A foodie friend forwarded this article to me from Britain's Telegraph.co.uk, the Daily Telegraph's online paper, entitled "The World's Weirdest Festivals."

Of the 17 festivals named, eight of them are food-related, including the world's largest food fight (Spain), the pigfest Pourcailhade in France, a cheese-rolling contest in Gloucestershire (UK), Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca, and some too over-21 to mention here.

Point being, perhaps our region is just a tad too tame for our own good. (Although the Punkin-Chunkin' contest in Delaware is pretty damn fun.) And many of these festivals start from strange traditions that just seem to catch on.

So put your creative hats on, foodies, and do something silly in your own back yard. Invite your friends! I'll tell you, I personally am going to be looking at the Delmarva Chicken Festival this year (June 19-2o in Queen Anne's Co.) with a whole new perspective.

Foodie Events in the region are coming fast and furious. If you thought you had an open weekend in the next month, fuhgedaboudit!

Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday (4/24-26) is the St. Michaels Food & Wine Festival. My favorite part, the chef demonstrations. Saturday morning, starting at 11:45, Roberto Donna from Galileo in D.C.kicks it off with Potato Dumplings in Gorgonzola Sauce. Ris Lacoste creates a Scallop Margarita at 1:00. Patrice Olivon of the L'Academie de Cuisine is on tap for Pan Seared Rockfish, Cucumber and Apple Soup and Rhubarb Parfait, and Cesare Lanfranconi demos fresh pasta and fresh sauce at 3:30. That's just Saturday! Get the full schedule online. Right, Jeff Buben of Vidalia at last year's fest.

Sunday 4/26, the Chestertown Taste of the Town features the likes of the Imperial Hotel's Scallop Tacos v. Brooks Taverns' Turkey Mole. Feast of Reason's Hungarian Mushroom Soup v. Luisa's Cream of Crab and more. Fun! And benefits some great causes.

May 2nd & 3rd, the Great Grapes Wine and Food Festival takes place at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds. More than 300 wines to taste and you can buy them onsite.

Tues, May 5th, that giant earthquake you'll experience will be the huge new Whole Foods Market opening in Annapolis Towne Centre. Big grand opening weekend celebration May 8th and 9th. We've been told Foodie can have a backstage look-see. Stay tuned!

The Farmers Markets are now open. May 5th is of course, Cinco de Mayo. May 10th is Mother's Day. After that, well check in, we'll have more planned. And if you want to get started chowing down today, the Chestertown V F Department chicken BBQ should be firing up any minute now.

Take a Peep! This is so totally one of our favorite times of the year! It's the posting of the Peep Show on Washington Post.com wherein creative peeple submit their Peep-based dioramas.

This year, the third annual contest, features awesome entries including "Double Peep Strike," a 'Retha homage entitled "R-E-S-PEEP-E-C-T" (and she's wearing the inaugural hat!), and "Steve Jobs presents iPeep Nano." Do yourself a favor and go visit the gallery. Yes, it mean wading through a relentless commercial. But it's worth it. Shown here from last year, "Peep Art."

Question: Are peeps just a thing here? Or are the gooey, marshmallow creatures truly an American icon? I have a friend who confessed to sticking peeps in a microwave and blowing them up. I look at her differently now.

The company that makes peeps, or PEEPS, as they say, is Just Born in Bethlehem, PA. They recently celebrated 75 years of PEEPs. And if you're truly an aficionado, visit the PEEP website.

From the unfortunate timing department: This coming week is Songkran, Thai New Year, and the Royal Embassy of Thailand is sponsoring Thai Restaurant Week (April 13 to 19) in the Md/Va/DC area to celebrate here in the U.S. For promotions and participating restaurants, even a coupon, click here. You might even win a trip to Thailand!

Problem? Um...you might just want to enjoy your Pad Thai from the comfort of your table for two here at home. See "Thailand announces state of emergency in capital." (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Checked out two restaurants on the Eastern Shore: Ava's Pizzeria and Wine Bar, and Bella Luna's new digs in Cambridge. Fun times! And great to see new spots that are fresh, yummy and affordable.

Ava's is right on Main Street in St. Michaels, and a great find. We started with their signature Wasabi Oysters — dusted in wasabi, panko encrusted and deep fried. They were mounded on greens with a soy-ginger sauce. ($10 and we had two each.) Also shared an arugula-fennel salad with goat cheese and citrus dressing, and a brick-oven baked pizza. The toppings for the pizza are priced differently; we argued lightly between ourselves and wound up with charred pepperoni, mushrooms and caramelized onions. I was going for artichokes, but I never win on that one. The pizza, perfect. Caramelized onions, terrific. Do that.

A few weeks ago, we also popped by Barbara Helish's new Bella Luna in Cambridge. If you've been to her place in Royal Oak, you might be expecting a combination restaurant and market. In Cambridge, it's all about the restaurant, with the same fresh Cucina Italia flavors. Think
Veal Chops with Wild Mushroom risotto, lasagna with homemade pasta. Shrimp, olives and oranges over fettucine. And my favorite salad, roasted nuts, blue cheese over greens with balsamic.

There are three reasons we like especially like the new Bella Luna in Cambridge. Okay, maybe more. But three anyway: First, for the guts it takes to open another restaurant in this day and age. Second, because it's Barbara. And third, because it's great seeing Cambridge become more of a culinary destination. (In addition to Miss Peggy's Fried Fish Sandwiches at Kool Ice & Seafood).

And if you go to Bella Luna, guys, somehow you've got to take a look at the mosaic in the ladies room. It was specially commissioned, and definitely worth the potential embarrassment.

Finally, one last bit of Eastern Shore news. Mitchum's Steakhouse in Trappe, MD, won "Maryland's Favorite New Restaurant" from the Restaurant Association of Maryland. Congrats to chef Chris DeLaurentiis. And chalk up more good news for Chesapeake foodies.