Taking it to the Streets: Eat Real Festival, August 28-30, Oakland

This weekend, Jack London Square on Oakland’s waterfront will be abuzz with street food vendors and Bay Area food lovers. If there’s a way to get your favorite food on wheels, chances are it will be at the Eat Real Festival. In addition to the requisite taco trucks, prepare yourself for mobile you-name-it: chowder, soul food, falafel, pizza, Korean BBQ, American BBQ, pie, crème brûléé, and Gobs. (What are they? The only way to find out is to go. Well, and the internet, but what’s the fun in that?)

The goal of the festival is to showcase locally made food that is affordable, healthy, and sustainably sourced, while bringing together eaters with the people making the food. And, of course, it will be delicious! The festival is free and the “Street Eats” are all $5 or less.

Once you’ve had a bite to eat, there will be lots more to see and do. Visit the farmer’s market for fresh produce. Stop by the Eat Real Street Stage to hear from local musicians, writers, and food activists. Learn from Bay Area chefs as they do cooking demonstrations. Watch a butchery contest on Saturday at 7 pm as two teams compete to see who can butcher a quarter steer fastest. Or stick around until 8 pm on Friday and Saturday nights, then unroll a blanket on the lawn for an outdoor food film festival.

For those willing to go further afield, there is a tour of GhostTown Farm on Saturday, which includes workshops on raising goats and on the best way to kill and butcher a chicken. On Sunday, a tour of Blue Bottle Coffee’s new Oakland roastery leaves from the Eat Real Information booth at 10 am.

Whether this is your first semester at Berkeley or your ninth, the Eat Real Festival promises to be an inexpensive and tasty way to become (re)acquainted with the vibrant food culture in the Bay Area.