Showing posts with label food festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food festival. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

A Lovely Day for the San Benito Olive Festival


The San Benito Olive Festival was this past Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, and the setting—the San Benito County Historical Park—was a perfect fit for the celebration of agricultural harvest and culinary delights. So much fun!!!  Here's what I ended up doing on my checklist!
  • Check!  Make an olive wreath.
  • Try a fresh fruit juice concoction by Gaspachos.
  • Check!    Paint rocks with ARTI-culture.
  • Check!   Take the walk and geology talk with Jim Ostdick, who walked across the United States earlier this year to raise funds and awareness for the R.E.A.C.H. Foundation(I'm darn tootin' proud of myself for climbing up and down the slope with the help of my cane and the Husband.)
 

 

The Husband, our Friends, and I criss-crossed the park several times and still didn't experience all of the festival, particularly the cooking demonstrations, the merchants' booths, the nonprofit groups' displays, and all of the historical village's buildings and exhibits. Did you know there's an indoor model train display at the village? The Husband and I will visit the park throughout the year to see what we missed during the festival. For everything else, we shall wait patiently for next year!

I don't think it's well known that the San Benito Olive Festival is a non-profit organization. The organization, and festival, exists on the generosity of many, many volunteers and donors. All of the net proceeds the San Benito Olive Festival earns go back into the community. Thus far, it has donated to more than 20 local nonprofit organizations.

For more photos of the festival, check out the album at Take 25's Facebook page.


Wednesday, October 4, 2017

A Fun-Filled San Benito Olive Festival Ahead!


This is what I imagine I'll be doing that day, some activities by myself and others with the Husband or our friends:
  • Make an olive wreath.
  • Try a fresh fruit juice concoction by Gaspachos.
  • Paint rocks with ARTI-culture.
  • Take the walk and geology talk with Jim Ostdick, who walked across the United States earlier this year to raise funds and awareness for the R.E.A.C.H. Foundation.
  • Sample wine from Bonny Doon Vineyard, DeRose Winery, Morgan Winery, or  other wineries.
  • Build a scarecrow that I can take home!
  • Taste olive oil produced by such award-winning producers as Oils of Paicines and MoonShadow Grove
  • Paint and Plant with The Garden Mart. 
  • Watch Chef Carlos Pineda, the 2017 Gilroy Garlic Festival Showdown champion on the Cooking Demo Stage.
  • Learn how to create a Fall flower bouquet. 
  • Tap my feet to the sound of the Mariachi Juvenil Alma de Mexico.
  • Sip a microbrew from Grillin & Chillin Alehouse.
  • Check out the Venetian masks at the Gioia Italian Art & Products booth.
  • Dance with the Husband to Absurdum
  • Eat some tapas made by Farmhouse Cafe.
  • And more! If this old body with no cartilage in the knees can handle it. 
Definitely lots to do at this year's San Benito Olive Festival. And, I haven't even mentioned that the location of this year's event is the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos. A perfect setting!

For more details about the event, check out this article at BenitoLink.com.  Also, visit the San Benito Olive Festival website or Facebook page

Confession Time: I'm an Olive Fest volunteer, helping out with publicity. But, even if I weren't I'd still write about it. Look, I'm finally writing after how many months of silence. :-)

Here are some photos from the 2015 event.

There'll be two olive paint party sessions at the 2017 San Benito Olive Festival.
  
The VIP Tasting Grove
Cooking Demonstration Stage
Olive tasting at Papa Joe's Spicy Products
Mr. O's Jazz Band -- They'll be there this year, too!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Our Own Foodie Festival


Gilroy has the Garlic Festival, Castroville, the Artichoke Festival, and Half Moon Bay, the Pumpkin Festival. 

And, in our backyard, is the San Benito Olive Festival! Whooo-hooo! It's this Saturday, October 17, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Bolado Park in Tres Pinos.


In its third year, this gourmet event celebrates the agricultural bounty and natural beauty of Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Tres Pinos, Aromas, and all that make up San Benito County. It features many of the award-winning olive oils, wines, and other artisanal foods made by farmers, growers, and food companies of San Benito County, as well as from other parts of California. 

