Feasts for eyes and taste buds

There’s no better time than summer — when fruit and flora are abundant — to celebrate what grows. Enjoy the season’s bounty at these food and flower festivals.

Washington

Seattle’s Ballard SeafoodFest means you can feast on Scandinavian seafood sandwiches, Hawaiian garlic shrimp and alder-woodsmoked salmon. You’ll also find entertainment at a beer garden, arts and crafts booths and live music. Dates, cost, info: July 13-15. Admission is free. seafood fest.org

Colorado

During the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, register online for individual events to create your own experience. You can focus on flower hikes and walks (starting at $30), landscape photography and artwork (starting at $75), culinary classes ($40 and up) or a combination of each. Date, cost, info: July 16 but events continue through August. See costs above. lat.ms/crestedbuttefest

California

Celebrate pungency at its finest at the three-day Gilroy Garlic Festival, which turns 40 this year. Sample egg rolls, ice cream and calamari laced with garlic, among other dishes, and watch junior and professional chefs compete on the cook-off stage. Dates, cost, info: July 27-29.

Tickets $10-$20. gilroygarlic festival.com

Washington

The Sequim Lavender Festival is a weekend for the senses — and a dream for someone whose ideal color palette is purple, purple and purple. Smell lavender in the nearby farms, eat it in ice cream, and take it home in bouquets, toiletries, cooking ingredients and even clothing for pets. Dates, cost, info: July 20-22. Admission is free. lavender festival.com

California

The Long Beach Crawfish Festival feels so much like New Orleans that some Louisiana natives attend every year to reunite with friends, according to a comment on the event’s website. Besides crawfish (and there’s a lot of it), the weekend promises beignets, gumbo, karaoke, line dancing, “bayou bars” and more. Dates, cost, info: July 27-29.

Tickets $5-$73. lat.ms/long beachcrawfish