World-renowned food festival Terra Madre Americas came to Sacramento the weekend of Sept. 26-28, featuring food provided by culturally diverse celebrity chefs, live music, educational panels and artisan vendors.

The event was held at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, where chefs hosted individual stands promoting and sampling a variety of cultural foods and drinks. Offerings included Italian meatballs and garlic bread, lamb stew, oysters, salt from the Philippines, Mexican coffee and other beverages. 

The international festival was hosted by Slow Food USA, a global grassroots movement and nonprofit organization. The free event was organized as an evolution of Sacramento’s famous Farm-to-Fork Festival, which was previously held at Capitol Mall.

Kris Reid, executive director of Slow Food, commented on the success of the event’s mission to provide clean food and help define Sacramento as the farm-to-fork capital. 

“It’s been very successful. The turnout’s been wonderful; the energy is amazing,” Reid said. “I think that we’re elevating our mission.” 

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The indoor exhibition featured educational panels where celebrity chefs and culinary experts led live demonstrations and discussions about food, culture and sustainability. Celebrity appearances included Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower and Sean Sherman.

University of California Master Food Preserver Program members Susan Mosbacher and Kelsie Matteucci presented two demos. One showed how to prepare a strawberry shrub mix for a tangy summer drink, while the other demo showed how to mill a kernza grain. 

“It was nice to be able to use fresh food or the bag of frozen fruit that you find at the back of your freezer,” Mosbacher said. “Because you’re just gonna soak it, so it doesn’t have to be beautiful.”

Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel was present and gave out samples of food to represent farmers and vegetables grown in Sacramento. Aasma Chaudhary Tharu, a chef at the vendor spoke on the types of foods given to sample.

“We’re sampling lamb stew, raisin red wine and veggies and salad with our heirloom cherry tomatoes and cucumbers,” Tharu said. 

The event featured a pop-up concept vendor hosted by Restaurant XO, Sacramento’s Yellow Brick Group, Vietnamese pop-up ÐÂY LÀ FLOUR and Filipino pop-up Good Love. Ingredients for the pop-up vendor were provided by different farms such as Uncle Ray’s Pumpkin Patch in West Sacramento and J&J Ramos Farms in Stockton. Byron Hughes III, a chef at the pop-up vendor described what they were selling.

“Today we’re serving a bún riêu meatball sub with a bunch of herbs and shallots and chili oil,” Hughes said. “The side dish today is a vegetable lumpia that’s made with market farmers’ market vegetables.”

A bar referred to as “the Enoteca” generated buzz, serving nearly 100 different labels of wine and cider from across the Americas. Furthermore, an experience called “Meet the Producers” allowed attendees to sample a rotating collection of wine while meeting the creators.

In addition to the indoor exhibitions, the last two days featured a lively outdoor street festival populated with artisan vendors and food trucks. Artists sold crafts and goods such as stickers, wood carvings, clay art and clothing.

The Golden 1 Live Music Stage hosted bands and artists performing sets for a packed crowd and onlooking passersby. Headliners included The War on Drugs, Spoon, Big Head Todd and The Monsters, Jade Bird and Passion Pit, who were joined by several other artists and DJs. A laidback seating area allowed for guests to eat their food while watching the performances. 

Sylvia Ikeda, a woman visiting the festival, described her experience and how the inclusion of live music inspired her to attend.

“We wanted to watch Big Head Todd and The Monsters. We sampled a bunch of coffee – the Kona coffee was the best,” Ikeda said. “We also had a cup of fruit with Tajín and chamoy on it.”

Terra Madre represented a conjunction of global and local food cultures, while simultaneously promoting visual and musical artists. 

Paula Navarrete, another attendee of the event, commented on the opportunity to see different types of agricultural products from farmers.

“I think it’s a really great venue to be able to explore all those aspects of the food industry,” Navarrete said.

Through its diverse display of culinary art and technique around the world, Terra Madre opened up Sacramento residents and travellers alike to the wonders of global food cultures.

Terra Madre Americas will return to Sacramento in 2027.