October 1 - 31, 2011 Epicure
Santa Barbara County, California
 SBepicuresb.com
Epicure.SB is 31 days of food and beverage events throughout the Santa Barbara regions. Events include:
SOL Sustainable-Organic-Local Food Festival October 1, 2011
Oreana Winery's Rocktoberfest  Oct. 1
Carr Winery's Italian Sunday  Oct. 2
Gallery hop at 1st Thursday  Oct. 6
California Avocado Festival  Oct. 7 - 9
Harbor & Seafood Festival   Oct. 8
Celebration of Harvest  Oct. 8
California Lemon Festival  Oct. 15 - 16
Santa Barbara Beer Festival  Oct. 15
Pies & Paint, a pie-tasting and painting session  Oct. 15
Solvang on Third Wednesday & Wine Walk  Oct. 19
Wildcat Lounge's 3rd Annual Mai Tai Tasting  Oct. 20
Santa Barbara Chowder Fest  Oct. 23
Pumpkin Carving Contest and Fall-Themed Wine Tasting  Oct. 28

October 1, 2011  SOL Food Festival
Santa Barbara, California
solfoodfestival.com
A one-day community-created festival to raise awareness of the Sustainable, Organic, and Local food systems of Santa Barbara County.  Live cooking demos, DIY workshops, live animals, Local beer and wine tasting garden, delicious SOL Food vendors, and much more.

October 1-2, 2011   CSD Giant Pumpkin Festival of Elk Grove
Elk Grove, California
yourcsd.com/pumpkinfestival
The 17th annual festival will be held at Elk Grove Regional Park. The 2010 winning entry weighed 1,645.5 pounds. Highlights will include weigh-off, entertainment, recipe contest and pumpkin boat race.

October 1-2, 2011  World Veg Festival Weekend
San Francisco, California
sfvs.org/wvd
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society welcomes everyone to the 12th annual event. International vegan cuisine, healthy food demos, outstanding speakers, entertainment, eco fashion show, children's corner and vegan speed dating.

October 7  -  9, 2011 Castro Valley Greek Festival
20104 Center St.
Castro Valley, California
(510) 581-8950
greekfestivalcastrovalley.org
Hours: Friday: 5  - 9 p.m., Saturday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sunday:  Noon - 7 p.m. Cost: Free Admission, Free Parking  |  Category: Greek

October 7-9, 2011   Flavors Wine & Food Festival
San Jose, California
flavors.ws
Flavors Festivals are destination events celebrating distinctive tastes in wines, spirits and culinary artistry as well as the truly unique character, culture and spirit of our host cities.

October 8, 2011 Taste of North Park
Saturday, October 8, 2011
11:00AM-4:00PM
Explore one of San Diego's most artistic neighborhoods as it welcomes local dining enthusiasts to partake in one of the best assortments of cuisine experiences in the city. This is an ideal opportunity to taste original culinary specialties along North Park's aptly name "Restaurant Row," as the area's most exclusive, up & coming chefs will be offering highlights from their kitchens and the North Park boutiques and art galleries will be offering free samplings of a variety of locally-made microbrews and ales. Participants in the beer porion of the event must be 21 or older.

Pricing: Tickets to this appetizing event are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. Contact: natalie@mcfarlanepromotions.com.

October 8-9, 2011  Riverbank Cheese & Wine Exposition 2011
Riverbank, California
riverbankcheeseandwine.org
The Riverbank Rotary Club invites you to enjoy the many offerings of more than 200 arts & crafts, antiques and food vendors. Attend this event, and let the award winning cheeses and wines tantalize your taste buds.

October 8-9, 2011  Los Banos Tomato Festival
Los Banos, California
losbanos.com
This festival is a celebration of tomatoes with Celebrity Chefs, Heritage cooking demonstrations, Tomato Alley, The Tomato Patch kids area, entertainment, ag displays that show the role of tomatoes in the local agricultural community and much more! Vendor spaces available.

October 15-16, 2011 Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival 
Half Moon Bay, CA
miramarevents.com
Includes pumpkin pancake breakfast, world's biggest pumpkin contest, pumpkin pie eating contest, pumpkin carving, and lots of food, entertainment, art and festive pumpkin themed fun.

October 29-November 5, 2011 Madera Pomegranate Festival
pomegranatefestival.com
Sponsored by the Madera Chamber of Commerce, the festival includes a fun run, art show, live musical entertainment, kids activities and lots of food, include recipe contests.