Joanna James
For many, food is not just the necessary fuel to survive but the element of a passion as well. These festivals take that passion to another level with the belief that eating should never be boring.
Almost every food magazine or blog the likes of The Dine and Wine talks about Thai food as its one of the finest cuisines in the world and highlight the best local places to eat in Thailand. However, have you ever heard about the Khmer temple of Phra Prang Sam Yot and its amazing Monkey Buffet?
This fantastic buffet takes place once a year on the last Sunday of November and hosts about 1000 humans and about 3000 monkeys! The magnificent feast provides 4,000 kilos of food just for the monkeys and features a grand spread of vegetarian food the likes of sticky white rice, fruit salads and even elaborate fruit carvings.
The Pra Prang Sam Yot temple is situated in the Old Town of Lopburi which is also called as the City of Monkeys after the festival that has become famous. The idea for the monkey buffet came from a local by the name of Khon Kitwattananusont who tries to outdo the previous year's festivities with extraordinary feats such as parachuting into the grounds in a monkey suit!
Love a good omelette in the morning? Then you'll love the Giant Omelette Celebration in France that celebrates all things eggcellent, excuse the pun. The festival originated thanks to the great Napoleon who once when in the southwestern commune of Bessieres, enjoyed an omelette so much that he ordered every single egg in the town to be used to prepare a gigantic omelette for his brigade. Thus, began a tradition that was held every year at Easter to provide for the poor. Today, not only is the festival celebrated throughout France but in other countries as well. Bessiers, where the festival started, carries on this age-old celebration by making a giant omelette using 15,000 eggs while in Abbeville, Lousiana in the States makes an omelette with 5,000 eggs.
Sometimes people try you so hard that you feel like you want to smash them in the face, well if you take them to the La Tomatina Festival you can do that and still not end up in jail! LOL No but seriously, this festival is the bomb and is undoubtedly one of the best and famous food festivals and has been titled the 'World's Biggest Food Fight'. It takes place on the last Wednesday of August every year in the Spanish town of Bunol in the Valencia province. The festival originated in the 1940's and has been attracting thousands of people who come here to have a smashing time by throwing tomatoes. Over 100 metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are heaved into the roads to be used by over 50,000 attendees to smash each other, sounds fun eh?
This one is not for the faint-hearted. Every September, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences holds their Annual Bug Fest that features the popular Café Insecta where you can sample a wide range of delicious treats made with...bugs!
This is not the festival to take your date to have a romantic time. The late summer Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California celebrates food with so much garlic enough to kill a whole troop of vampires! At the outdoor kitchen that features a huge fire, chefs prepare garlicky dishes ranging from the common garlic bread to garlic fries, garlic-laced calamari to extraordinary creations such as garlic ice cream!
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
