7 of The Booziest Festivals in The World
Article by: Laura Mason|@masonlazarusThu April 23, 2015 | 00:00 AM
Let's face it: Booze definitely plays a role in almost every festival out there, whether we're talking about a corporate-run music festival, food festival packed with gourmands, or a far-flung cultural festival across the globe. Why? Because, besides its tastiness and its status as the ultimate celebration tool, alcohol has magical powers that bring us all closer together.
Whether you simply seek a wild time, or want to know everything about what went into producing a certain wine or beer varietal, here's a list of boozy festivals where you can both imbibe and learn a lot in the process.
Outside Lands, San Francisco, California, US
As a festival situated in one of the premier food cities in the country, Outside Lands strives to deliver the creme de la creme of food – with a heavy focus on local chefs, farms, brewers and vintners – and drink to its discerning attendees. In fact, we'd credit Outside Lands with becoming one of the first major music festivals to put its food and drink program front and center, right alongside the festival's musicians and artists. In the food department, there's the Taste of the Bay Area, food trucks, and Choco and Cheese Lands; when it comes to drinking, fest-goers head to Wine Lands and Beer Lands, where connoisseurs can comingle with the region's foremost wine and beer makers and taste their wares. While this year's musical lineup has already been announced, you can bet that in some circles, the TBA wine and beer lineups are arguably more anticipated.
Food & Wine Classic, Aspen, Colorado, US
Photo by Allan Zepeda
For indulgent gourmands and curious foodies alike, the summertime Food & Wine Classic in plush Aspen, Colorado is the Super Bowl of eating and drinking. The annual sell-out event is 3 days of cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, panel discussions, and tasting events, all put on by the world’s foremost authorities on wine and food. You can see who will be presenting and attending in 2015 here, as well as the mind-boggling lineup of events here.
The huge epicenter of the extravaganza of food is the Grand Tasting Pavilion, where more than 300 wines and luxury lifestyle brands to feature their newest products. You have to pace yourself, because there's not only a lot to eat and drink, but a lot to learn as well. Late night parties are a huge reason why the superstar chefs stay up late here, and why you should, too. It’s often one of the best ways you can get up close and ask questions, including why they chose the beverage clutched in their hands.
Haro Wine Festival, Haro, Spain
Photo by BigSus/Flickr CC
Every year on June 29th, the small town of Haro in northern Spain hosts a grape bash and splash (which dates back to the 13th century) to celebrate its numerous wineries attended by thousands of purple partying tourists and wine soaked locals alike. From bullfighting (actually, heifer-fighting) to wine-tasting to shirt soaking, there’s a mood and temperament for everyone at Haro, as long as you like wine. But be ready to drink early – festivities start at 7 am!
This wine war demands a weapon, which, in this case, is a bota bag, that traditional Spanish leather wine satchel lined with a goat's bladder. The power of the bota is its ability to be squeezed to jettison streams of red wine as far as you can shoot it. You might also see squirt guns, spray misters, and wine-filled balloons. After the ceremonial Mass at the Hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio lets its (often inebriated) revelers loose, people begin flinging wine in every direction, battling until around noon, when the crowds are totally drenched, exhausted, and intoxicated. Every year, approximately 50,000 liters of wine bite the bota bag.
Bottlerock Napa Valley, Napa Valley, California, US
At a music festival set in one of the more revered winemaking regions in the world, you better believe the vino at Bottlerock Napa is unparalleled. Aside from the wine, all the creature comforts that make the Napa Valley a must-visit destination—world class wines, excellent cuisine (it has more Michelin stars than any other agricultural region), and beautiful surroundings –– are repped at the festival. And there’s no better way to appreciate the setting and the terroir of Napa than by indulging in some healthy wine tasting and beer drinking while attending BottleRock. Look for dazzling chardonnays and robust cabs from producers like the outstanding Miner Family Winery, Cakebread Cellars, Cliff Lede, and Del Dotto. Napa is not just about wine, though. There’s also beer. BottleRock pours dozens of local craft brews in the beer garden, like local mainstays Lagunitas, Anchor brewing, Blue Moon and Napa Smith. Talk about spoiling yourself!
Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
Photo by the German National Tourist Board
To some, Oktoberfest is German for “massive consumption of beer,” and while that’s part of the festival, it’s not the whole story. Beer, after all, is more than a drink for the residents of Munich, it’s a way of life, and integrated into the cultural fabric of the city. But prodigious beer drinking hasn’t always been the focus of the festival. When founded in 1810, Oktoberfest celebrated the marriage of the Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe Hildburghausen with a horse race. The race featured prominently in the festivities until 1960, at which point the festival had become world famous and steeped in other traditions. It’s changed over the 200-year history, most significantly with the addition of bratwurst, electricity and glass beer steins (in that order and importance).
Today, the 16-day festival opens with a 12-gun salute and the tapping of the first keg by the mayor of Munich – and because beer is the star of the show, there are strict purity codes (enacted in 1487) of what can and cannot be served. To keep the festival tidy, more than 1,000 tons of trash get hauled away each year, and nearly 2,000 toilets and urinals provide relief for the more than 6 million full bladders during the course of the festival. Officials estimate more than 7 million liters are served over the 16-day festival.
New York City Wine & Food Festival, New York City, New York, US
Photo by Billy Farrell Agency
For 4 days each fall at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, culinary giants, celebrity chefs, mixologists, vintners and foodies unite to eat, drink and end world hunger. Drinking for a good cause? We're all about that. In fact, 100% of the fest's proceeds — upwards of $1 million — go to charity each year.
So what do attendees get in return? In addition to plenty of the best food and drink in the country, there are myriad opportunities for dedicated foodies to learn more about their passion in the many seminars and workshops that are offered. Take a cake-decorating class from the master herself, Martha Stewart; refine your palate in a tasting class with Wine Spectator Magazine; learn how to turn your hobby into a career and take a pitching class with panelists like Tyler Florence and Rachael Ray. You’ll stuff your face, you’ll drink too much, you’ll learn from the greats and you’ll party. Fortunately, the New York City Wine and Food Festival is one event that you don’t have to feel guilty about going big at.
Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Photo courtesy of Tales of the Cocktail
Avid drinkers from all over travel to one of the hardest partying cities in the US each year in order to graduate to a higher level of imbibement. Indeed, Tales of the Cocktail is like a Ph.D. program compared to the elementary imbibers of Jell-O shots roaming around New Orleans’s French Quarter. But the academic event itself is far from snooty, country-club swillers. It’s a serious industry party with folks who really know spirits and how to enjoy them.
A five-day opportunity to belly up to countless bars (and luncheons, lectures, demonstrations and dinners), Tales is an opportunity to see the latest in cocktail trends, learn how to mix the best, and see what new spirits are being introduced into the marketplace. And believe it or not, New Orleans is the best place to pack it all in. No surprise! Just be sure to have a lot of water on hand for that impending hangover.
