America's Best Summer Food Festivals Are Fun-Filled Celebrations With The Tastiest Fresh Produce

Think of summer and what comes to mind? Long hot days spent lazing by the water or downing a chilled drink? Maybe you picture humid evenings thick with the sounds of insects clicking and chattering? As for the taste of summer, could it be biting into ripe, fresh, and succulent produce, the juice spilling down your face? The bounty of summer is why the season's food festivals are such a treat, allowing attendees to enjoy the fruits of the Earth directly from growers and vendors.

With weather well-suited to outdoor adventures for much of the day and night, these festivals allow visitors to engage all of their senses. We carefully combed through lists of the top food festivals throughout the country, paying special attention to those that feature local produce at the heart of the event. That way, you can enjoy the festivities, while literally sinking your teeth into the essence of summer. For ease of reference, and to help you plan, we have arranged the festivals in chronological order. The festivals that have already passed, as of press time, appear at the end.

This part of Michigan likes to think of itself as the cherry capital of the world. The claim seems on the money when you consider that three-quarters of the tart cherries grown in the U.S. come from Michigan. But the state also produces a healthy stock of the sweet cherries that are a hallmark of summer, with the fruiting season running from June to August. Visit Traverse City, a one-of-a-kind Midwest destination, from June 28 – July 5, 2025 and you can partake in that impressive bounty at the National Cherry Festival. Admission is free for the vast majority of events during the festival, though individual attractions (like some concerts, breakfasts, a picnic, and more) require visitors to pay. 

Among the free fun things to do are watching an air show, entering a volleyball competition, going on rides at the amusement park, and, of course, buying cherries at the daily farm market. Save your cherry pits for the cherry spitting contest (the record is more than 90 feet). The festival wowed this reviewer on Yelp, who shared their experience in 2022: "My husband and I had a blast at the Cherry festival. Confession...my husband didn't like cherries, but after trying and picking cherries along with all of the delicious baked goods he is now a life long fan."

The town of Kingsburg appears as a blip on the map, located southeast of Fresno in the center of California. But this hamlet might loom large for lovers of stone fruits, thanks to this annual jubilee and small farm expo. Held on June 28, 2025, and costing $8 for admission paid in advance (or $10 at the door), the event will delight fans of nectarines, plums, apricots, and more. Celebrating its 16th anniversary in 2025, the festival will take place at Kingsburg Historical Park, where buildings scattered around the grounds are filled with fascinating stories.

The Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee features live music, stalls with food and drinks, and crafts that will keep kids entertained. But let's be honest, the real attraction is the fruit. Visitors can purchase fruit bags and stock up on peaches, pluots, apriums, apricots, and other delights that are inspiringly fresh, grown at boutique farms in the region. There is also plenty of fruit tasting on offer, so visitors can sample before the sale. Think about volunteering to help with fruit cutting — you will get to skip the entry fee and take home a complimentary bag of fruit.

If you plan on visiting the Gilroy Garlic Festival in 2025 when it takes place July 25-27, we hope you already have tickets. Otherwise you will need to find a friend who does, as this year's edition, which allows a maximum of 3,000 guests each day and had tickets priced at $35, has already sold out. A better option is to plan ahead for 2026; the event usually takes place on the last weekend in July. The festival did take a break for three years, but will return afresh in 2025, reclaiming its status as the largest garlic festival on the planet.

There is much to engage visitors at the event. The smell of garlic permeates the air, with chefs along Gourmet Alley working pans filled with garlic and other delights (garlic calamari is a favorite). This part delighted the author of the blog California Through My Lens, who attended in 2018. "I recommend stopping by the fire cooking area where they are lighting up the grills and making vast clouds of fire as they cook," they shared. "It's a favorite spot and for a good reason, as it is fun to watch." 

For wannabe chefs who need some tips, cooking demos run throughout the three days. There is also plenty of food to eat, from garlic fries to scoops of the famed garlic ice cream. And for some rhythmic entertainment, live music gets the crowd going. The festival, however, isn't the only worthwhile reason for making a trip to Gilroy. The city is also home to an underrated California theme park that promises fun for all of the family.

Maine is full of lovely islands perfect for an East Coast summer getaway. It is also the largest supplier of lobsters in the U.S., with an industry that goes back about around four centuries. Visitors can see what makes these crustaceans so desirable during the free Maine Lobster Festival, which takes place July 30 – August 3, 2025 in the MidCoast city of Rockland.

