Let me walk you through how I tackled this South American food festival project last year. Didn’t plan much at first – just grabbed my notebook and hopped online, thinking I’d wrap it up fast. Boy was I wrong.
The Reality Check Phase
Started googling “top food festivals South America” like anyone would. First shock? Found twenty-seven different events across ten countries. My coffee went cold staring at the mess. Had to get organized:
- Step one: Made a spreadsheet (old-school but works)
- Step two: Cross-referenced travel blogs with tourism board sites
- Step three: Emailed three backpacker friends who’d actually been
Biggest headache? Dates. Chile’s Fiesta de la Vendimia moved weeks earlier than previous years. Almost told you guys wrong info – caught it checking a vineyard’s IG story from 2023. Felt like detective work.
The Field Disaster (Sort Of)
Decided to test my research with a trip to Peru’s Mistura festival. Flew into Lima feeling all pro. Reality hit hard:
- Got hopelessly lost hunting down the festival grounds
- Tried alpaca anticuchos that burned my mouth for hours
- My “waterproof” notebook got soaked by a sudden downpour
Stood there dripping, scribbling smudged notes under a food stall umbrella. Totally humbling moment realizing guidebooks don’t show this messiness.
The Ugly Truth Filter
Back home, I stared at pages of chaotic impressions. Had to separate true gems from tourist traps. Called that Peruvian chef I’d met – Alejandro. His advice changed everything:
- “Skip the expensive ceviche booths – find grandmothers making tamales”
- “Arrive at 10 AM when vendors aren’t exhausted”
- “Carry small bills – many stalls hate breaking large soles”
Wound up cutting five “famous” festivals from my list after video-calling local foodies. Turns out some events went downhill after pandemic.
Final Triage
Ended up featuring just eight festivals. Why? Found contradictions everywhere:
Guidebooks raved about Brazil’s Festa Junina, but Sao Paulo pals warned portions shrank while prices doubled. Argentina’s meat festivals? Kept the small-town asados after talking to ranchers, axed the Buenos Aires ones calling them “industrialized”.
My kitchen table looked like a crime investigation for weeks – maps, half-eaten snacks from imported ingredients, scribbled contacts. Still keep Alejandro’s WhatsApp message pinned: “Better to know three festivals deeply than ten superficially”. Damn right.
