The American Cheese Society announced its 35th annual cheese conference and competition, July 28. The event is in a new host city each year and the 2018 pick is Pittsburgh. A Festival of Cheese is hosted simultaneously for the public and travelers in the area can expect thousands of cheeses for sampling, alongside specialty foods and high-end specialty cheeses at steep discounts.

The American Cheese Society is a non-profit organization that represents artisan, farmstead and specialty cheesemakers, as well as specialty cheese retailers. With a focus on education and communication, the society held its first conference in 1983, with the competition and festival beginning in conjunction in 1985. The competition grew from 89 entries to more than 2,000 from nearly 300 brands. In addition to industry attendees, about 2,000 public attendees are expected at the festival.

“We have about 2,000 cheeses that are out for sampling and tasting … and those that are winners are indicated as such. Around the room, we have a lot of purveyors of specialty foods that go with cheese, so crackers, charcuterie, sometimes beer or wine samples, jams, chocolates, anything that goes with cheese …” described Nora Weiser, executive director, American Cheese Society. “It’s a fun festival atmosphere. It is the mother of all cheese festivals. I’ve never seen so much cheese. At the same time, we have a sale of the cheese, so people can grab cheese on their way out and get a very steep discount on some of these specialty cheeses and also find products that might not be available in their region. The proceeds from that go to the American Cheese Education Foundation, which supports scholarships, resources and education for cheesemakers.”

In addition to cheese from the Americas, a special emphasis is placed on regional culinary items within the host city and surrounding area.

“It is always fun to see people at the festival experiencing cheeses they’ve never even seen before or heard of before … Producers in the United States are so creative that every year there are new cheeses that I have never tried, so I always like discovering those and testing them out,” added Weiser. She explained that, as a general trend, the festival now includes more creatively flavored cheeses (with one of her favorites being gouda with the addition of fenugreek, an on-the-rise ingredient in the industry), as well as sheep’s milk cheese.

There are two ways for members of the public to attend the event. Hundreds of volunteers are required to help with the judging and festival. Volunteers receive free entry and can apply online. Otherwise, festival tickets are available for $65 on the society’s website.