One of our favorite harbingers of autumn is just around the corner. We’re looking very much forward to the World Food and Music Festival, coming back to our downtown neighborhood next weekend.
All day next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sept 16 – 18, 2016), on the Court Avenue bridge across the Des Moines River, dozens of mini-restaurants will set up temporary shop up amidst workshops and morning-til-late-night live music.
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The popular World Food and Music Festival returns to the Historic East Village next week, Friday – Sunday, September 19 – 21, 2014.
Since 2005, the World Food Festival has been a celebration of Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage, along with live music and gustatory delights from local restaurants, chefs, and mom-and-pop operations, showcasing the broad range of cultural and culinary interests in our community.
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Around the world in eighty bites. This weekend sees the return to the East Village of the World Food Festival, rechristened this year as the World Food and Music Festival. All day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sept 20 – 22), our block of East Locust St and around the corner on East 5th, our little shopping district will be even more lively than usual, with dozens of mini-restaurants popping up amidst workshops and live music.
The Festival began in 2005 as “a celebration of Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage,” in conjunction with the World Food Prize Ceremony.
Over the last eight years, the event has evolved into a great big “global-local” celebration, with local food vendors offering cuisine from places as far-flung as Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, Laos, and El Salvador. (Plenty of American favorites, too!) A full list of participating restaurants/food vendors is here.
Little tastes of international foods at the festival are available for $1 each, and meal-sized servings are $5. Once you discover your new favorite food, stop in and pick up the ingredients to make it at home! We’ve got everything from Ajowan (Indian food) to Za’atar (Middle Eastern cuisine).
There are also lots of lectures, cooking demonstrations, and culinary competitions on the schedule, too.
If music be the food of love, play on! This year, the festival is broadening its name to the World Food and Music Festival. While the festival has always included a variety of live world music* and dance, this year even more of these entertainments will be more prominently featured on the program. Here’s a link to the full schedule of music and other entertainment this weekend.
*That’s my hubby on the drums, performing with Tu Babu at the 2011 World Food Festival.
The whole wide world comes to the East Village this weekend.
The World Food Festival is setting up camp in Des Moines’ East Village this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Sept 21-23), and will be right outside our front door, on East Locust Street.
Why should you make plans to attend?
Well, for starters, it really is a small (and delicious) world after all: More than three dozen local food vendors will be on hand, serving dishes that range from American BBQ to Mesopotamian, Ethiopian, and Ukranian. They’ll have small portions for you to try for $1, and full-size servings, too. Thirsty? International and domestic wines and beers will be available, as well.
Learn something new. Local chefs, including our neighbors Teresa Adams-Tomka from Kitchen Collage, George Formaro from Zombie Burger (and Centro and Django), and Alessandra Meschini, will be demonstrating their culinary skills at the Meredith Culinary Discovery Pavilion at E 4th and Locust. Many chefs will be offering samples of their tasty creations!
Jam on it. Live music and dancers will be performing 11am – 10pm daily throughout the festival at the Corona Stage at East 5th and Locust. Acts range from Middle Eastern belly dancing and Brazilian Capoeira, to rock, blues, and dance music.
Get inspired. Who knows? You may taste something new and amazing that you love at the Food Festival.
Let us help you re-create your favorite dishes from all around the world:
