The weekend following Labor Day seems like a perfect time for a food and wine festival. We’re approaching harvest season, the kids are back in school, time to get to work after a summer of frivolity. So let’s celebrate with one last fling!
Alas, that means lots of competing festivals, at least in my neck of the woods in upstate New York. For the past several years I have attended the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival which is a fine excuse to enjoy fall weather and good eats and drink in Spa Park. But this year I’ll be attending the Hudson Valley Wine and Food Festival courtesy of my friends at Albany Yelp.
The top price for the Hudson Valley festival is $45 including food and wine tastings plus five sips of beer. That’s quite a bit less than the Saratoga festival and I am curious about how generous they are with the samplings for that price. One nice feature is that if you taste a wine and you like it, you can buy it on the spot and have it delivered to you as you go home. I’ll report on my findings but not until this time next fall since that’s when my recommendations would be of interest to the next round of festival goers.
In addition to Saratoga, I am foregoing the inaugural Bakers’ Harvest Festival at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT which sounds like a really wonderful event (if you’re interested check it out immediately as there are sessions starting Thursday) and the Longhouse Food Festival in Rensselaerville which is a confab of food writers, chefs and foodies at a barn in the country (I think; their website was not written by a food writer) that I’ve always been curious about. Lots to look forward to for a future year.
I highly recommend Longhouse Revival – wrote a long reply to your comment in AoA. I know they are extremely bad at describing what they do. Someone should give them a long talking to about it. But read what Deanna and I have to say about it and seriously consider going.
Thanks, Lorre. I will do it next year!