10 Fun Food Festivals Coming Up This Spring
News of Houston's first big barbecue festival was announced yesterday, and fans have already begun buying up tickets to the appropriately-named Houston Barbecue Festival. Scheduled to take place on March 24, the festival has already booked such popular local smokers as Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue, CorkScrew BBQ, Virgie's Bar-B-Que, Gatlin's BBQ and newcomers like Brook's Place BBQ.
Photo by Adrienne Byard The Pasadena Strawberry Festival is now in its 40th year.
As exciting as the news is, the Houston Barbecue Festival is only one of a slew of great food festivals that are headed to Houston this spring. (Remember: Spring in Houston starts in February...) Below is a round-up of nine other local favorites -- and one that's worth the very minor roadtrip if you're an oyster fan.
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
Photo by Dan Kramer
Dates: February 26 to March 16
Website: http://www.hlsr.com
The annual Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo allows you to appreciate animals at all stages of their lifespan: from the cute calves that are roped before the rodeo each evening to the barbecue served during the World's Championship Bar-B-Que cook-off that kicks off the rodeo each season. You'll need special fancy-pants tickets to get into the cook-off, but not to appreciate all the deep-fried sweets and Texas-sized turkey legs in the midway. For those who want to pay a bit more, there's the Roundup and Best Bites Competition that takes place on Sunday, February 17.
34th Annual Fulton Oysterfest
Dates: March 7 to 10
Website: http://www.fultonoysterfest.org
This is the food festival that requires a minor roadtrip, but it's worth it to see the staggering amount of oyster-shucking that takes place over the four-day event. Now in its 34th year, the Fulton Oysterfest -- in a tiny town just north of Rockport and Port Aransas -- attracts over 35,000 visitors to its carnival and fairgrounds. There's an oyster-shucking contest and both men's and women's oyster-eating contests, all of which have significant cash prizes. Tickets are $1.
Haute Wheels 3rd Annual Food Truck Festival
Photo by Groovehouse
Dates: March 23 and 24
Website: http://hautewheelshouston.com
The first two Haute Wheels festivals were more than a little shaky, but the upcoming third event promises to be better than before. The $16 admission fee entitles you to either five food truck samples or one drink ticket (we'd take the samples); kids 12 and under get in for free. You can purchase additional drink tickets on site, and $1 from each ticket is donated to the Houston Community College Foundation.
League City Uncorked
Dates: March 23 and 24
Website: http://leaguecityuncorked.com
The beautiful Walter Hall Park in quaint League City will host 40 wineries from around the world over two days as well as a slew of other events: wine tasting classes, winemaking classes, Art Cars, local artists, food sampling and demonstrations, live music and even a few grape stomps featuring an I Love Lucy Grape Stomp Contest with prizes. TIckets are $20 or $30 for a weekend pass.
15th Annual SpringFest Wine & Art Festival
Dates: March 23 and 24
Website: http://www.winefestoldtownspring.com
Unlike the League City event, this Spring festival showcases the best wines Texas has to offer. Of the 20 participating vineyards this year, you'll find include: Bernhardt Winery, Calais Winery, Chisholm Trail Winery, Fall Creek Vineyards and many more. Wine tasting tickets are $25 advance or $30 at the gate and include one commemorative wine glass and five tastings per ticket. Additional tastings are available for $1 each, with proceeds going to benefit the Spring Preservation League.
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