Being June Dairy Month and all, my thoughts are naturally on cheese. Well okay, my thoughts are always on cheese. But this week, I’ve been concentrating on setting up the Second Annual Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival, coming up in November.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: November is five months away. But I can’t help it. I’m super excited and have to share my news.
So as you may recall last year, 700 tickets were sold out in just three weeks to a crazed crowd of cheese enthusiasts and dairy buyers from around the country. Thanks to all of you and the support you showed for the event, I’ve decided to expand the festival to a three-day hoopla this year. So boys and girls, prepare to put these dates on your calendar now:
November 5, 6, 7 – at the Monona Terrace in downtown Madison. Whoo-hoo! Cue the cymbals.
This year, more than 1,200 tickets will be available to a wide array of events, including two different creamery and dairy farm tours, seven private cheesemaker dinners, eight tasting seminars, an evening Meet the Cheesemaker Gala with 35 cheesemakers, and a new Sunday Artisan Marketplace with 60 vendors.
Here are the details:
Friday Tours: Choose between:
A) Take a behind-the-scenes morning cheesemaking tour of Chalet Cheese Cooperative, enjoy lunch at the legendary Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern in downtown Monroe, and then embark on an afternoon tour of the award-winning Emmi-Roth Kase cheese plant. You’ll end with an amazing Fondue Tasting in Roth Kase’s culinary center. Start your diet now to prepare for this tour. Limited to 20 people. Tickets: $55.
B) Visit Sassy Cow Creamery, a farmstead dairy plant near Columbus and enjoy a personal behind-the-scenes tour of this milk bottling and cheese plant. Taste cheese curds warm and squeaky, right out of the vat. Enjoy a farmhouse lunch and outdoor tour of the Baerwolf Dairy Farm, with an afternoon pasture walk and up close and personal visit with a herd of dairy cows christened with names like Marlie & Blossom. Limited to 15 people. Tickets: $55.
Friday Dine Around: Experience a culinary sensation at one of seven participating Madison Originals restaurants. Each chef will partner with a Wisconsin cheesemaker and host a one-of-a-kind three-course dinner. You’ll join the featured cheesemaker at a private table for 12. Tickets: $75.
Saturday Morning Farmer’s Market: Join a small group of 4-5 people for a personalized walking tour of the nation’s largest producer-driven Farmer’s Market with personal introductions to more than six cheesemakers. Lunch at Fromagination included. Tickets: $35.
Saturday Afternoon Seminars: Choose from a stunning line-up of eight seminars. Enjoy wine, beer, rum, chocolate & cheese pairings. Learn the art of building the perfect cheese plate. Discover a new era of blue cheeses. Meet the women who are making some of the best farmstead cheeses today, and introduce yourself to the next generation of Wisconsin cheesemakers. You’ll be a cheese geek by the end of the day. All seminars including cheese tastings. Tickets range from $25 – $40 per seminar.
Saturday Night Meet the Cheesemaker Gala
Reception: This is the highlight of the whole weekend. You’ll shake hands and talk shop with 35 Wisconsin rock star cheesemakers and sample 150 original cheeses. This event will again be limited to 300 tickets to allow all attendees 1:1 time with cheesemakers. Tickets: $28.
Sunday Artisan Marketplace: New this year! We’ll showcase 60 of the state’s finest artisan cheesemakers, gourmet and specialty food companies, and artists in a farmer’s market setting. All attendees will receive a free insulated cooler bag to keep your cheese purchases cold on the way home. Tickets: $12.
All events will require advance tickets, to go on sale in September. Because this festival is sponsored by Wisconsin Cheese Originals, tickets will go on sale to members of Wisconsin Cheese Originals one week before the event, with remaining tickets on sale to the public afterward. Fear not: if you want advance tickets, just join. Membership to Wisconsin Cheese Originals is only $35 a year and you get loads of stuff – including exclusive invitations to events like a
June 20 Wisconsin Cheesemaker Dinner or an August 7 Cheesemaking Tour at Hidden Springs Creamery. Check out other
membership perks here.
A special shout-out to the folks who’ve really stepped up this year and are helping financially sponsor the festival. Kudos to: Klondike Cheese, World Import Distributors, BelGioioso Cheese, Emmi-Roth Kase USA, Fromagination, Dairy Business Innovation Center, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Hook’s Cheese, Planning Options, Uplands Cheese and Widmer’s Cheese Cellars. You guys rock.
I am SO looking forward to gleefully entering my annual cheese coma with all of you this November. Feel free to contact me with questions.
Being June Dairy Month and all, my thoughts are naturally on cheese. Well okay, my thoughts are always on cheese. But this week, I’ve been concentrating on setting up the Second Annual Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival, coming up in November. 
io sono di un'altra parte della terra , una terra ricca di formaggi,
ciao Andrea
Hi Jeanne,
I just wanted everyone to know what the Wisconsin Dairy processing industry really stands for — the destruction of family farms, and the denial of consumer choice in organic sustainably produced whole foods.
Below is a list of every company and organization that urged governor Doyle to veto the recent raw milk bill. Funny that these corporations think they know better than the thousands and thousands of consumers, and generations of family dairy farmers, who have been consuming raw milk for years without problems.
Alsteen Dairy
Baker Cheese Factory Inc
Banker's Scenic-View Farm
Baudhuin's Grandview Dairy
Belgioioso Cheese Inc
Brickstead Dairy
Burnett Dairy Cooperative
Cedar Valley Cheese Inc
Central Sands Dairv
Chapman Farms
CheeseReporter.com
Clover Hill Dairy
Cooperative Network
Cooperative Network Association
Cottonwood Dairy
Crave Brothers Farm
Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese
Dairy Business Association
Dairy Dreams
Decatur Dairy Inc
Doerfer Bros., Inc
Dupont Cheese Inc
Edelweiss Creamery
Edelweiss Creamery-Plant
Endres Berryridge Farms
Fetzer Farms
Grand View Dairy
Grande Cheese Company
Great Lakes Cheese
Greendale Dairy LLC
Hallet Dairy Farm
Hillsprairie Dairy
Holsum Dairies
Jon-De Farm
K&D Dairy
Kutz Dairy
Kylecrest Holsteins LLC
LaGrander's Hillside Dairy, Inc
Lake Breeze Dairy
Larson Acres
Levzow Dairy
Majestic View Dairy
Maple leaf Cheese
Mastas Gallery Foods, Inc
MEISTER CHEESE COMPANY
Milk Source, LLC
Milk Source, LLC
O'Harrow's tnc
Pagel's Ponderosa
Park Farm
Quantum Dairy
Saputo Cheese USA inc.
Sargento
Seymour Dairy Prod., Inc.
Shiloh Dairy
Soaring Eagle Dairy
Strutz Farm
SunRay Dairy
Tauchen Harmony Valley
Taylor Cheese Corp.
Trega
Trinity Holsteins, LLC
Wayside Dairy
Weiland Dairy
Wis Dairy State Cheese Co
Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards
Wisconsin Cheese Malters Association
Wisconsin Dairy Products Association
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation
Wisconsin Grocers Association
Wisconsin Medical Society
Wisconsin Public Health Association
Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association