All net proceeds earned by the San Benito Olive Festival, a non-profit organization, are donated to community and service organizations. One of the coolest things about the festival, in my book. 


The olive festival offers visitors samplings of olives, olive oils, Blenheim apricots, chocolates, and other foods. A variety of food trucks and restaurants shall be on hand, as well be various wineries and breweries. In addition, patrons can purchase a VIP admission ticket to access a wine and craft beer tasting area.



Scheduled are cooking demonstrations by culinary instructors and professional chefs, featuring dishes using, of course, olives and/or olive oil. Two of the guest chefs are Chef Dorothy McNett, popular culinary instructor of the Central Coast, and Executive Chef Cal Stamenov of the Bernardus Lodge and Spa in Carmel Valley.


Like every foodie event, festival-goers can peruse the merchants' booths for jewelry, fine art and crafts, green plants, packaged food, and other items.  This year, the olive festival offers hands-on activities for the young and old, including a morning and an afternoon paint party hosted by artist Paul Loughridge.


This gourmet celebration has a line-up of live entertainment for the whole day. It begins with the singing of the National Anthem by young singer Joe Fata, who recently competed on La Voz Kids, and ends with the ever popular Mr. O's Jazz Band. Also scheduled to perform are Change in the Weather, Shiloh, The Flashbacks, Folklorico Juvenil, Kaleb Askew, and Zack Freitas.


To learn more about the participants, schedule of festivities, and other information about the San Benito Olive Festival, go to its website or Facebook page.


I'm hooking up with Our World Tuesday, a wonderful weekly meme in which bloggers from around the world participate. To take part or to visit other bloggers, click here.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Olives!


The olive trees in the parking lot at the corner of Sixth and East Streets are bearing fruit now.  Be careful where you walk. I wonder if anyone gathers the olives.

Speaking of olives, the third annual San Benito Olive Festival is a month away—Saturday, October 17, 2015 at Bolado Park. Our county's fun, foodie event features olive oils, chocolates, Blenheim apricots, wines, and other products that are grown  and produced in our area. To see the growing list of participants, check out this page at the San Benito Olive Festival website.


Wednesday, March 11, 2015

August – October 2015 Annual Events in San Benito County

Here are some annual events taking place in August through October this year in San Benito County. Click the following links to find out about events in other months.

AUGUST 2015


August 6 - 8: The Good Old Fashioned Blue Grass Festival  at Bolado Park

August 9: 51st Annual Antique and Collectibles Fair sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Juan Bautista  

To Be Announced: Vaquero Heritage Days in San Juan Bautista

To Be Announced: 2nd Annual Boots and Brews Family Fest   at Jardines de San Juan in San Juan Bautista

SEPTEMBER 2015


September 13: Mexican Independence Day Parade in Downtown Hollister

September 19 - October 18: Northern California Renaissance Faire at Casa de Fruta (weekends only)

September 26 - 27: Annual Cactus and Succulent Show Fall Sale in San Juan Bautista  

September 25: Double Road Race in San Juan Bautista

OCTOBER 2015


October 1 - 4: San Benito County Fair 

October 1 - 31: Pumpkin Junction at Casa de Fruta

October 17: 3rd Annual San Benito Olive Festival


October 23: San Benito High School Homecoming Parade Downtown Hollister

To Be Announced: 7th Annual San Juan Bautista Ghost Walk  sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Juan Bautista

To Be Announced: Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo Day" at San Juan Bautista State Historic Park

To Be Announced: Swank Farms Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch



Monday, March 9, 2015

March – May 2015 Annual Events in San Benito County

Who else wants to know when the annual events are happening in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Aromas, and other places in San Benito County? Yup, me, too. Over the next few days, I'll post dates for upcoming events in 2015.  Today, check out what will be up in March, April and May. Click the following links to find out about events in other months:
•  June - July 2015
•  August - October 2015
•  November - December 2015

MARCH 2015


March 20: Champagne Tea and Treasure Fundraiser for the Women's Club and Friends of the Library 




