6 to Savor: Summer Food Festivals

Virginia Oyster & Wine Celebration (Fridays through October)

Eastwood Farm and Winery, Charlottesville

Though not technically a festival, the months-long Virginia Oyster & Wine Celebration at Eastwood Farm and Winery is certainly worth commemorating. Held each Friday from April through October, the event pairs Salty Bottom Blue Oysters with a glass of Eastwood’s sparkling Blanc de Blancs. Hailing from Gwynn, Virginia, Salty Bottom Blue farms oysters in the mid-Bay where the cleaner, cooler waters create the ideal environment for growing fresh-tasting, high-salinity Chesapeake oysters using innovative, sustainable aquaculture techniques. Along with oysters and wine pairings, guests can also enjoy additional food pairings, juice flights and cheese boards for young guests, and live music. 

SummerSupperSomm (through August)

Locations throughout Virginia

Returning for its sixth season with 23 immersive heirloom tomato and Virginia wine dinners, the SummerSupperSomm series is hosted at restaurants, wineries, and destinations across the commonwealth. The dinners bring together chefs, growers, and winemakers to celebrate summer bounty with multi-course menus highlighting rare heirloom tomatoes from Village Garden RVA, a family-owned biodynamic farm in Mechanicsville. The series also supports Greater Richmond SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now).

Pickle Palooza (July 19)

Festival Park, Suffolk

Are you crazy for cukes? Big on brine? Passionate about pickles? Then make your way to Suffolk’s 2nd Annual Pickle Palooza, where you can sample the sour treats in more ways you ever imagined. Along with classic assorted pickles, you’ll find pickle pizza, pickled peanuts, pickle-themed candy, pickle lemonade, even pickle-flavored baked sweets. But that’s not all. There’s also pickle soap and pickle-inspired fresh flowers. This event is truly a big dill, and if you miss it, you may just find yourself in a … well, you know.  

Chincoteague Island Blueberry Festival (July 23–25)

Chincoteague Center, Chincoteague

Along with being the Eastern Shore’s largest indoor and outdoor fine arts and crafts event, this festival is a splendid opportunity to enjoy the beloved blueberry in some of its tastiest forms. Feast on fresh blueberries, muffins and pancakes, homemade blueberry ice cream, blueberry pie, and old-fashioned blueberry shortcake. While you’re there, browse the work of more than 100 exhibitors and enjoy music

Virginia Cantaloupe Festival (July 24)

Berry Hill Resort, South Boston 

An outdoor summer festival at a historic resort with chilled slices of cantaloupe to cool you down — what could be better? Beach, soul, blues, and rock music fill the air as attendees enjoy fare from food trucks alongside craft beers, ciders, wines, and seltzers. In addition to locally grown cantaloupe, tickets include sweet, buttery corn on the cob. 

Peach Fuzztival (Aug 1–2)

Great Country Farms, Bluemont

What happens when a winery, brewery, and cidery join forces on a festival? Sounds like a peachy-keen good time. Head to Bluemont to celebrate the peach in all its forms, from slushies and  ice cream to ciders, wines, and beer. Join the peach pie eating contest, and test your skills in the peach pit spitting competition. Visit the Henway Cider Barn for peach cider, refresh yourself with a peach wine slushy made with juicy Great Country Farms peaches at Bluemont Vineyard, or sip Dirt Farm Brewing’s Som’ Peach Golden Ale, brewed with over 800 pounds of peaches.