1-3 October, Speck Festival, St Magdalena, Italy
The production of speck, a juniper-flavoured ham, is a tradition going back hundreds of years in the South Tyrol. If you head to the tiny hamlet of St Magdalena in the Funes/Villnöss valley early in October, you'll find speck, speck and more speck as the annual festival gets under way. As well as a 533m table showcasing various speck from the region, there is also traditional South Tyrolean music, a farmer's market and bread-baking demonstrations by some of the area's best chefs. Don't miss the performance by Hans Mantinger – revered in the region for the virtuosity he brings to cutting speck while accompanied by an accordionist – and the contest to find the world champion speck slicer. On the final day, the Speck Queen is crowned.
Information speckfest.org
Stay The Profanterhol apartments are located on the edge of St Magdalena, with seven smartly decorated flats sleeping between two and six, and one double room, all with shared use of a sauna, reading room and grill for barbecues. Double from €35 per night, including breakfast; apartments from €55, sleeping two (0039 472 840 158; profanterhof.com).
Get there British Airways (ba.com) has flights from London Gatwick to Verona (which is 194km from St Magdalena) from £127 return.
2-3 October, Fête du Miel (Honey Festival), Roquebrune-sur-Argens, France
Every year in Provence, some 350 beekeepers produce about 2,000 tonnes of honey. Many of these producers are based in the region of Var and each October they descend upon the town of Roquebrune-sur-Argens to show off their products, many with the delicate flavours of Provence's lavender, pine, chestnut and rosemary. In between browsing the market, be sure to catch up on some of the honey-related activities including an exhibition where smoke is used to make bees sleepy, so you can see how honey is collected (the kids especially love this one).
Information arts-traditions.org
Stay A short drive from Roquebrune-sur-Argens is Hôtel La Caravelle, a charming hotel next to the Mediterranean, with just 12 rooms. Doubles from €80 per night, room only (0033 494 812 403; hotel-lacaravelle.com).
Get there Take the train from London to Nice (72km from Roquebrune-sur-Argens), via Paris, from £254 return with Rail Europe (raileurope.co.uk). Or Easyjet (easyjet.com) has flights from Gatwick, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle to Nice from £75 return.
3 October, Fête des Legumes Oubliés (Festival of Forgotten Vegetables, La Haye-de-Routot, France
Transporting visitors back in time, the Fête des Legumes Oubliés – held in the town of La Haye-de-Routot, near Rouen – has a festival each autumn dedicated to vegetables that were used in the past but have long since been forgotten. Stalls take over the town, featuring unusual varieties of squash, parsnips, squash, spinach, chervil and leek. There are free tastings, and gardeners and chefs on hand to explain how to grow and cook with them. There are also workshops for children and plenty of live music.
Information cdt-eure.fr
Stay Ranged around a tranquil courtyard, Le Vieux Carré, in Rouen's old town, has 13 bedrooms and an old-fashioned salon du thé (tearoom). Doubles from €64 per night, room only (0033 235 716 770; vieux-carre.fr).
Get there Take the Eurostar (eurostar.com) from London to Paris (146km from La Haye-de-Routot) from £114 return. Or take the ferry to Calais (253km from La Haye-de-Routot) with Sea France (seafrance.com) from £53 return.
8-9 October, Hardanger Frukt & Sider (Fruit & Cider) Festival, Hardanger, Norway
The western fjord region of Hardanger is nicknamed the "fruit garden of Norway" – it's the country's most prolific plum, pear, wild cherry and apple farming region, and is famed for its cider production. In October, the town of Øystese holds a fruit and cider festival. As well as the extensive food and drink stalls and exhibitions and lectures on production, there is a competition crowning the year's best cider producer.
Information siderfestival.no
Stay The Sandven Hotel is located on the shoreline of the Hardangerfjord, 10 minutes from Øystese. It dates back to 1857 and has 32 rooms decorated with Norwegian antiques. Doubles from £130 per night, including breakfast (0047 5655 2088; sandvenhotel.no).
Get there Scandanavian Airlines (flysas.com) has flights from London Gatwick to Bergen (80km from Øystese) from £121.
10 October, Festa della Zucca (Squash Festival), Piegaio, Italy
Some parts of Italy – Campania, Puglia, Tuscany – have a rich squash-growing tradition. Food festivals celebrating this humble fruit take place in several towns and villages throughout the harvest. One of the best can be found in Piegaio, a small village near Lucca, in the heart of Tuscany. Growers from across the region head to the village to show off their biggest and best produce. There are also stalls brimming with squash-based dishes (as well as local honey, meats and cheeses), dolls made out of the fruit on display and marble sculptures of squashes of every shape and size available to buy. Special activities are laid on, too – including air balloon trips over the valley.
Information enit.it
Stay Piccolo Hotel Puccini is located just off Lucca's central piazza of San Michele. It has 14 bedrooms, decorated with playbills from Puccini's operas (the composer grew up across the street). Doubles from €70 per night, room only (0039 058 355 421; hotelpuccini.com. Go to sapori-e-saperi.com for tailormade packages).
Get there Easyjet (easyjet.com) has flights from Gatwick, Luton and Bristol to Pisa (53km from Piegaio) from £55 return.
