The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival starts Friday at 1 p.m. and continues through the weekend. There will be a parade, strawberry-related food, carnival rides, entertainment, and appearances from the Grand Marshal and local newswoman Christine Devine.

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http://www.irvinekoreanfestival.com/.

Did I say that there was a glut of food festivals this weekend or did I say that there was a glut of food festivals this weekend? There's The Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, which starts today and runs through Sunday at the OC Fairgrounds. Then there's the OC Greek Fest, which starts tomorrow in Anaheim. And now here's another: The Irvine Korean Cultural Festival being held at the Irvine Civic Center, Saturday, May 18th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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This weekend is turning out to be the weekend of food festivals. Yesterday we reminded you about the Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival in Costa Mesa. Starting Friday, St. John's Greek Orthodox Church, 405 N. Dale Ave. in Anaheim will, once again, celebrate its annual Greek Fest with zorba dancing, souvlaki and baklava.

A full list of of what will be sold under tents can be seen here, but you can be sure there will be pastries. And oh boy, will there be pastries. Everything from the aforementioned baklava, to diples (twisted sheets of pastry dripped in honey syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon), to revanis (sponge cake with almonds and powdered sugar), to something called Yia-Yia's cookies will ensure a rolicking, cavity-inducing good time.

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For an event that has been around 4 years, The Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival has become one of the biggest food festivals in our county, second perhaps to the OC Fair. It's appropriate then, that it is actually taking up residence at the OC Fairgrounds, where it started out years ago and where it will start again this Thursday, May 16th until Sunday the 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

That's a whole 12 hours to get dizzy watching the Whirling Dervishes, tap your feet to music, marvel at architectural displays, and meet the world's tallest man, who will make an appearance. 

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They don't seem to make food festivals like this anymore, where admission is free, and as activities, there's panning for gold, a blacksmith's forge and a chance to pet a miniature pot-bellied pig. The 17th Annual Anaheim Western BBQ is happening tomorrow at Twila Reid Park (3100 West Orange) and it offers all that I've mentioned, including BBQ, and apparently free cake.

It starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 4 p.m., plenty of time to pet those pigs and not so ironically eat the charred meat from other pigs. There's no website, just this link to the flyer shown above.

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Who has a food festival in the middle of the week? Taste of Anaheim that's who. Tonight, May 9th, the 18th Annual Taste of Anaheim will be held at Anaheim GardenWalk.

Participating will be restaurants from the GardenWalk itself, like Fire+Ice and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., but there will also be a lot, and I mean a lot of restaurants from Disney. THE RANCH, which is helmed by an ex-Napa Rose chef, will also be there.

Tickets are $35 Presale at http://tasteofanaheim365.com/tickets or $45 Door and include all food tastings but not beverages. Children under 5 are free.

It begins at 5:30 p.m. and lasts till 9: 30 p.m. There's going to be music and also a silent auction.

Here's the full list of participating restaurants.

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The Biergarten concept is taken to the next level when some of our favorite brewers and select restauranteurs descend upon TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa for an afternoon of music, artwork and drinking known as Nepenthia. For an all-inclusive ticket price (starting at $55) participants will enjoy unlimited tastes, plus parking from 3-7 p.m.

Proceeds from decor for sale will support Inspire Artistic Minds, a nonprofit dedicated to furthering he education of culinary and visual artists, children and adults alike. Who's scheduled to appear? We're glad you asked.

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La Habra Citrus Fair Facebook

La Habra, the Orange County city most of Orange County doesn't realize is an Orange County city, is doing something to tell you that it exists, goshdarnit...and that it played an important part in our county's agricultural history.

This weekend, but actually starting today, the city will host the La Habra Spring Citrus Fair. It's four days of fun and festivities that includes a Bubble Parade at 5:30 p.m. this afternoon (Thursday), and continues till Sunday with rides, stage shows, food and merchandise.

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I Love Musubi

The poke at Bear Flag Fish Company.

Back in 2011, we ate our way through aisles and aisles of fresh poke, creatively prepared by local chefs. Poke with mango sorbet, poke with habanero sauce, poke with wasabi avocado mousse, poke with soy truffle vinaigrette, spam poke, tofu poke and salmon poke. It was glorious.More »

Flickr User Varin Tsai

​This weekend the Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim will host its annual Hanamatsuri flower festival--a celebration of the birth of Buddha, with music and of course, food. And like I wrote last year and the year before that, the parking situation might test your patience, but the rest of the afternoon will put you at peace.

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