Everyone that knows me knows I love to eat and try new foods. That should explain to you why a festival in Des Moines this weekend is one of my favorites. It’s the World Food Festival! The street festival is held in the East Village and includes 30 locally-owned vendors with food of all ethnicities. All dishes are $5 or less and every booth has at least one $1 taste item. Every year I go with my husband, my sister and other friends and we pass the plates around to eat as many new things as possible. This year I’ve got my eye on trying the Indian ‘mango paradise,’ Mexican pulled pork and some Bosnian items I’ve never heard of. YUMMMM!!!!
Despite the name, the festival isn’t JUST about food – there are lots of chances to see various cultural performances and hear live music, visit vendors, buy world crafts, check out nonprofit groups and buy some international beer or wine! It’s free to attend and beings at 11 a.m. on Friday and runs through 5 p.m. Sunday.
The fest is held in conjunction with the World Food Prize annual symposium every year. (World Food Prize is a very prestigious international award recognizing folks from around the world who are working toward fighting hunger. It stems from Dr. Norman E. Borlaug‘s vision.) Also included in this year’s events is a free public forum on Oct. 15, 6:30 p.m. at the State Historical Building with 2008 World Food Prize Laureates Bob Dole & George McGovern to discuss the effort to fight hunger around the world. (No RSVP required) I know that at some part during next week’s activities, representatives from DMU’s Global Health dept. will have a booth to share info about our programs and what our students are doing around the world.
Photo from Flickr
