IT’S GOING TO BEE A HONEY OF A FESTIVAL
What’s the Buzz on the Weekend of Bees?
Honey captures the essence of a place as few other foods can. Like wine, a batch of honey is influenced by the countless tiny contributions of soil, flora, micro-climate, and sunshine. But in this case, there is no master winemaker curating the blend. Instead, we rely on the humble honey bee to telegraph the terroir of a locale through the flavor of the honey.
On Saturday, May 6th, The California Honey Festival celebrates the tiny tastemakers and their beautiful amber product with a day-long food festival in Woodland, CA. Long a quiet ‘honey-hub’ of Northern California, millions of dollars of pollination services flow through Woodland each year. Celebrating the sweet product in a town crucial to the tasty trade is only natural and the day-long festival will take over Woodland’s picturesque and historic downtown Main Street. Just 10 minutes from Davis and a short hop from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolises, the California Honey Festival is co-hosted with the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute at UC Davis.
Amina Harris of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination center describes the impact of this event: “The pollination services of honey bees is so important- one out of every three bites of food is because of bees. These creatures and their beekeepers deserve a dedicated festival!”
With five stages of live entertainment, the California Honey Festival presents a culinary stage with live cooking demonstrations, a dedicated Busy Bee Kids Zone with hands on activities, a beer garden, a Pollinator Park, and opportunities to taste honeys from all over the world.
What about humanity’s oldest known alcohol made from honey? You will find nine different flavors of mead featured at the dedicated ‘Mead Speakeasy’ embedded in a secret location at the festival. Join the email list on the event website at californiahoneyfestival.com to get more information and the password to the speakeasy.
National speakers, chefs, artists, musicians and more will converge on the California Honey Festival to create a marvelous interactive festival experience.
The Culinary Stage will feature nationally known cookbook author Marie Simmons, author of bestselling cookbook: ‘Taste of Honey’.
The Busy Bee Kids Zone will offer hands-on kid’s activities in partnership with the Planet Bee Foundation, a Marin County non-profit.
The Pollinator Park & Garden Stage will showcase the latest in pollinator and water-wise gardening from the Häagen-Dazs demonstration garden at UC Davis.
At the Honey Lab, festival-goers can take a dive into the hive and explore what it’s like to be a bee. They can also taste their way around the world in honey samples.
For the beginning beekeeper, the dedicated Beekeeper Stage features National Honey Board CEO Margaret Lombard. The Main Stage will play live music all day including a lively set by Joe Craven and the Sometimers, brazillian based band Boca do Rio and the City of Trees Brass Band.
Crooners The Gold Souls and Jared Johnson can be found at the Mead Speakeasy… but you’ll have to find it first and know the passcode to get in.
A wide variety of vendors offering honey specialties, delicious food, arts, crafts and more await festival goers. The free family friendly festival is the ‘place to bee’ on Saturday May 6th. Open from 10am-5pm.
For the dedicated bee lover, they can easily turn it into a full ‘Weekend of Bees’ starting with the festival Opening Night Reception on Friday, May 5th. Entitled the ‘V.I.Bee’, this event is the pre-show party the night before welcoming speakers, sponsors, and supporters of the California Honey Festival. Art Car Apis Inlusio will be making an appearance at the V.I.Bee reception before rocking out at the Festival the next day. Tickets available to the V.I.Bee at: vibeecaliforniahoneyfestival.eventbrite.com. After the festival on Saturday, the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute at UC Davis will be offering a ‘Bee Symposium’ for the avid beekeeper on Sunday May 7th. This research driven event shares the latest findings on their theme: “Keeping Bees Healthy”. Visit their website for more information: honey.ucdavis. edu/events/2017-bee-symposium
From Friday evening May 5th to Sunday May 7th, the ‘Weekend of Bees’ promises to be a sweet time with something for everyone. The California Honey Festival on Saturday May 6th is a singular achievement honoring the hardest working member of our food system: the honey bee. With honey as the inspiration, how could it be anything but a sweet time.