Four food events you should know about, including a cheese festival called Oozefest

From a festival completely devoted to cheese to a star chef event in Orange County, here are four food events you should put on your calendar, now.

More cheese please: Most of us only dream of a day full of eating mac and cheese, grilled cheese and pizza. But there’s an actual festival where you can eat as many cheese-centric dishes as you want, drink all the craft beer you can safely handle, watch a grilled cheese eating competition — and see a cheese-sculpture take shape. It’s called Oozefest, and it’s happening Oct. 14 in Santa Ana. Orange County food website Foodbeast is hosting its third annual cheese festival in the southwest corner of the MainPlace Mall parking area in Santa Ana. Some of the restaurants who have signed on to prepare cheese-fueled dishes at the event include Cassell’s Hamburgers, Hopdoddy and Slapfish. The festival will take place in two parts, with sessions from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 if purchased by Sept. 30 at foodbeast.ticketspice.com/oozefest-3. 2800 N. Main St., Santa Ana, oozefestival.com.

Paella and beer: Dozens of giant pans of paella, the saffron-infused rice dish from Spain, will fill Pershing Square on Oct. 7 for the third annual Paella, Wine & Beer Festival. The event will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and include unlimited paella tastings. There will also be 50 chefs from Baja California and Spain competing for the title of best paella in Los Angeles. Tickets are $50 and include paella, and Mexican and Spanish music and dancers. 532 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, www.paellawinefest.com.

Robb Report: The Robb Report magazine and the Ment’or BKB Foundation (a nonprofit that works to support young culinary professionals) will host Robb’s annual Culinary Masters event at the Montage Laguna Beach Oct. 23-25. Chefs Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jérôme Bocuse are all scheduled to participate. The event starts with a multi-course dinner with Taittinger Champagne and a welcome reception; followed by a chef golf tournament at the Monarch Beach Golf Links the next day; an awards dinner after the tournament; and cooking demonstrations by chef William Bradley at Studio restaurant at the Montage Laguna Beach. The cost to attend is $4,900 per couple with one golfer and $5,900 per couple with two golfers along with a two-night stay at the hotel, all meals, scheduled activities, the golf tournament and round-trip transportation between John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana and the hotel. You can also buy tickets to just the dinner ($1,500 per ticket) and or the golf experience ($750 per ticket, which also includes a seat at the awards dinner following the tournament). Proceeds will benefit the Ment’or BKB Foundation. 30801 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (866) 271-6953, culinary.robbreport.com.

EastSide Food Festival: The neighborhoods of Echo Park, Highland Park and Silver Lake are hosting their fourth annual EastSide Food Festival, celebrating their local chefs and restaurants. The event will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Mack Sennett Studios. Some of the participating restaurants include Cosa Buona, Mh Zh and HomeState. There will also be a cannabis cooking demonstration and a new cannabis corner with tastings of dishes made with low-dose cannabis infusions. General admission tickets that don’t include alcohol are $60 at the door, general admission tickets are $75 at the door and VIP tickets, which include early entrance to the event, a VIP lounge and bar tickets, are $105 at the door. Access to the cannabis corner requires a $20 add-on ticket and a valid medical marijuana recommendation. 1215 Bates Ave., Los Angeles, www.eastsidefoodfestival.com.

Jenn.Harris@latimes.com

@Jenn_Harris_

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