Food Festival

Bridgeton, N.J., is poised for its second annual one-day/one-film food festival, April 21, with a screening of Like Water for Chocolate , director Alfonso Arau's 1992 film based on the novel by Laura Esquivel. Eventgoers will be treated to a beer/wine tasting with appetizers before the film, and a full-course dinner and dessert after it, with a meal inspired by the foods in the movie story line and produced by local restaurateur-experts in Mexican cuisines. Traditional Mexican music and a cooking demonstration round out the evening at the Ashley McCormick Center, a former furniture emporium on East Commerce Street.

The tasty fare of 40 restaurants will be the main attraction at Media's 11th annual Food Festival and Crafts Fair, from noon to 5 p.m. today downtown. As in past years, the festival will have entertainment and arts and crafts to go with culinary offerings from around the world. Most of the activity will be along State Street. Festival director Bohdan Senkow said this year's event would welcome back a traveling medicine show, Dr. B. B. Bumstead's Celebrated Lenape Liquid Show.

This year's Labor Day weekend Old City street festival was a new experience for the participants, and to hear some of them tell it, not a terribly good one. For the first time in its 15-year history, the festival was held at Penn's Landing rather than along several closed-off blocks in Old City. Suffice to say, this year's festival got less than rave reviews. Festival organizers announced last month that the event would be moved, in response to complaints from neighborhood and business organizations about traffic problems and crowd behavior.

West Chester restaurateur Peter Gilmore had no choice but to give away 500 servings of glazed shrimp on a stick. Canceled last Sunday due to rain, the West Chester Restaurant Festival left some restaurant owners disappointed, others philosophical. It is rescheduled from noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday - come rain or shine. "It's a go," said Kathleen McBratnie, West Chester recreation director and organizer of the festival. Now in its 23rd year, the festival continues to draw bigger and bigger crowds to a town that can boast a dozen restaurants on just one street.

The main course was landscaping during Garden Days at Friends Hospital on Roosevelt Boulevard. There were landscaping talks, a plant clinic and a display of azaleas, roses and trees. On the side were a food festival, music and competitions. There also was an exhibit on the hospital and the treatment of mental illness during the event Saturday and yesterday.

This weekend marks the debut of ART FAIRmount Park, which began yesterday and continues today and tomorrow. Sponsored by the Daily News, it's free and features both a juried art fair and food festival in front of Memorial Hall on North Concourse Drive. Money raised from parking fees ($3) and from souvenirs and refreshments will go into a fund to restore and preserve the park and its historic houses. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow.

A weekend to please the palate is one way to describe the Bucks County Wine and Food Festival. Co-chairman Bill Morrill (left) raises a glass with no less a culinary authority than Le Bec-Fin restaurant owner-chef Georges Perrier. More than 500 people attended the event, which was Saturday and Sunday at the HollyHedge estate in Solebury Township. Two dozen restaurants and wineries provided food and drink. There were also seminars at the first-ever event. Organizers are already planning a repeat for next year.

Crowds came to sample the sweet and savory at the Taste of Philadelphia food festival Saturday, but it was the ice cream that seemed to rule the day. Under a relentless sun, the cool smudge of freshly scooped ice cream soothed the hot and sweaty who came to celebrate the Wawa Welcome America festival. The Taste of Philadelphia is one of many events in the 10-day freedom fest which includes fireworks, music, food, history, and plenty of red, white and blue. "It's a nice day. It's hot and you can't beat $7 dollars for all-you- can-eat ice cream," said Mia Allen, 30, of Northeast Philadelphia.

A food festival in University City Thursday night turned into a wet T-shirt contest and light show when an intense thunderstorm and lightning hovered over the city at about 8 p.m. Still, some of Philadelphia's hard-core foodies stuck it out and splashed their way across a parking lot on 39th and Market to try dishes and sweets from vendors participating in the Philadelphia Night Market. The event is organized by The Food Trust, a non-profit that works to ensure that all of Philadelphia's communities have access to healthy and affordable foods.

On a scorcher of a day, the hardest thing at the Taste of Philadelphia food festival was to keep the ice in ice cream. A team of 400 volunteers executed a precision plan that mapped out the move of chocolate and vanilla from refrigerated truck to standing dry-ice freezer to table to cup to outstretched hand. Yasu Nagi, of Center City, downed 15 scoops in an hour. "It's hot, but that's great for eating ice cream," said Nagi, 31. Nagi, who is originally from Japan, was among the crowds of people who came out to Penn's Landing on Saturday to sample the sweet and the savory at the annual Taste of Philadelphia food festival, part of the 10-day Wawa Welcome America!

