Are you craving some leaf-crunching, pumpkin pie smelling, apple pickin’ fresh fall? Stratford is less than two hours away and it’s beautiful this time of year. Get your carpool organized because this weekend is their annual Savour Stratford Culinary Festival; inspiring and delicious.

Here are nine REALLY GOOD reasons why you should get out of the city and enjoy the fresh Perth County air while savouring sumptuous treats all day long. MMMMmmmmm. Yesss.

1. Montforte Dairy is doing ice cream making tutorials on the hour! Check full schedule here. 

2. “Savour Stratford Tasting” pairs 30 chefs and local producers with the finest VQA wines and craft beers. REASON ENOUGH! 

3. Baby goats! Are you obsessed like we are? Go say hi to them and other barnyard animals in The Farm area. Baaaaa.

4. Farmers & Artisans Market will be set up along the river for lazy weekend browsing, shopping and tasting. This is done best with a latte in hand from Revel Cafe. 

5. Sake & Sashimi Tutorial! You’ve always wanted to know how to do this. Check schedule here. 

6. Fortified Wine Tasting! Toronto’s most charming sommelier and colourful storyteller, Jamie Drummond of Good Food Revolution, will host a wine tasting seminar Saturday morning. He will focus on fortified wines: Sherry, Port, Maderia and Marsala. (We’ll be there bright and early to spit and swallow!) 

7. Learn how to make preserves! Sarah Hood, author of We Sure Can, will teach you the art of pickling and preserving. C’mon…we know how much you want to decorate your shelves with pretty mason jars. 

8. Live music and BBQ delights all weekend long! How can you go wrong?

9. Ecologist and author David Tracey will show you how to make a thriving veggie garden on your small balcony. #hyperlocal

Take a drive to Stratford, grab some delicious local produce, meet the farmers, dance a jig, pet a sheep and then on your way out of town stop by Sinvention Boutique of Erotic Pleasures and buy some local leather. Or just stick to the squash and pie….up to you! So much to get excited about!

Full details on the Savour Stratford website. Follow them on Twitter @SavourStratford #savourstratford. We’ll be live tweeting from @Shedoesthecity all weekend. (Cuz sometimes we do the country.)

~ Jen McNeely