Are Wingfest and the Taste of Buffalo two of America's best food festivals? Let the voting begin.
USA Today has nominated The National Buffalo Wing Festival for a spot on the list of the country's top 10 Best Specialty Food Festivals. The Taste of Buffalo is also nominated for a spot on a USA Today list for America's Best City Food Festival.
Brody Gruel, 16, and his stepdad, Jason Rugg, bite into wings from Legend Larry’s during the National Buffalo Wing Festival on Saturday at Sahlen Field.
Libby March photos, Buffalo News
The National Buffalo Wing Festival and Taste of Buffalo could be two of the country's best food festivals, if enough people vote for them.
USA Today has nominated The National Buffalo Wing Festival for a spot on the list of the country's top 10 Best Specialty Food Festivals. The Taste of Buffalo is also nominated for a spot on a USA Today list for America's Best City Food Festival.
A Peppermint Paddy wing from Holy City Publick House in Gloucester City, N.J., outside Philadelphia, is seen Sunday.
The wing, served cold, is inspired by a candy. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News photos
Wingfest is an annual late-summer festival that corrals thousands of wing fans to downtown Buffalo for wings tossed in dozens of wacky flavors (including a recent bright green, minty Peppermint Patty wing). The Taste of Buffalo feeds a bite-sized sampling of the local restaurant fare to thousands of attendees each summer.
Whether Wingfest or the Taste of Buffalo claims the top spot on their respective lists depends on voter support.
AJ Namenye, from Side Biscuit of Ann Arbor, Mich., tosses Gucci Gang wings in a Korean-inspired sauce.
The sauce includes gochujang and house-made kimchi. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News photos
Until March 2, people can vote daily for their favorite festival. Wingfest was also nominated last year, and the festival took third place. Among Wingfest's 19 tasty competitors for a spot on the final list: Beignet Fest in New Orleans, Wisconsin's Cheese Curd Festival and the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival.
This year's Wingfest is scheduled for Aug. 29 and 30 at Sahlen Field. Expect wing competitors from across the country, unusual flavors and strange events, such as bobbing for chicken wings in a tub of blue cheese.
As Tony Weitzel, owner of Double Dub’s food trucks in Laramie, Wyo., told The News during the recent Wingfest: “You can do so much with the chicken wing.”
The Taste of Buffalo, meanwhile, is up against food festivals in cities from Seattle to Wilmington, Del. The 43rd annual Taste of Buffalo returns July 11 and 12 along Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo.