When I married a fellow Yale grad student whose parents came to this country from Norway, I was struck by how intensely my newly adopted culture focused on light. There was the magic of Norwegian Christmas, when it seemed that every window in Oslo shone with candles lit against the darkness. At the opposite end of the year, there was the solstice at Midsummer, which has also been an occasion for partying it up since pagan days. Summer visits to a family farm north of the Arctic Circle brought grilling, beer, and card games in the brilliant light of the midnight sun.
While Connecticut residents, being well south of the Arctic, can count on dark summer nights, you do not have to visit Scandinavia, or even claim family connections, to celebrate Midsummer. You just need to be able to appreciate that there’s something about this peak of sunlight hours that invites us all to lighten up and Let It Go. It’s a rare person who could not use the reminder.
The solstice technically falls on June 20th, but Midsummer parties typically take place from June 19th through the 25th. Locally organized festivities include the Scandinavian Club of Fairfield’s annual celebration complete with a Maypole, a Swedish tradition. This year it’s on Saturday, June 25th, at noon, at 1351 South Pine Creek Road, Fairfield, CT 06825.
Photo courtesy of CTNOWBrace yourself for a grillin’ and chillin’ good time at Sun BBQFest. On June 11th & 12th, sink your teeth into the best barbeque around with festivities featuring celebrity BBQ Chef — Myron Mixon, live music, beer trailers, barbeque showdowns, local vendors, food trucks and so much more!
Tickets are $5.00 per day and go on sale Friday, April 1st through the Mohegan Sun Box Office. Kids 6 and under get in free. The weekend of the event, tickets for entry are available at the gate along with food and drink tickets.
Eat, Drink, Compete
Get in on all the BBQ action and decide who reigns supreme during the People’s Choice Contest all weekend long. Purchase $2.00 samples from 20 participating Kansas City BBQ Society teams and cast your vote for the ultimate best at Sun BBQFest. Competition remains fierce on Saturday with a Rib Contest fromNoon to 2:30pm followed by a Wing Challenge from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. For $5.00, each contest offers a sampling of 5 wings or 5 ribs for you to judge! A portion of the proceeds benefits the Sun BBQFest official charity, Operation BBQ Relief.
The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, one of the East Coast’s most sophisticated and anticipated events, returns for its 10th year from September 25 – 27, 2015. Once again, the Marble House lawn will be the setting for the two-day Grand Tasting, which offers guests the chance to sample hundreds of wines from around the world and cuisine from nearly two dozen regional restaurants and caterers.
Martha Stewart will return to the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival for her second year, headlining a brand new signature event with French chef Jacques Pépin. During A Conversation with Martha Stewart and Jacques Pépin, guests can enjoy a lively and engaging conversation with the lifestyle expert and the French chef while sipping Champagne Taittinger in the Marble House Gold Ballroom before heading out to the Grand Tasting.
Chef Pépin will also join daughter Claudine Pépin for a cooking demonstration on the KitchenAid Culinary Demonstration Stage during Sunday’s Grand Tasting. Claudine Pépin joined her father in preparing delicious meals and sharing cooking techniques on three public television shows and has served as a Brand Ambassador for Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon Champagne. She recently wrote her first book, Kids Cook French, a collection of thirty favorite, simple, classic French recipes in both English and French, illustrated by her father Jacques and daughter Shorey.
The 8th annual Blues, Views & BBQ Festival presented by the Westport Downtown Merchants Association will be held in Westport CT on September 5 & 6 at the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts and the grounds of the Westport Library.
CTbites will once again play host to the areas top chefs as they grill up and demo some of their favorite dishes and offer up samples for attendees of the festival. Come on down and meet this incredibly talented group of local chefs.
Stratford, CT's Two Roads Brewing Company will be celebrating their 2nd annual Road Jam concert on the grounds of their 100 year-old brewery building and it promises to be just as fun as last year with four awesome bands, great food trucks and plenty of Two Roads beer.
Building on the success of last year's event, this year's Road Jam will be a must-attend festival for music lovers. Two Roads has hired three local bands as well as a headliner all the way from New Orleans to keep you dancing until last call.
Returning this year will be the Alpaca Gnomes who killed it at last year’s event and new to the line-up this year are two other Connecticut favorites, the psychedelic Snooty Garland and jam group The McLovins.
Headlining the event is New Orleans' finest brass band: The Soul Rebels. They have shared the stage with everyone from Kanye West to Dave Matthews and have collaborated with some of this generation's best musical acts. They have been described by the Village Voice as “the missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong.” Two Roads is thrilled to feature them as the main act.
The 5th annual Connecticut Cheese & Wine Festival, a celebration of local artisan made foods & wines will take place at Hopkins Vineyard, 25 Hopkins Rd in New Preston, on Saturday, October 18, 2014, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This event will feature locally made handcrafted cheeses, boutique wines and specialty foods and crafts from some of the Northeast’s top producers. This varied celebration, with the special wine and food pairings, promises to be the artisan food event of the year.
As a prelude to CT Beer Week (October 13-20), over 20 breweries from around the state will be converging a week early on Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford for the first ever Connecticut Brewers Festival on Monday, October 6th from 6-9 p.m. Over 20 breweries will be in attendance with only 250 tickets available for festival-goers.
Tickets are $25, which gets patrons a pint glass commemorating the event as well as unlimited three ounce pours of some of their favorite CT beers. The event is 21+. All proceeds to this event benefit the Connecticut Brewers Guild.
Connecticut, like most places around the country, is seeing a boom in craft beer. In 2011, there were only a handful of breweries and today, over 25 breweries are operating within the Nutmeg State with more and more opening every month.
On October 4thNew Canaan Nature Center will be hosting their third annual Harvest Festival from 7-10pm. This event is a fundraiser for the Nature Center, and is also the party everyone loves to attend but doesn’t want to host anymore. Boots, jeans, and a jacket in the meadow with beer, a bit of wine, music, and food for one ticket price. A local band called the Jazzholes will be performing, and Half Full Brewery and Two Roads Brewery, will be coming to serve party go-ers.
There will be a wide variety of beer and wine to choose from and some great eats. Last year, vendors pouring beer and wine included Half Full, Two Roads, Estrella, GW Beer, Berkshire, DogFish Head, Widmer, Murphy’s and Charter Oak along with 3 liquor stores pouring a selection of wines and a few signature cocktails. This year they will also have a selection of gluten free labels.
It may be known as Oktoberfest but the real fun begins later this September. Stratford, CT's Two Roads Brewing Company will be celebrating their 2nd annual "Ok2berfest" on the grounds of their 100+ year old brewery and it promises to be two days of beer, food, music and… more beer!
Building on the success of last year's event, this year's Ok2berfest will be a must-attend festival for beer lovers. And speaking of beer, Two Roads has brewed up two different Oktoberfest style beers just for the occasion dubbed "Ein" and "Zwei," that honor the Bavarian Oktoberfest tradition that originated in 1810.
And since nothing goes better with flavorful craft beers than good food, great local eats will be served by some of the area's top food trucks. If you've ever been to Two Roads, you'll be familiar with some of the amazing culinary creations area chefs have been serving up in these fun gastro-mobiles!
Tickets are on sale through Two Roads website: www.tworoadsbrewing.comwhere you will also find more information about the day including band schedule, the food truck line up and other pertinent information.
On a perfect fall day, there is no better place to sip a frosty than at The Harbor Brew Fest.The festival will feature international, domestic and local beers, CT’s most popular food trucks and talented bands.Harbor Brew Fest is taking place on September 20, 2014 at the Bluefish Stadium at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT.
The Harbor Brew Fest will tap off with a Brewers Special from 12pm – 1pm. General Admission will begin at 1pm and we will pour until 5pm. In addition to adding more Brewers (100!) and 13 food trucks (view full list below) for our 2014 brew fest we will have our CT Craft beer tent, which will feature all of the best CT Craft Beers. Ticket sales will be limited and will sell out before the day of the event. A percentage of proceeds will benefit Harbor Light Foundation. Ticket info here.
Like beer? Check out the CT on Tap beer festival, Saturday, September 13th at Ives Concert Park from 3PM-6PM! Sample over 120 craft beers from the best American Craft Breweries. VIP tickets are $55 and GA tickets are $35 when bought in advance. Day of GA tickets are $45. Leave the kids at home as this is a 21 and over event. Each general admission ticket will get you admission to the event, a special tasting cup, beer samples, and access to food vendors where food will be available for purchase. VIEW COMPLETE LIST OF BREWERIES BELOW.
With the CT on Tap VIP Experience you will have admission to the festival 1 hour before general admission ticket holders (2pm). In this VIP area, you will have access to EXCLUSIVE RARE BEERS that the rest of the festival does not have access to. Additionally, there will be a catered meal provided which is included with your VIP ticket. You will also receive an exclusive SWAG BAG with special beer related items and other cool stuff. The event concludes at 6pm.
When I married a fellow Yale grad student whose parents came to this country from Norway, I was struck by how intensely my newly adopted culture focused on light. There was the magic of Norwegian Christmas, when it seemed that every window in Oslo shone with candles lit against the darkness. At the opposite end of the year, there was the solstice at Midsummer, which has also been an occasion for partying it up since pagan days. Summer visits to a family farm north of the Arctic Circle brought grilling, beer, and card games in the brilliant light of the midnight sun. 
