Autumn in Europe is synonymous with harvest festivals and gastronomy, and the occasions spread across the continent.
Pick a country and there will be some kind of food or wine festival from September to November, many of which date back many years.
While there are no restrictions on the crops grown this time of year, there are some crops that deserve special attention.
Truffles, grown in Italy, Spain, France, and Croatia, are one of the most sumptuous tactics to eat in the fall. You’ll find small white truffle occasions in Istria, Croatia and black truffle occasions in France and Spain, but none compare. on a stopover to that of Alba in Italy.
The Alba White Truffle Festival is a world-renowned event that lasts for two months, from October to December last year. It started with a donkey race and offers tastings, food and wine pairings, and cooking demonstrations, this is part of the bucket list.
Olives are usually harvested in October and November in southern Europe, where the climate is warmer and they ripen faster. In France, this is done more between November and January.
Visit any olive grower in town and you’re sure to find a place that will help you select and press the olives, then flavor the new oil. Tapenades, olive-based beauty products and, of course, the olives themselves are also protagonists of these events, accompanied by parades, concerts and other entertainment.
Many cities celebrate the season with general food festivals, such as Vienna’s Erntedankfest, which feasts on seasonal foods returning to markets, adding mountain cheeses, pumpkin recipes, and brewed fermented juices.
In northern Europe, seafood features prominently on the autumn food circuit, with herring festivals in Finland, oyster festivals in England and Ireland and shrimp festivals in France.
And for more unique events, the following specialty festivals attract and celebrate thousands of visitors each year: onions in Weimar, Germany; rice in Arles, France; sausages in Budapest, Hungary; chocolate in Perugia, Italy; all things seafood in O Grove, Spain; black food in Tallinn, Estonia; coffee in Amsterdam, Netherlands; peppers in Espelette, France; apples in Dobele, Latvia; saffron in Toledo, Spain; and honey in Corsica, to name a few.
Another wonderful way to harvest near you is to locate a pick-your-own farm near you.
These farms are outdoors from big cities, where other people like to escape to the countryside for the day and bring home bags of apples, pumpkins, and anything else they might have in the past.
Many farms specialize in a few crops, but larger ones may offer dozens at other times of the year.
From mid-summer to late autumn, depending on the region and the seasonal climate, the harvest takes place throughout the continent.
Perhaps the most famous beer festival in the world is Germany’s unprecedented beer festival, Oktoberfest (which takes place in September, not October). For a whole month, the country is all about breweries and tents popping up in each and every city. , which serves not only wonderful beers but also delicious local snacks to enjoy it all. If you don’t wear the classic dress to those events, you may not look like you belong.
Germany You might be surprised at how many wineries this country has, and since they’re less touristy, it’s sometimes less expensive to stop at them than the more popular French or Italian alternatives.
The Rhine Valley is dotted with vineyards and the town of Boppard is a highlight at this time of year, with concerts and fireworks to mark the grape harvest festival.
Underrated for its wine culture, Portugal has its Douro Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest wine regions in the world, cultivated since 1756.
In September and October, volunteers are invited to help select and weigh grapes destined for the country’s famous port.
In Spain, La Rioja hosts a festival that begins on September 21 and has been celebrated for more than 900 years. For a week, locals and tourists alike trample the grapes to the rhythm of live bands, bullfights and fireworks. .
Made in the Spanish region of Andalusia, Jerez de Jerez is celebrated in September for 3 weeks with flamenco, parades, exhibitions, concerts, bullfights and, of course, tapas and sherry.
France is the country best known for its wine festivals, which is not unexpected given the vast territory in which it has to grow its famous grapes. Among the dozens of celebrations that take place among the thousands of wineries that this wine-growing power has to offer, some stand out. .
A World Heritage Site, Saint-Émilion is one of the most popular places for grape harvesting, just under an hour’s drive from the wine mecca of Bordeaux. The vines here were originally planted by the Romans, but it was the priests who made them successful.
Every September, Heritage Night is celebrated when members of the Jurade, the winegrowers’ guild, dressed in red and white capes, parade through the town and climb the church tower to proclaim the date of this year’s harvest.
In the Marne Valley, where Champagne is famous, the medieval town of Château-Thierry kicks off the special sparkling wine-making procedure with workshops, cellar tours and tastings at more than 30 local wine institutions with pairings. In fact, World Champagne Day is celebrated on the fourth Friday in October, a wonderful time to be in the region.
Even Paris organizes a grape harvest festival, which is held every October in Montmartre, where a small winery is still located today in the center of the city.
The Italian wine culture also does not wish for any advent. The Festa dell’Uva in Impruneta, a town in the center of the “Chianti Classico” region dating back to 1926, is one of the most popular wine events. Parades of floats, dancers and exhibitions are accompanied by numerous wines and local delicacies.
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