A funny thing happened on the way to dinner....

People often want to lighten up their diets and mix some fun with their food. After all, much of what we eat is squishy and squashy, ideal food-fight ammunition, and usually pretty colourful too. Go to this blog for some great suggestions and read on, below, for some of the best.

Menton Lemon Festival

Menton's 83rd Lemon Festival took place from February to March this year, but it is so popular, you can be sure it will be on again in 2017.

It's in France, so of course it is really called La Fête du Citron® (Lemon Festival)and attracts more than 160,000 visitors every year. Just imagine - designs up to 10 metres tall, incredible decorations, and floats requiring over 140 tonnes of oranges and lemons. For three weeks, the Jardins Biovès (Biovès Gardens) and the streets are given over to these citrus giants.

With processions of floats, gardens of lights and the exhibition of giant designs, thousands come to marvel at this fantasy world, making it  the second most important event on the Riviera, after Nice Carnival, and just ahead of the Monaco Formula 1. More than 300 professionals work on the project and a staggering 145 tons of citrus fruits are used.

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Olney Pancake Race

It's a tradition dating from 1445AD. Every year, on Shrove Tuesday the ladies of Olney, Buckinghamshire compete in the world famous Olney Pancake Race.  The locals compete every year in  friendly competition against the women of Liberal, Kansas, USA, and the 2016 race, the 67th, was held on Tuesday 9th February.

The winner this year was Olney resident, Lianne Fisher, who set a new course record. Here she finishes her race by knocking on the local church door.

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The Waikiki SPAM JAM®

The Waikiki SPAM JAM® is a street festival celebrating the people of Hawaii’s love for SPAM®, a canned meat from Hormel Foods. In Hawaii, you will find SPAM® at all grocery and convenience stores, many restaurants and in most homes.

This street festival is great for all ages, as the event includes Hawaii’s top restaurants, two stages with free entertainment, and a variety of Hawaiian retailers. This is also a special event that benefits the Hawaii Foodbank, the largest non-profit organisation in Hawaii that feeds the needy.

See more pictures here.....

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Monkey Buffet Festival 

You have to love a country that cares for its native animals. Meddlesome monkeys are not always welcome but one day a year in Lopburi, Thailand, they are cordially invited to lunch. The Monkey Buffet Festival north of Bangkok is held for the benefit of the monkeys. Four thousand kilograms of fruits, vegetables, cakes, and candies is set down in front of temples on tables, in pyramid-shaped piles, or just on a simple mat for the delight of the 3000 monkeys living in the area.

Monkeys are fond of a game too, so there are plenty of activities - music and dances with young people dressed like monkeys in monkey costumes and monkey masks, and there are monkey sculptures everywhere. The festival was begun in 1989 by a local businessman in order to boost tourism in the Lopburi province. Since then thousands of visitors come every year to see the hordes of monkeys gorging on a bounty of food.

The temples where the festival is held were built in the 10th century by the Khmer dynasty with a similar architecture from Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. Now, though, they are definitely monkey territory.

Do be careful though: these monkeys are used to humans and they won't hesitate a second to climb on people and "borrow" your valuables, or any extra food, for an undefined period of time! Like, forever.