Chowing down on lobster is the draw of the festival for many attendees, who will get plenty of opportunities to sate their appetites. Twenty thousand pounds of lobster is cooked and consumed at the event, from freshly grilled to piled in the lobster rolls the region is famed for. A Tripadvisor commenter explained in 2024, "Lots of vendors to see for great shopping. The lobster rolls are amazing. And best, we met so many lovely people. Will go back."

The food is just one (important) part of the equation. Travelers will find many fun things to do across the five days of festivities, such as a grand parade, a dog show, arts and crafts exhibitions and vendors, live music, seafood cooking contests, and options to keep kids entertained. There is even a crate race where competitors skip across lobster crates in Rockland Harbor and try not to slip into the chilly shallows.

The Watsonville Strawberry Festival might not boast the extensive storied past of some other summer offerings, but it has become a beloved annual event in this city located south of San Jose. It debuted in 1994 as the Watsonville Strawberry Dessert Festival, a community event aimed at helping the city bounce back from 1989's Loma Prieta earthquake. The festival is free to attend, and will occur August 1-3, 2025. The juicy red fruit that is its namesake takes center stage, not just physically as the key crop in the region, but also thematically.

Visitors will find inflatable arches with strawberry accents along the festival's road. Guests appear dressed as strawberries, and adults and kids participate in a Strawberry Jam Fun Run. Travelers can also dance to live musical performances or peruse the numerous vendor stalls, while kids can whoop and scream during rides at the carnival. Strawberries, naturally, are in plentiful supply, often a big hit in prepared dishes. "Festival was great this year. Was it a fun time?" mused a Reddit contributor in 2022. "Yes. Had some great strawberry treats of course! Fun rides for the kiddies too. Excellent musical performances as always!!!"

The National Blueberry Festival always runs on the second weekend of August, which in 2025 falls on August 7-10. Admission is free and visitors will get a chance to sample some highbush blueberries, which the local county is famous. Blueberries are an important cog of the Michigan economy, and the state produces more than 100 million pounds of the powerful blue fruit every year.

Attendees can certainly enjoy blueberries, sold at markets and local farms during the festival. They can also sample them in pies sold by vendors, or watch the annual pie-eating contest, where adults and kids attempt to wolf down the dessert without using their hands. But the tiny fruit isn't the only attraction.

A parade brings revelry and joy to the heart of South Haven, while children can feel proud during a youth pageant. Carnival rides allow kids to experience thrills while adults can let off steam during a pickleball tournament. There is also a book sale, beer tent, quilt show, live music, and a 5K run. Additionally, South Haven is known as the "Catskills of the Midwest," with fine beaches, great orchards and wineries, and a fascinating maritime museum.

The city of Mendota sits in the plains southwest of Chicago, and August 7-10, 2025 it is the site of a free, large sweet corn smash hit. The Mendota Sweet Corn Festival is a fixture in the city's annual calendar, running for almost 80 years. Many visitors enjoy hot sweet corn, cooked with an old steam engine, slathered in butter and handed out for free, as they wander around the event. Such is the popularity of this get-together that 40,000 people usually attend, and more than 50 tons of corn are eaten during the four days that the festival runs.

Most of the activity takes place in the heart of town. This is where tourists can find live music, a flea market with more than 200 individual stalls, a beer garden, and a carnival with rides that will excite both adults and children. There is also a vibrant parade, and, of course, plenty of food. This is actually one of two large corn festivals in the state during the summer. The National Sweet Corn Festival, which celebrates its 81st year in 2025, takes place in Hoopeston August 28 – September 1, 2025 (Labor Day Weekend). It is also free, and features carnival rides, a car show, a parade, fun runs, demolition derbies, and lots more free sweet corn.

If the thought of cheese, cheese, and more cheese gets your heart racing (in a good way), then you won't want to miss the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. Held on August 10, 2025, and costing $81 for entry, it is a tightly choreographed event, operating for little more than four hours in the Breeding Barn of Shelburne Farms. Vermont is one of the leading generators of cheese in the U.S., with more than 60 cheese makers in the state, and about 225 different types of cheese made.

At this festival, visitors will get products right from the source, with cheese makers manning stalls to sell directly to the public. It's a setup that was a big hit with a reviewer on Yelp, who wrote in 2023, "Lots of vendors offering samples of some of the world's best cheeses, so who could object to that? In addition, there are offerings of locally produced brews, wines and booze, meats, and of course Vermont maple syrup." This is a popular event, and tickets usually sell out beforehand, so cheese lovers who are serious about attending should secure their places early.