APRIL 2015


April 3 - 5: 25th Annual Arts, Crafts and Music Festival at Casa de Fruta

April 11: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

April 18: Hollister Downtown Association Plant Sale and Garden Expo 

April 18 - 19: Annual Cactus and Succulent Spring Show and Sale in San Juan Bautista, sponsored by the Monterey Bay Cactus & Succulent Society of America

April 25 - 26: Open Studios Art Tour throughout San Benito County


MAY 2015


May 2: Downtown Wine and Beer Stroll 

May 2 - 3: 31st Annual California Indian Market & Peace Pow Wow

May 6 - September 30: Certified Farmers' Market — every Wednesday, from 3 to 7:30 p.m., in Downtown Hollister

May 16 - 17:  Annual San Juan Bautista Rib Cook-Off


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Second Annual San Benito Olive Festival


This Saturday, October 11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is the second annual San Benito Olive Festival, which celebrates the natural beauty and agricultural bounty of our county. I have no doubt that it will be another successful fun and joyful affair that will be attended by hundreds of people from near and far.

San Benito Olive Festival is both the gourmet event and the not-for-profit organization that plans, organizes, and brings the event together. The group's mission is to promote awareness and appreciation of the region's world-class culinary agriculture and premier artisans who make award-winning olive oils, wines, chocolates, Blenheim apricot products, and more. All net profits made from the event are donated to service, educational, and other community groups in San Benito County.


This year, the gourmet celebration is going to be at the gorgeous, historic Bolado Park, which is 8 miles south of Hollister. It's easy to find and reach on Highway 25, whether driving from the north or south.

There will be lots to eat, to drink, to purchase, and to enjoy at the festival. General admission tickets -- $20/adults and $10/children, ages 5-12 -- include the cost of entry to the festival, parking, cooking demonstrations, and entertainment. The $35 VIP ticket grants guests access to the wine tasting tent and five tastings of wine and craft beer from wineries in San Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties. I'm a beer drinker myself, but I would be tempted to taste samples from places with such great names as Alicats Winery, Wild Eye Winery, Lightheart Cellars, and Graveyard Vineyards.


Six celebrity chefs are scheduled to conduct live cooking demonstrations of dishes using olives or olive oil. Starting off will be Chef Eric Carter, Director of the Culinary Arts at Cabrillo College in Aptos, at which the students run the popular Pino Alto Restaurant on campus. Following him will be Chef Dorothy McNett, the popular foodie legend of the California Central Coast, after which the chef duo Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo, also known as SakaBozzo, the twins separated at birth, from the Gilroy Garlic Festival will take the cooking stage. Next up will be Chef Mike Fisher, a Hollister native and local caterer who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and ending the day will be Chef David Boswell who is the Chef de Cuisine at Yahoo!


It's going to be a toss up for me -- watching the cooking demonstrations or listening to the live bands. I've heard three out of the four that will be performing Saturday, and just the music alone makes me realize what a bargain the festival tickets are for a great afternoon of fun. Festival guests will be hearing a range of music from jazz and big band by Mr. O's Jazz Band, doo-wop by The Flashbacks, and popular rock by Shiloh and The Retrospect.


I could go on and on about the San Benito Olive Festival, but I shall stop here. To learn more, check out the festival's website and read this article that the festival posted at BenitoLink.com.

Today, I shall be hanging out at Our World Tuesday. Come join me by clicking here.


Monday, July 21, 2014

2014 Gilroy Garlic Festival


I love the smell and taste of garlic. If you were to ask me to make garlic bread with fresh garlic, do not be surprised when I put a whole bulb's worth of garlic on the buttered french bread. Yum!

So, yup, the Husband and I are ready for the Gilroy Garlic Festival this Friday. The annual event will be Friday to Sunday, July 25 to 27, from 10 AM to 7 PM, at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. For all the details, click over to the official Gilroy Garlic Festival website.

By the way, Friday, July 25, is Local's Day. Residents of Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Aromas, Gilroy, San Martin, and Morgan Hill get $5 off the price of tickets. At the gate, locals can purchase adult general admission tickets for $15; senior (60+) tickets, $5; and children (6 to 12) tickets, $5. Also on sale that day for local residents is a 3-day pass for $30. Be ready to show a valid ID with your local address when you buy your tickets.



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