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Nearly 1,000 foodies from across the country had the opportunity to shake hands and talk shop with the current generation of Wisconsin cheesemakers at last weekend’s Third Annual Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis.

The Wisconsin Cheese Originals Festival is the only event that brings 35 Wisconsin cheesemakers and 150 of their artisan, farmstead and specialty cheeses into the same place on the same day. The festival, which grows every year, sold out again this year. Tickets to all seminars, tours and dinners, were sold out weeks in advance, with the festival’s signature event, the Meet the Cheesemaker Gala, drawing its

Cheesemakers Jeff & Vicky Simpkins from Shepherd's Ridge Creamery
near St. Croix Falls, a new farmstead sheep dairy, talking
with festival attendees Andrea and Deb Neu from Verona, Wis.

photo credit: Jerry Tyler

highest attendance yet, with more than 500 guests from as far away as California, Florida and New York flocking to meet and greet Wisconsin cheesemakers.

New this year, nearly 100 artisan, farmstead and specialty cheeses were offered for sale to the public by Metcalfe’s Market during the festival. Attendees came ready to taste and then purchased their favorite cheeses.

“Thanks to our amazing Wisconsin cheesemakers and their growing variety of innovative, original cheeses, this festival is becoming the premier destination for anyone who appreciates Wisconsin cheese,” says Jeanne Carpenter, founder and director of Wisconsin Cheese Originals, the member-based organization that hosts the annual event. “Next year, we’re looking forward to featuring even more cheesemakers and hosting more guests from across the country.”

The Fourth Annual Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival is slated for Nov. 9-10, 2012, at the Monona Terrace in Madison.

The festival was sponsored by: Klondike Cheese, Sartori, World Import Distributors, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, BelGioioso Cheese, Dairy Business Innovation Center, Emmi Roth USA, Fromagination, Organic Valley, Uplands Cheese and Wisconsin Public Radio, American Cheese Society, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Edible Madison, Fromartharie, and Meister Cheese, Hook’s Cheese, Hy-Vee Madison, Monona State Bank and Widmer’s Cheese Cellars.
 

Sartori wheels of cheese (and Master Cheesemaker Mike Matucheski's hands).

Photo credit: Jerry Tyler.