15 Food & Drink Events for May and Beyond

Spring is here and it's time to take a look at the food and drink events coming up this month and a bit beyond that. You'll find celebrity chef dinners, craft beer festivals, international summits, and crowd-pleasing staples, all of which are worth the drive or even a flight or two. The docket for May includes Atlanta Food & Wine, an Omnivore World Tour stop in Copenhagen, Vegas Uncork'd, and Chicago Craft Beer Week.

Taste of the Nation
When: May 2012
Where: Multiple cities
What: These events are great: eat food from some of the best restaurants in the country while helping fight childhood hunger. This month they'll be making stops in Houston (May 6), Philadelphia (May 7), Portland, OR (May 8), Hartford (May 10), Ft. Lauderdale (May 17), Scottdale (May 18), Princeton (May 20), and Santa Barbara (May 20).

SIAL Canada
When: May 9 - 11, 2012
Where: Montreal
What: SIAL Group, one of the world's most prominent food industry show networks, will in this installment showcase North American agrifood business. They expect around 700 exhibitors and more than 10,000 visitors.

Atlanta Food & Wine
When: May 10-13, 2012
Where: Atlanta, GA
What: The Southern all-stars Sean Brock, Frank Stitt, Hugh Acheson, John Currence, John Besh, and Linton Hopkins will cook dinners and host events at this festival from Food & Wine.

Vegas Uncork'd
When: May 10 - 13, 2012
Where: Las Vegas
What: Bon Appétit is putting together one hell of a festival this year: they'll be celebrating Spago's 20th anniversary with Wolfgang Puck, Alain Ducasse will show you how to party, José Andrés will make paella, and a bunch of famous chefs will compete in poker. For updates and more details, see Eater Vegas' coverage.

Celebrity Chef Tour
When: May 15, 2012
Where: Las Vegas, NV
What: The Celebrity Chef Tour will make one stop in April at the Blue Ribbon restaurant in the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. Set to cook are Jonathan Waxman and Clayton Arakawa, with the Bromberb brothers hosting.

Nantucket Wine Festival
When: May 16 - 20, 2012
Where: Nantucket, MA
What: This five-day festival, which is now in its 16th year, brings together a whole bunch of distinguished wine people (and Drew Barrymore) for a series of seminars, dinners, tastings, and auctions. That it takes place in Nantucket, in May, is quite the plus.

Chicago Craft Beer Week
When: May 17-27, 2012
Where: Chicago, IL
What: This year, Chicago Craft Beer Week will coincide with American Craft Beer Week (May 14 - May 20) and will focus on the different neighborhoods of Chicago, partnering with over 200 venues spread across nine areas of the city.

Seattle Cheese Festival
When: May 19-20, 2012
Where: Seattle, WA
What: This festival takes place at Pike Place and is made up of a cheese showcase, cooking demos, and tastings.

The Great GoogaMooga
When: May 19-20, 2012
Where: Brooklyn, NY
What: Superfly Productions, the company that puts together Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, shifts their attention to food and restaurant personalities for this two-day festival in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. There'll be over 75 vendors, including Frankies, Roberta's, Baohaus, and Momofuku Milk Bar. Though the event won't go late into the night, they recently announced a solid music lineup, with Hall & Oates and The Roots headlining.

Taste of Revel
When: May 18 - 20, 2012
Where: Atlantic City, NJ
What: This three-day festival presented by Food & Wine in collaboration with Travel & Leisure will take place at the newly opened Revel Resort in Atlantic City. As you might imagine, it centers around the roster of chefs behind the hotel's restaurants, like Michel Richard, Alain Allegretti, and Marc Forgione. The surprise here is that they're incorporating concerts from Maroon 5 and the Black Keys into the experience.

Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival
When: May 20, 2012
Where: Whitetop, VA
What: This festival celebrates everything ramps and includes a ramp eating contest and bluegrass music. Also: RAMPS. For further information, call (276) 388-3422.

New Orleans Wine and Food Experience
When: May 22 - 26, 2012
Where: New Orleans, LA
What: This New Orleans festival enters its 20th year with the likes of John Besh, Susan Spicer, Johnny Iuzzini, and Lee Schrager. Spread out over the five days are more events than you can handle, with food and wine from some of the best restaurants in the city.

Omnivore World Tour
When: May 26 - 28, 2012
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
What: Omnivore, the alternative gastronomic publication and event organizer, will make a stop on its 2012 world tour in Copenhagen. As with most of their affairs, this one will be made up of master classes, parties, and dinners from local and guest chefs.

Zingerman's Camp Bacon
When: May 31 - June 3, 2012
Where: Ann Arbor, MI
What: The team behind the well-known barbecue restaurant Zingerman's aims to bring together all the "brilliant bacon luminaries of the world" in one place to talk, enjoy, eat, and play with bacon. Accordingly, there'll be dinners with Frank Stitt and Alex Young, a bacon street fair, and of course, appearances by Allan Benton.

Looking Ahead:

MAD Symposium
When: July 1-2, 2012
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
What: René Redzepi has released the names of the speakers for his second annual symposium in Copenhagen. Among those confirmed to present are Ferran Adrià, Wylie Dufresne, Massimo Bottura, Fergus Henderson, and Enrique Olvera. This year's symposium will center around the word "appetite," which "has been chosen due to its evocative meaning and fundamental importance to our work as chefs," according to Redzepi.

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