Three food events you should know about, including a cheese festival called Oozefest

Before you even begin to think about the holidays, here are three food events you should know about. Maybe just mark your calendars now.

Oozefest: The brilliant minds at Foodbeast (an Orange County-based food website) have put together a cheese festival appropriately named Oozefest. Happening Oct. 15 and 16 in downtown Santa Ana, the festival will be a two-day celebration of all things cheese. In other words, if you really want to, you can have a slice of spaghetti and meatball pizza in one hand and a grilled cheese in the other. There will also be plenty of beer. If you want to eat every single thing in front of you, you can buy an all-you-can-eat VIP ticket for $50. If you just want to pick and choose your cheesy items, tickets are $5 to get in, then you can buy items as you go. A map of the event and ticket information can be found at www.oozefestival.com.

Eastside food festival: A celebration of Eastside eats is happening Sunday at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake. Participating vendors include Little Beast, El Condor, Momed, Challah Hub, Creme Caramel and Wood. The event will feature demonstrations with chef Ray Garcia of Broken Spanish and Steve Samson of Sotto, and a discussion on cannabis-infused edibles with Lord Jones of Cannabis Edibles. Alvin Cailan (Eggslut) and Nakul and Arjun Mahendro (Badmaash) will also be there recording their Super Amazing Restaurant Show podcast. General admission tickets are $65 if purchased in advance or $75 at the door. VIP tickets are $95 if purchased in advance or $105 at the door. More information can be found at www.eastsidefoodfest.com.

Greek festival: The 18^th annual L.A. Greek Festival will take place Oct. 7-9 at the Saint Sophia Cathedral on Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles. The event will feature Greek food, dancing, live music and appearances by actors Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez. Admission for everyone is free on Oct. 7 and free for children age 12 and under during the rest of the weekend. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors on Saturday and Sunday. Proceeds will benefit the Saint Sophia Cathedral’s philanthropic efforts. More information is available www.lagreekfest.com.

If you order your pizza with extra cheese, follow me on Twitter & Instagram @Jenn_Harris_

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