About 37,000 people live in this town near Madison, and many of them are veterans. You might meet some of them at the annual Sweet Corn Festival, which runs August 13-17, 2025 in Sun Prairie, and is free. If it's corn you are looking for, then the festival is the right place for you. You'll find 80 tons of the vegetable, all of it grown in Wisconsin, and topped with butter and salt for hungry attendees to gobble down.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of experiences throughout the five days of festivities. The events kick off with a parade on the first night, and a block party where music and revelry take over. Carnival rides provide thrills to adults and kids in the evenings, while live music and food vendors supply more options for attendees. On the weekend, travelers can buy produce at the farmers' market, enjoy music and other entertainment on the stages, and even watch speedway races.

There is something so uplifting about a lemon. Perhaps it is the taut, bright, yellow skin, the epitome of health and zest? Or maybe it is the tart taste of the juice, a sharp shock that makes the imbiber sit up and feel alert? You can expect plenty of that positivity at the free-to-attend Lemon Festival held in Chula Vista on August 16, 2025. For starters, you will see large crates full of plump yellow lemons dotted all around the staging area. Chula Vista was once at the core of the lemon industry in the United States, and this event celebrates that heritage. That is why culinary demonstrations showcase the lemon and diversions are tied to the fruit. 

Guests can peruse the wares of vendors selling arts and crafts, tap their toes to live music, and take in the heady scents from a lemon cook-off. They can also relax over a locally-brewed tipple at the wine and beer garden, located under the canopy of healthy lemon trees (what a sense of place!). Kids will also find amusements in the kids' zone, with face painting, bouncy castles, and live puppet shows ready to keep them enthralled. Lemons appear in many guises throughout the festival, from the food and drinks (lemonade and lemon pastries, for instance) to jewelry and candles that emanate the refreshing scent of the fruit, sold in the Lemon Lane vendors' area.

The French Market Creole Tomato Festival has already passed this year, having taken place June 7-8, 2025. It is free for visitors, and with some planning, travelers will be able to attend when it returns next year, usually in early June. While you'll never be short of things to do in the Big Easy, this is one to add to the list. First and foremost, it's a great place to buy fresh, juicy Creole tomatoes bursting with sweet, acidic flavor. The event unfurls across the French Market district, anchored by the market itself, a produce center that has been around for more than two centuries.

During the festival, visitors will find boxes and pallets of the tomatoes for sale: large, plump, ripe red orbs just begging to be eaten. "I'm sure you are wondering just what sets these tomatoes apart from all others," The Traveling Locavores noted in 2023. "Because Creole tomatoes stay on the vine longer, they're fresher. And the soil in this region makes them sweeter." The festival extends beyond just the fruit. Travelers can also enjoy free dance lessons, musical performances, a wealth of activities for children, Bloody Marys made with Creole tomato juice, and even the chance to pet live alligators.

The Georgia Peach Festival is another event that has run its course in 2025, staged over consecutive weekends on June 6-7 and 14, 2025. The festival is not only split chronologically, it also trades its venues between two cities, taking place on the first two weekends in June. It is free to attend, and will take place around the same dates in 2026 for travelers that aim to plan ahead.

There is much to do at the festival, but according to Tasting Table, one highlight stands out: "As fun-packed as the Georgia Peach Festival may be, the best part has to be the gigantic trough of peach cobbler, the world's largest peach cobbler at that." While Georgia might not be the largest state grower of peaches in the U.S. (that award goes to California), the fruit is intrinsically tied to its identity. Georgia is known as the Peach State — the peach appears on some versions of the license plate – and this festival takes place within the appropriately named Peach County.

About 10,000 attendees show up to enjoy the bounty of the event, held in an area where more than half the state's peaches grow. Travelers that join the festivities can listen to live music, shop at vendor stalls, watch a lively parade, see the year's Georgia Peach Queens, and marvel at a grand fireworks display. There will be lots of peaches on offer, including in the mammoth peach cobbler. "How big," you ask? It measures 5 feet by 11 feet, is 8 inches deep, and uses 75 gallons of local peaches, 32 gallons of milk, 90 pounds of butter, and 150 pounds each of flour and sugar. Dessert lovers might swoon at the sight of it.

To find the best summer food festivals where fresh produce plays a key role in the experience, we made sure to be strict in our selection process. We started by looking at sites like the official U.S.A. tourism site for summer food festivals around the country. We discounted events that only serve cooked food like Taste of Chicago that might be mouth-watering summer food destination but don't showcase fresh regional produce. We also included reviews of the events when possible to give visitors a sense of what they can look forward to — and to whet their appetites for all the delicious produce that awaits.