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Coinciding with increased interest in artisanal cheese and local products, cheese festivals are popping up in various areas of the country.

"In future years, people traveling to cheese events will have a hard time choosing where to go," says Christine Hyatt, American Cheese Society president.

In July, I once again attended the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival at Shelburne Farms. The third annual festival featured more than 40 Vermont cheesemakers (plus a few from Massachusetts and Connecticut), 20 Vermont wineries and breweries, and 15 artisan food producers. The sold-out event also included three tasting seminars, a cooking show and a cheesemaking demo.

The cheese festival included other gourmet products, such as Vermont Country Grillstone. Owner Marsha Hemm shows off her company's Vermont-quarried lavastone, which can be used straight on the grill

Cheese festivals are the opportunity to meet the people behind the cheese and discover new varieties. Pictured is Ben Fleishman, the cheesemaker at Thistle Hill Farm. The certified organic farm, owned by John and Janine Putnam, produces Tarantaise, a farmstead, raw cow's milk, Alpine-style cheese.

For cheese fans that missed the festival, it's not too late to sample some of Vermont's finest. Robert Bachofen, owner of Cheese Traders and Wine Sellers, can help. In conjunction with the event, the cheese and wine shop in Burlington, Vt., is offering the Best of the Fest, a selection of Vermont cheeses. It is available as a four- or six-cheese sampler and can be ordered for one-time delivery or as a cheese-of-the-month-type subscription. Each sampler contains at least one cow's, goat's and sheep's milk cheese. The four-cheese sampler is $49, while the six-cheese sampler is $69, both with free shipping.

Regional Festivals
Here's a list of other cheese festivals that are on our radar:

The Wedge
www.oregoncheeseguild.org
Oct. 8 in Portland, Ore.
Organized by the Oregon Cheese Guild, The Wedge Cheese Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Green Dragon Pub. The whole street will be closed. Participating cheesemakers from the Northwest will include Fraga Farm Goat Cheese, Rivers Edge Chevre, Rogue Creamery, Tillamook Cheese, Tumalo Farms and Willamette Valley Cheese Co.

Southern Artisan Cheese Festival
www.facebook.com/SouthernCheeseFest
Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Nashville, Tenn.
This festival will make its debut Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Organized by Kathleen Cotter, owner of the The Bloomy Rind, and Tim Gaddis, cheeesmonger at Star Provisions in Atlanta, the event will feature cheesemakers from Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

Wisconsin Cheese Originals
www.wicheesefest.com
Nov. 4 and 5 in Madison, Wis.
Now in its third year, this annual festival, sponsored by Wisconsin Cheese Originals, celebrates the state's growing number of dairy artisans and original cheeses. Attendees can meet cheesemakers at more than a dozen different events.

Colorado Cheese Festival
www.cocheesefest.com
Nov. 5 and 6 in Aurora, Colo.
Tickets go on sale Sept. 1 for the third annual Colorado Cheese Festival, to be held at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds. The 2010 event presented cheesemakers from Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah and Washington, plus educational sessions and a Grilled Cheese Challenge.