Miami)/Dec. 3 (Los Angeles)
This traveling, live-fire food festival kicked off in May and still has stops this year in Miami (Nov. 12) and Los Angeles (Dec. 3). Celebrating pasture diversity and family farming, it features an all-star lineup of local chefs and artisans, each grilling globally inspired, heritage-breed proteins al fresco with offerings ranging from beef, pigs, lamb, goat, and duck to fish, chicken, and heirloom vegetables. There are also local breweries, distilleries, and wineries on hand. HeritageFireTour.com
NEW ORLEANS FOOD & WINE EXPERIENCE
New Orleans
For 2024: June 5-9
The 2024 event will mark this festival’s 32nd year. It features hundreds of wineries and restaurants, with menus showcasing local flavors and innovations. There are brunches and dinners, masterclasses, wine and champagne events, parties, a grand tasting, culinary winners, and more. The event also raises money for local nonprofits. NOWFE.com
NAPOLI PIZZA VILLAGE
Naples, Italy
Typically held in June
This festival is known as the greatest and most famous pizza festival in Europe, and it attracts people from all around the globe. More than 1.25 million people descend on the area to enjoy the more than 130,000 pizzas that are served, listen to live music concerts, attend pizza-making workshops, participate in professional conferences, and more. PizzaVillage.it
GLOCAL FOOD + WINE
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Typically held in June and July
In 2023, Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya debuted its new yearly Glocal Food + Wine festival, held one week in June and one in July. Glocal has been incorporated into the hotel as part of the all-inclusive experience for guests to enjoy throughout their stay. Aside from just introducing vacationers to cuisines inspired by local areas, Glocal includes master classes in culinary arts and foods, mixology classes and presentations, wine and champagne dinners, pool parties, nightlife activities, and more. HardRockHotels.com/rivieramaya
SANTA FE WINE & CHILE FESTIVAL
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Typically held in late September
This annual festival, which draws more than 3,500 tourists to Sante Fe, is a five-day event celebrating Santa Fe's best. In 2023, there were more than 60 participating restaurants and 90 winery partners. There are luncheons, winery dinners, seminars, a Santa Fe train expedition, silent auctions, a golf classic, the Grand Tasting, and more. SantaFeWineAndChile.org
DEL MAR WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL
San Diego
Typically held in September
This six-day festival debuted in 2023 and will take place yearly. Celebrity chefs and pro athletes collaborated to throw the inaugural event, which included a kickoff party hosted by a team of Olympians/World Cup champs to beach days with pro surfer Rob Machado to pickleball with NFL quarterback Drew Brees—and more. Participate in culinary and whiskey-pairing dinners, wine pairings, and a two-day Grand Tasting. DelMar.Wine