By Pilar Guzman

If you’re a jaded urbanite accustomed to strawberries in December from the corner market, you might find it hard to imagine that an entire town would shut down to celebrate the harvest of figs or a regional wine grape. But one way to tap into a region’s culture, its collective agrarian subconscious, is to plan trips according to seasonal food festivals. Here are some highlights from around the world.

Fall
Oktoberfest, Germany.
On the second-to-last Saturday in September, the Lord Mayor of Munich kicks off the notorious beer bonanza by shouting "It’s tapped!" marking the first of five million liters to be consumed over the 16 days of the festival. In addition to the requisite busty barmaids wielding 10 brews at a time, the carnival bustles with rides, food stalls smoking with grilled sausage, and a dozen beer tents, each with its own entertainment. On opening morning, Oktoberfest brewers and barkeepers parade in horse-drawn carriages. After the first day of drinking, pilgrims are entertained by the procession of floats and festooned oxen from all over Bavaria, regional and international bands, and folk dancers.

American Royal Barbecue Contest, Missouri, U.S.A.
Despite playful names like Spice Grills and Seven Basted Bubbas, the 300 entrants to the world’s biggest barbecue contest are deadly serious. With $62,000 in cash and prizes on the line, the smoky Kansas City event in October attracts some 50,000 onlookers who come for the sport, the exquisite ’cue samples, and the adjoining BBQ expo.

Vegetarian Festival, Thailand.
In addition to heaps of meatless offerings, the annual Vegetarian Festival, hosted in mid-October by the Chinese community of Phuket, is a five-day marathon of Chinese opera performances, fire-walking, knife-blade climbing, and other masochistic rituals. The island’s ethnic Chinese go on a nine-day soul-purification diet. Participants believe that it’s only then that their clean bodies are ripe for visitation by the "nine spirits" that endow them with powers to withstand faith-testing skewers, knives, swords, axes, and hot coals.

Winter
Inkwala (Festival of the First Fruits), Mbabane, Swaziland.
Tired of funny hats, annoying noisemakers, and dreadful hangovers? Try celebrating the New Year Swazi-style: gathering branches from the Lusekwane shrub, communally slaughtering an ox, and burning the king's bed clothes. Incwala encourages unity to seek the blessing of ancestors, sanctify the kingship, and commence the harvest season with one heck of a good time. The festival is divided into two major celebrations--Little Incwala, preceding the new moon, and Big Incwala, beginning at the full moon. Specific dates are decided by tribal astronomers just before the celebration begins, but the party generally begins in the last weeks of the year.

Pongal, India.
As India’s biggest harvest festival, Pongal marks the withdrawal of the monsoons as well as the reaping of the harvest. Celebrations are spread over three days in mid-January, beginning with Bhogi Pongal, a day for the family. The second day, Surya Pongal, is dedicated to the worship of Surya, the Sun God, who is offered boiled milk and sweet jaggery. Friends greet each other asking, "Is it boiled?" The right answer: "Yes, it is." The final day, Mattu Pongal, is for worship of cattle, which are bathed and their horns polished, painted in bright colors, and decorated with garlands of flowers around their necks. The festival’s namesake, pongal, a sweet preparation made from rice that is an offering to the gods, is then shared with cattle and birds.

Féte du Citron (Lemon Festival), Menton, France.
A festival for connoisseurs devoted to those tasty Menton lemons. The warmth and sunlight of the Riviera provides ideal growing conditions for these citrus wonders year round, but the locals celebrate in late February leading up to the primary harvest in March and April. And with all those lemons in Menton, you can’t expect people to put all of them to use in the kitchen. Locals with an appreciation for the arts seem to have adopted the attitude that when life hands you lemons, you make--what else?--lemon art. Nearly 130 tons of lemons and oranges and thousands of flowers are used to create thematic murals and sculptures.

Spring
Easter, Greece.
Easter in Greece falls the Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox--minutes before herds of Teva-wearing Aussies drink up all the beer. From the dark empty streets on Easter eve you can see candlelight from the tiny windows of packed, whitewashed churches. If you linger conspicuously enough after mass, chances are good that you will be invited into someone’s home to break the Lenten fast with traditional holiday dishes like spanaképitta (spinach pie), tsouréki (sweet Greek Easter bread), and red-dyed hard boiled eggs. It’s customary for participants to tap their red-dyed egg against someone else’s to see whose is the last to crack. The bearer of the most resilient egg is guaranteed one year of good luck. Festivities continue on Sunday with roasted lamb souvléki (skewered chicken or beef), wine, and dancing in the streets.

Galungan, Bali, Indonesia.
In honor of Galungan, an annual celebration of the triumph of virtue (dharma) over evil (adharma), the Balinese beckon their ancestral spirits for a brief family visit. The success of this important festival, held in April, depends how well the living entice and entertain the dead with food, dance, and festive garb. Staked in front of every house are offerings attached to huge bamboo poles, including coconut leaves, sheaves of rice, brightly colored flowers, cakes, fruits, sugarcane, betel leaves, and beans.

Vidalia Festival, Georgia, U.S.A.
Sweet enough to eat like an apple, the Vidalia onion has gotten its proper annual dues since it was discovered back in 1931. Cooking classes, cook-offs, and onion-eating contests dominate at this fest in April, though there’s also a rodeo and street dancing to serve as a reprieve from institutionalized halitosis.

Summer
Gilroy Garlic Festival, California, U.S.A.
After having read about a garlic festival in Arleux, France, a hamlet that had anointed itself the "Garlic Capital of the World," Gilroy festival founder Rudy Melone set out to prove that the title in fact belonged to his own small northern California town. And he did just that: Each July, the weekend-long fest of garlic-encrusted, -infused, and -marinated edibles, supplemented by arts and crafts and live music, attracts about 125,000 pilgrims each year.

Crop Over, Barbados.
In honor of the tallgrass that has sustained the local economy for centuries, Barbadians celebrate the end of the sugarcane harvest with this so-called "jump-up"--a street carnival in late July filled with dancing, calypso music, and parades. Literally the dance version of festivals, locals carry the party out for several weeks.

Preuvenemint-Maastricht, Netherlands.
Some 200,000 people wash down their eats with 50,000 liters of beer each year as they make their way through this huge international food-tasting festival in late August. Don’t miss such local Limburg region specialties as rabbit plum stew and vlaai, a sweet, savory flan-like dish of rice and fruit.

Pilar Guzman often writes about food, wine, and travel for Metropolis and other print and online publications.