Autumn in Europe is all about harvest and local food festivals, with events taking place all over the Continent.
Pick a country, and it’s sure to have some kind of food or wine festival from September to November, many of which date back hundreds of years.
While there’s no limit to the crops that are reaped this time of year, there are a few harvests worthy of special attention.
Alba’s White Truffle Festival is a two-month-long, world-famous event, from October to December each year. Kicked off with a donkey race and featuring tastings, food and wine pairings, and cooking demos, this is one for the bucket list.
Olives are typically picked in October and November in southern Europe, where the weather is warmer and they ripen faster. In France, it’s more often done between November and January.
Visit any olive-producing town, and you’re sure to find a place to help pick and press the olives, then taste the fresh oil. Tapenade, olive-based beauty products, and, of course, the olives themselves are also to be had during these events, often accompanied by parades, concerts, and other events.
In northern Europe, seafood is the focus of the fall food circuit, with herring festivals in Finland, oyster festivals in England and Ireland, and shrimp festivals in France.
And for more singular events, the following niche festivals attract thousands of visitors every year, celebrating: onions in Weimar, Germany; rice in Arles, France; sausage in Budapest, Hungary; chocolate in Perugia, Italy; all things seafood in O Grove, Spain; black foods 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 just a few.
These farms are usually to be found outside major cities where folks like to escape to the countryside for the day and bring home bags of apples, squash, and whatever else is to be had at the time.
Many farms specialize in a few crops, but the bigger ones may have dozens to choose from at different times of the year.
Germany
Perhaps the most famous drinking festival in the world is Germany’s unparalleled beer bash, Oktoberfest (held in September, not October). For an entire month, the country is given over to beer halls and tents that pop up in every town, serving not just fine brews but tasty local snacks to soak it all up. If you’re not in traditional costume for these events, you’ll look wildly out of place.
But don’t discount Germany for wine, either.
You may be surprised at the number of vineyards this country boasts, and because they are less touristed, they’re often cheaper to visit than the more popular French or Italian alternatives.
For example, the Rhine valley offers many wineries, and the town of Boppard is a notable stop this time of year, with live music and fireworks to mark the harvest celebration.
Portugal
Portugal, another country under-appreciated for its wine culture, has its Douro Valley, named 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 pick and tread grapes that are destined to become the country’s famous port wine.
Spain
In Spain, La Rioja hosts a festival that begins on September 21 and has been held for over 900 years. For a week, locals and tourists stomp grapes the old-fashioned way to the accompaniment of live bands, bullfights, and fireworks.
Jerez sherry, made in Spain’s Andalusia region, is also fêted in September over a three-week period with flamenco, parades, exhibitions, concerts, bullfighting, and, of course, tapas and sherry.
France
France is probably the most famous country for wine festivals, which is no wonder considering the vast territory it has to grow its famous grapes on. Among the dozens of celebrations among the thousands of wineries this wine-producing powerhouse has to offer, a few stand out.
Saint-Émilion, a World Heritage Site, is one of the most popular venues for wine harvest, just under an hour’s drive from wine mecca Bordeaux. The vines here were originally planted by the Romans, but it was monks that made them successful.
Every September, Heritage Night is celebrated when members of the Jurade, the winemaking guild, outfitted in red robes and white capes, parade around the village and climb the church tower to proclaim the date of this year’s harvest.
In the Marne Valley, where champagne is the claim to fame, medieval town Château-Thierry offers a great introduction to the particular process of making sparkling wine with workshops, vineyard walks, and tastings from 30+ local wineries with food pairings. Incidentally, Global Champagne Day is the fourth Friday in October, an excellent time to be in the region.
Even Paris has a wine harvest festival, held every October in Montmartre, where there is a small vineyard in the heart of the city to this day.
Italy
Italy’s wine culture needs no introduction either. The Festa dell’Uva in Impruneta, a town at the heart of the “Chianti Classico” region dating back to 1926, is one of its most attended wine events. Parades of floats, dancers, and performances are accompanied by much wine and local delicacies.
Until next time,
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter
Editor’s Note: A version of this article appears in Forbes.
