2007 PRESS RELEASES
April 9, 2007
2007 FOOD FESTIVALS NOW ON VDACS WEB SITE
Contact: Marion Horsley, 804.225.3820
Virginians love food – growing it, cooking it, eating it and celebrating it. If you’d prefer to skip the growing and cooking aspects and join in for the eating and celebrating, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has some great news for you. The VDACS Web site now has the latest information on food festivals taking place all over Virginia in 2007.
Virginia’s agricultural bounty is widely varied, as are the festivals to celebrate it. Virginia’s exceptional fruits and vegetables form the centerpiece of many events. Red, ripe delicious strawberries star at festivals in Roanoke and Pungo in May and at Ashland’s Strawberry Faire in June. Look for cantaloupes featured in July in Turbeville. In August, celebrate blackberries in Nelson County, peaches in Patrick and Frederick Counties and watermelons in Richmond. Beginning in late September and continuing through October, apples take center stage across the Commonwealth with festivals in Smyth, Nelson, Frederick and Madison Counties.
If vegetables and herbs top your list of favorites, you’ll love what Virginia has planned. In April, the spotlight is on herbs of all sorts at Herbs Galore in Richmond and in May, ramps are rampant at the Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival. Bite into juicy red tomatoes at Richmond’s Shockoe Tomato in July then crunch your way through superb Virginia peanuts at festivals at Chippokes in Surry County in July, in Emporia in September and in Suffolk in October. Also during October, garlic is king at the Virginia Wine and Garlic Festival in Amherst while pumpkins add their colorful touch to festivities in Churchville and Winchester.
Hungry for seafood? Got you covered with festivals in Chincoteague in May, Kilmarnock in September and Poquoson in October, not to mention West Point’s Crab Carnival in October, three oyster festivals (in Chincoteague in October and in Reedville and Urbana in November) plus Norfolk’s June Harborfest and Hampton Bay Days in September.
Meat-eaters will also enjoy what’s on the menu. In April, the Beef Expo features the Beef Fest in Harrisonburg and in July, the Emporia-Greensville Chamber of Commerce will sponsor its own Beef-Fest. If you pick chicken as your favorite, join the crowd in Crewe for the June festival, but if you’d rather pig out on pork, head to Emporia in June or to Richmond in October.
So is your appetite primed and ready? This is only a sampling of tastes on the calendar for 2007. Click here to check out the entire list of food festivals online. If your organization has planned a Virginia food-oriented event that is not included, please send the details to webmaster@vdacs.virginia.gov. There is no charge to list events.