Spotlight will be on cheese at first ever "Art of the Cheese" festival this fall

MADISON ‒ World Dairy Expo is a traditional early fall celebration of dairy in Wisconsin. But this year, it will be preceded by a weekend when the focus will be on cheese. The “Art of Cheese” festival in and around Madison is being planned by Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and will be the first-ever event of its kind for them.

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin staff and board had kicked around the idea of a cheese festival for years and thought about holding the inaugural “Art of Cheese” event in 2020 . But when Covid reared its ugly head, the idea was put on hold. Now they are moving full-steam ahead on a three-day celebration of all things cheesy to be held September 29-October 1.

Rachel Kerr is Senior Director of Experiential and Brand Marketing at DFW, including spearheading “Cheeselandia” a community of people who love Wisconsin cheese and who pass the word on to others.

She explained that the dates were chosen carefully and happen to fall just before World Dairy Expo. “We had to work around scheduling of home Badger football games and this was the weekend that worked,” Kerr said. “We also wanted to have it when it was an off year for Monroe Cheese Days, another big cheese fest in the state. We hope the Art of Cheese festival can become an every-other-year event.

“It’s a great time of year to visit Wisconsin and we’ve already had a lot of great interest,” Kerr said. The Art of Cheese will focus heavily on artisan and specialty cheese because Wisconsin produces so much of it.

The emphasis will be on the $45.6 billion value of the dairy industry in Wisconsin. The state currently produces 50% of the specialty cheese in the nation, Kerr added, and there are over 600 types, styles and varieties of cheese produced in the state.

Festival targets 'food fanatics' and consumers

The festival is targeting “food fanatics” and consumers who have a platform to influence others. The food fanatics who will come to Madison for the festival are people who don’t mind traveling to another city to experience new foods and who are interested in the stories behind those foods, she said. Those who attend will be treated to an ala carte weekend, where they can choose events, tours, tastings and chef-prepared meals that interest them.

There will be 22 ticketed events including a Cheese Fair off the Square in downtown Madison. One of the side streets has been reserved for cheese vendors to offer samples and potentially sell cheese to visitors (pending the vending permit from the city.) “The idea is to get people to try more cheese and buy more cheese,” Kerr said.

Tours to explore cheesemaking and more

The event kicks off on Friday (September 29) with a choice of various excursions. One will take the visiting food fanatics to Monroe to get the Green County experience, tasting cheese at Roth Cheese and getting acquainted with Chalet Cheese, the nation’s only maker of Limburger cheese.

Visitors will then go to Seven Acre Dairy in Paoli where an old dairy plant has been converted into a boutique hotel and bistro. “It’s a great story of Wisconsin’s dairy history,” she said. Visitors will get a curated luncheon and see how butter is made at the renovated site. While in Paoli, visitors will get to visit a renowned dairy farm and learn about the Sarbacker family’s history. They will also learn from “cheese influencer” Marissa Mullen who is found on Instagram @thatcheeseplate.

A tour is also planned to Dodgeville where visitors will tour Uplands farm and creamery, known for its Pleasant Ridge Reserve, an aged Alpine style cheese which is made only in the summer when the cows are on grass. It is named for the ridge it rests on in Wisconsin’s driftless country and is a winner of many awards. Visitors on that tour will go to the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin visitor center and meet up with Luke Zahm, chef and owner of the Driftless Café and host of “Wisconsin Foodie” on Wisconsin Public Television. Kerr said the chef will serve local cheeses.

Another tour will start at the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus which gets some of its funding from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, funding that comes from the dairy checkoff. Visitors will learn about the science of cheesemaking and see the new facilities that will help the CDR take dairy research into the future. Kerr said some of those visitors – the “curd nerds” as she called them, will stay at the CDR to see cheesemaking demonstrations and have a lunch featuring local cheeses and celebrate Wisconsin’s Master Cheesemakers, Wisconsin’s unique program that elevates all of cheese making.

The other half of that group will have lunch at J. Henry and Sons Bourbon in rural Dane where cheeses will be paired with bourbon cocktails. That evening attendees will be feted at a “Cheese Ball” in the historic Garver Mill, which has been renovated into an event space. Justin Warner of the Food Network will emcee the event which will feature music and entertainment.

Calling all cheese lovers!

Kerr said this Art of Cheese festival will no doubt attract many Wisconsinites but organizers are also hoping to attract people from outside the state who are passionate about cheese. “Our social media is directed toward out-of-state cheese lovers,” she said. The nearby market of Chicago is an active place for foodies, she added, and they believe many of them will come to Madison for this cheese festival.

“We have over 1,600 tickets for sale over all of the 22 different ticketed events,” she said. “We are thinking we will get perhaps 1,000 unique attendees.” With it being a first-time event, they aren’t sure but are moving full steam ahead to make this a successful festival. “Talking to our partners there is a lot of enthusiasm and our ideas have been well-received.”

The full lineup of events will be announced in mid-June with ticket sales following in July. This advertising and public relations plan will help drive engagement and excitement leading up to the event.

On Saturday of the festival (September 30), Chef Luke Zahm will host workshops on pairing wine and cheese and do cooking demonstrations. Jeanette Hurt, author of “Drink Like a Woman” will host a workshop on pairing cheeses with various cocktails and other classes will explain how to pair different coffees and chocolate with cheese.

Another workshop will feature Liz Thorpe, a noted authority on cheese, who will talk about the art of affinage. Affinage is a French word to describe caring for cheese as it ages. Cheese influencer Marissa Mullen will do a workshop on building a cheese board to serve to guests.

“People aren’t always thinking about how many things go into the making of cheese,” Kerr said.

That evening attendees will be treated to a “cheese crawl” where organized attendees will visit three distilleries and breweries and mix and mingle with cheesemakers. Some attendees may choose to have dinner at The Harvey House, a new restaurant in downtown Madison that has been getting rave reviews and echoes the Supper Club tradition in Wisconsin. The eatery will be serving new twists on classics, using cheese, Kerr said.

“We’re hoping to work with other local restaurants that may decide to have special entrees, involving cheese – maybe a special cheeseburger – so that even people who aren’t in town for the festival can get a taste of cheese. We hope the community will get involved.”

Organizers at DFW are hoping that the many reasons to love Wisconsin cheese will be heightened at the festival and that the experiences people have at the event will turn into buying decisions. Organizers plan to bring in as many food writers and influencers as possible to magnify the impact of the festival and allow the message of cheese to reach a larger audience.

In addition to food writers they plan to bring in “VIP cheesemongers” to be part of the mix at the festival.

 “It’s a big project,” said Kerr, and everyone at DFW is working on it from their respective departments – public relations, marketing, social media and dairy company communications. “It’s all hands on deck. Everyone here is really excited about it,” Kerr added.