15-17 October, Marunada Festival, Lovran, Croatia
Blessed with a mild microclimate, the town of Lovran on Croatia's Opatija riviera is known for the abundance of sweet chestnuts, or maruni, that grow in its hinterlands. In mid-October, the town celebrates its prized harvest with a festival which begins in Lovran and moves to the neighbouring villages of Liganj and Dobre on the subsequent weekends. The town's narrow paved streets are filled with stalls offering various maruni creations – from maruni honey to ice cream – and restaurants lay on special menus, with dishes such as rump steak with maruni sauce and crêpes with maruni cream. On 16 October, Brajdice square will be the centre of attention, with brass bands and folk dancing. Sporting events are also held throughout the festival, including a bicycle race, lawn bowling tournament and race up Mount Ucka.
Information tz-lovran.hr/english/calendar.html
Stay Casa Oraj is a beautifully restored farmhouse villa, located on the slopes of Mount Ucka, 10 minutes from Lovran. It has four bedrooms, a small library, as well as its own herb garden and caves. From €49 per person per night, based on eight sharing (0038 551 294 400; lovranske-vile.com).
Get there Ryanair (ryanair.com) has flights from London Stansted to Pula (99km from Lovran) from £40 return.
16-17 October, Chestnut Festival, Elos, Crete, Greece
The hillsides surrounding the village of Elos are covered with chestnut trees and every October it devotes a weekend to its favourite nut. Small in scale, this is very much a local event, confined to Elos and its surrounding hamlets. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for with character: everyone takes to the streets to feast on sweet chestnuts roasted in charcoal braziers and chestnut sweets, to drink copious amounts of honey tsikoudia, and join in dances in traditional costume.
Information gnto.gr
Stay Velanos Number 3 is one of four cottages on a hillside near the village of Kefali, a 10-minute drive from Elos. With exposed stone walls and timbered ceilings, it sleeps up to four and is a short walk from the sea at Elafonisi. From £370 for the week commencing 12 October (0178 9297 705; freelance-holidays.co.uk).
Get there Easyjet (easyjet.com) has flights from Gatwick to Chania (55km from Elos) from £130 return.
23-24 October, Piment d'Espelette Festival, Espelette, France
The small Basque town of Espelette, in southwest France, is famous not for its quirky half-timbered Labourd houses or its protected 16th-century church, but for its deep-red, flavour-packed chilli pepper – the Piment d'Espelette. Every October, Espelette lays on a festival, which dates back to the 60s and attracts big crowds. Houses throughout the town are festooned with garlands of pepper and on the Sunday morning everyone congregates at church for mass to celebrate the Piment harvest, then a ceremony during which a new member of the guild of the Piment d'Espelette is appointed (after swallowing a pinch of Piment, they take an oath to defend the Piment to the hilt). The town then becomes a whirl of activity, with marching bands, dancing and stalls brimming with food made using, you guessed it, Piment d'Espelette.
Information pimentdespelette.com
Stay Espelette has two basic hotels, but for something more special try Hotel Arcé, an elegant family-run hotel with 22 rooms in the village of St Étienne de Baïgorry, half an hour's drive away. Doubles from €125 per night, room only (0033 559 374 014; hotel-arce.com).
Get there Ryanair (ryanair.com) has flights from Birmingham and London Stansted to Biarritz (28km from Espelette) from £70 return.
29-31 October, The Aritzo Chestnut and Walnut Festival, Sardinia, Italy
The mountain town of Aritzo, in the heart of Barbagia in Sardinia, is surrounded by chestnut and walnut groves. According to local legend, these lush forests were created in an instant by St Efisio, who then enlisted the locals in educating the rest of us about their wonderful nuts. So that's what they do – every year, during the last weekend of October, they dedicate three days to the celebration of their harvests. Roasted chestnuts and walnuts are in plentiful supply, there are stalls selling everything from walnut cake to carapigna (a lemon sorbet, for which Aritzo is also famous), and songs and dances are performed by folk groups.
Information sardegnaturismo.it
Stay La Baita, located in the centre of Aritzo, has a mix of simple rooms and apartments. Doubles are from €35 per person per night, including breakfast; apartment sleeping six €300 per night (0039 3382 484 172; labaita.org).
Get there British Airways (ba.com) has flights from Gatwick to Cagliari (185km from Aritzo) from £186 return.
13-14 November, Olive Festival, Caimari, Mallorca, Spain
Surrounded by olive trees, the village of Caimari, in the foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range, has been the centre of olive-oil production in Mallorca since Roman times. Every autumn, the village hosts a festival to celebrate its most treasured crop. The streets are lined with olive branches, and a fair takes place in the village centre selling products made with olive oil, olive wood and other local products, such as figs and almonds.
Head to the olive press in the village square on the Sunday to see a donkey work to press olives in the traditional way (by walking in a circle dragging a stone mortar).
Information mallorcaweb.com
Stay Soak up the atmosphere at Can Casetes, a family-run hotel in the centre of the village with views of the Tramuntana mountains. It has five rooms, all filled with hand-crafted furniture made by the owner. Doubles from €110 per night (0034 971 875 395; balearicdiscovery.com).
Get there Ryanair (ryanair.com) has flights from Stansted to Mallorca (40km from Caimari) from £54 return.
Full of flavour: A taste of Britain with the NT
The National Trust is hosting a variety of food events across Britain. Here are three to look out for:
19 September Food Glorious Food, Ickworth, Suffolk. Take your own recipes to share and discuss with the NT's food historian.
2-3 October Apple Festival, Trelissick Garden, Cornwall. Discover more than 300 varieties of apples, as well as cider tasting and pressing.
25 September Big Green Food Festival, Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire. Celebrate Yorkshire food and crafts, with dozens of stalls, workshops and even a vegetable catwalk.
For more information, go to foodglorious food.org.uk