On a scorcher of a day, the hardest thing at the Taste of Philadelphia food festival was to keep the ice in ice cream. A team of 400 volunteers executed a precision plan that mapped out the move of chocolate and vanilla from refrigerated truck to standing dry-ice freezer to table to cup to outstretched hand. Yasu Nagi, of Center City, downed 15 scoops in an hour. "It's hot, but that's great for eating ice cream," said Nagi, 31. Nagi, who is originally from Japan, was among the crowds of people who came out to Penn's Landing on Saturday to sample the sweet and the savory at the annual Taste of Philadelphia food festival, part of the 10-day Wawa Welcome America!

Crowds came to sample the sweet and savory at the Taste of Philadelphia food festival Saturday, but it was the ice cream that seemed to rule the day. Under a relentless sun, the cool smudge of freshly scooped ice cream soothed the hot and sweaty who came to celebrate the Wawa Welcome America festival. The Taste of Philadelphia is one of many events in the 10-day freedom fest which includes fireworks, music, food, history, and plenty of red, white and blue. "It's a nice day. It's hot and you can't beat $7 dollars for all-you- can-eat ice cream," said Mia Allen, 30, of Northeast Philadelphia.

Bridgeton, N.J., is poised for its second annual one-day/one-film food festival, April 21, with a screening of Like Water for Chocolate , director Alfonso Arau's 1992 film based on the novel by Laura Esquivel. Eventgoers will be treated to a beer/wine tasting with appetizers before the film, and a full-course dinner and dessert after it, with a meal inspired by the foods in the movie story line and produced by local restaurateur-experts in Mexican cuisines. Traditional Mexican music and a cooking demonstration round out the evening at the Ashley McCormick Center, a former furniture emporium on East Commerce Street.

NEW YORK - The Williamsburg section of Brooklyn has long been known as a working-class neighborhood with a gritty industrial waterfront and an ethnically diverse population ranging from Hispanic to Hasidic. Today the neighborhood's demographics include a third group that begins with H, for hipster , and along with those trendy twentysomethings wearing porkpie hats and Chuck Taylor sneakers has come a slew of unique diversions that are starting to attract tourists. But the attractions are not merely cute cafes and art galleries.

It was the quintessential Philadelphia neighborhood story. Even more delicious than the flavorful meatballs handmade by Gabe Marabella or the chicken and mango salsa served up by Lisa Wilson was the friendship that developed between the two small-business owners, who on paper were supposed to be adversaries. The story began during a Welcome America event at Penn's Landing last month. Marabella, the legendary meatball maker, found himself operating a vending stand right next to Wilson, owner of the Jamaican Jerk Hut. You know the Marabella name.

A food festival in University City Thursday night turned into a wet T-shirt contest and light show when an intense thunderstorm and lightning hovered over the city at about 8 p.m. Still, some of Philadelphia's hard-core foodies stuck it out and splashed their way across a parking lot on 39th and Market to try dishes and sweets from vendors participating in the Philadelphia Night Market. The event is organized by The Food Trust, a non-profit that works to ensure that all of Philadelphia's communities have access to healthy and affordable foods.

10 for the Road 1. Great Lakes International Film Festival. Erie, Pa. Sept. 24-25. Billed as "one of the top 100 most popular film festivals in the world," it showcases local and international films. 814-873-5069; www.greatlakesfilmfest.com . 2. Common Ground Country Fair. Unity, Maine. Sept. 24-26. Learn about sustainable living, make connections with organic farmers, eat Maine-grown organic food, and buy crafts and agricultural products. 207-568-4142; www.mofga.

Dave Barnes is living the dream. Well, maybe not at this particular moment. Thanks to a bout with food poisoning, the singer-songwriter is a day behind schedule, taking a commercial flight from his home in Nashville to play at the annual Taste of Chicago jamboree. Not a great idea to entertain at a food festival when you've got a queasy stomach. But Barnes is thrilled to be opening for Bonnie Raitt, one of his musical idols and primary influences. Finally this summer, after years of performing in any student center or small club that would have him, his music is being heard everywhere.

Monday, Sept. 24 Cancer prevention and survival cooking course , with subsequent classes taking place every other Monday through Nov. 5. Registration is free. 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Health and Wellness Center, 847 Easton Rd., Warrington. To register for the four-class series, call 215-345-2121. Hands-on Vietnamese cooking class , featuring a menu that includes fresh summer rolls with classic dipping sauce and Pho. $70. 6:30 p.m. at Madsen Design Center, 2901 Springfield Rd., Broomall.

A Guinness world record attempt, concerts, a strongman competition, parades and a food festival will be part of this year's Sunoco Welcome America Fourth of July celebration, city officials announced yesterday. The festival, which will run from June 28 to July 4, will include the traditional fireworks, Opera on the Square, parades and concerts as well as several new additions. "We're going to try to bring the Guinness world record for the largest salsa dance to America," said Barbara Grant, media consultant for Welcome America.