Dishing Up Italian Cuisine in Reno

Harvest time in Reno can only mean one thing – the Eldorado Great Italian Festival is near. In 2011 this annual Festival celebrates 30 years of food, culture, music and traditions from Italy on Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9.  

One of the most anticipated events of the year, the main feature of the Festival is the authentic homemade Italian cuisine. Menus consist of both traditional Italian dishes and Italian favorites with contemporary flair. This is also the chance for Italian families from across the West Coast to enter the highly competitive Great Italian Festival Sauce Cookoff! Hailing from Lombardia, Puglia, Sicily and so many more, each family has a “secret recipe” for sauce that guests can sample for themselves. Pasta bowls are available for sauce-samplers each afternoon, but careful, they go fast!

Free live entertainment adds to the fresh air and Italian faire, with authentic Italian favorites on two huge stages. Take part in traditional Italian activities like the Grape Stomp, where guests actually get into a barrel of grapes and compete against others to find the master of grape-mashing.  Play Bocce Ball on the lawn or browse through the Italian-inspired arts and crafts booths to find a souvenir. Children’s games and face painting are also available. 

The fun continues inside the Eldorado with the Famous Italian Buffet, served nightly at The Buffet on the mezzanine level beginning at 4pm. 

Visit www.eldoradoreno.com for more information.

For more information about top events in Nevada take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Nevada.

Fall Arts Festivals Coupled With Old Florida Charm

The second annual Festival sARTée (sar-tay) 2011, running concurrently with the Ringling International Arts Festival 2011 (RIAF), delivers a vibrant lineup of spectacular local, national and international arts and cultural acts to the Bradenton and Sarasota areas in October 2011.  

Rounding out the area's impressive fall arts season is Anna Maria Island's fifth annual ArtsHOP cultural weekend, November 11-13. 

Festival sARTée is a 16-day festival held from October 8 to 23, featuring more than 50 theater, opera, cultural, visual arts, film and dance events. Highlights include "The Sound of Music" performances at the award-winning Manatee Players in Bradenton, October 8 and 9; ArtSlam 2011, a juried public outdoor art competition in Downtown Bradenton, October 15; and the Enviro-Art Competition Dinner at Ortygia Ristorante in the Village of the Arts, where attendees decide the results of a five-month long natural/recycled art competition on October 21. 

Presented by festival organizers the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Ringling International Arts Festival 2011 is in its third year, and will be held at the Ringling Center for the Arts in Sarasota. Held from October 11 to 16, this festival features contemporary and innovative dance, musical and theatrical works by established and emerging artists, including headlining acts from Europe, and North and South America.  

Running through November 13, Anna Maria Island Cultural Connection's fifth annual arts and cultural weekend, ArtsHOP, kicks off November 11 with an Island-Wide Gallery Walk featuring local island-style art, live demonstrations and hands-on experiences.  

Located between Sarasota and Tampa Bay on Florida's southwest coast, Anna Maria Island & Longboat Key, and their coastal companions, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch, are treasured for their authentic Old Florida charm, breath-taking scenery, funky dining and shopping districts, and miles of sugar-white sands. Visit www.AMILBK.com for more information.   

For more information about top events in Florida take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Florida.