Tickets recently went on sale for yet another food and wine festival. This one is the first Palm Desert Art of Food & Wine Festival which will take place November 9 - 12, 2006 in Palm Desert, California (a lovely time of the year to be in that area). The Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa, the City of Palm Desert and Southern Wine and Spirits are hosting the four-day festival art, food, and wine. The event includes the dedication of the 2007/08 El Paseo Invitational Sculpture Exhibition, "Wining on the Golf Course", featuring wine, spirits, and culinary delights for sampling throughout the 18-holes. Other events include guided art tours, fashion shows, and plenty of tastings. A weekend pass costs $650 and the winemaker dinners are already starting to sell out.

We write about plenty of wine and food festivals but how about an event just for the cocktail. Tales of the Cocktail runs July 19-23 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans and centers around the mixed drink. There are seminars, discussions, dinner pairings, bartending lessons and plenty of cocktail parties.   Carson Kressley, star of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," NPR's Kitchen Sisters and chefs Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Samuelsson and Suvir Saran of New York  are among the presenters.  The winner of the Tales of the Cocktail competition for this year has also been announced. Judges chose from 19 recipes using Bacardi Superior Rum, selecting Michael Brewer's drink which includes rum, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, cilantro and avocado. The Drink in History package includes access to all seminars, cocktail events, the bartender's bash and a private mixology seminar with Marvin Allen of the Carousel Bar. This package sells for $275 and rooms at the Hotel Monteleone are selling for $88 per night during the event.