The Best Food Events Happening In November 2023

Below is a list of the fun, unique food festivals and eating opportunities taking place in November 2023. It's part of The Takeout's 2023 Eats Calendar, a rundown of the year's best events. To return to the calendar and check out other months, click here.

The Shrimp and Grits Festival, held November 2-3, takes place off the coast of Georgia on Jekyll Island. There'll be shrimp and grits aplenty (obviously), served from food trucks, along with an artists market and some live tunes. Jekyll Island is quite a place to hold a festival, too, as it's a gorgeous National Landmark Historic District that has to be seen to be believed. This fest has been honored twice as the "Best Festival" by the Southeast Festival and Events Association, so you know it's going to be two delicious days for the books.

The Urbanna Oyster Festival is the place to be if you love slurping back those little sea treats on the half shell (or even eating them out of a can). The festivities run November 3-4 in Urbanna, Virginia, and attendees can watch the official state competition for oyster shucking, which has been held since 1982. Wine tastings beer tastings are also available, and the festival is "pay as you go," meaning no entry tickets—just pay for what you want to do. Interestingly, the festival also aims to teach people more about those oysters they're eating; exhibits showcase information about aquaculture and preservation efforts along the Chesapeake Bay.

Think about all the ways in which peanuts have touched our lives, past and present. Baseball games, airline snacks, Reese's cups—we refuse to imagine a world without them. The National Peanut Festival is a whopping 10-day festival running from November 3-12 in Dothan, Alabama, the "heart of peanut country." Recipe contests, pageants, derby events, livestock shows, rides, and tunes will all be on offer, as will a greased pig scramble, which you might just want to sit back and watch rather than participate in.

The annual Turkey Testicle Festival (yes, you read that correctly) is held annually in the village of Huntley, Illinois, at a bar called the Parkside Pub. It's held on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving every year, November 22 this year, and is timed that way for, ahem, a testicular particular reason. The turkey gonads are served all day—deep fried, because what better way to eat them? There's music, booze, and balls. Sounds like our kind of party.

Click here to return to The Takeout's 2023 Eats Calendar.