As winter approaches, locals of the town featured below start looking forward to one thing…and we’re not talking about Christmas. Every year, Mendocino hosts an epic crab festival in which visitors attempt to consume as much as this delicious shellfish as they can muster, prepared in about every way you can imagine. It’s absolute heaven for a crab lover. The festival is just a couple months away so you’ll want to start planning a trip to this lovely community soon. Keep reading to see all that this amazing food festival has to offer.
Every year as winter rolls around, Mendocino locals start counting down the days to the annual Crab, Wine, and Beer Festival. This will be the festival's 20th year and it's bound to be bigger and better than ever.
The festival was created as a way to celebrate Mendocino County's wonderful relationship with the sea's bountiful harvest. As the festival kicks off, the entire county welcomes both visitors and locals alike to join in on the delicious celebration.
Mendocino's Crab and Wine Days was rated as one of "America's Top 10 Seafood and Wine Festivals" by Coastal Living Magazine and it's easy to see why. This event is truly a crab lover's dream come true. There's a LOT of crab to consume, and not nearly enough time (or room in your stomach) to enjoy it all. But you can try.
The festival usually takes place during the last two weeks of January. During this time you can devour all-you-can-eat crab feeds, winemaker's dinners, wine competitions, crab cruises, cooking classes, and so much more. If you've been thinking about planning a coastal getaway, this would be the perfect event to plan around.
There are several events that you'll definitely want to make sure you don't miss. One of them is the Cioppino Dinner at Pentecost Hall in Fort Bragg. Giant pots brimming with Cioppino is served family-style with bread, salad, and dessert. Oh, and plenty of napkins!
There will also be a Crab Cake Cook-Off and Wine Tasting Competition in which regional chefs craft thousands of delicious crab cakes for your sampling pleasure. Can you think of a better way to spend an afternoon than by sampling cakes while sipping on local wine? We didn't think so.
The festival is simply bustling with unique activities and events from beginning to end. If the thought of endless crab makes you drool, then you'll definitely want to look into attending this unique festival. It'll take place from January 18 through January 27 so start planning soon. For more information, check out the website here
