By Barbara Arnstein
Paging all book-loving cooks! It’s time for the 18th Annual Edible Book Festival at the Western New York Book Arts Center (468 Washington Street in Downtown Buffalo). On Saturday, March 28th, from 11am-2pm, local celebrity judges will judge creative edible items inspired by books, awarding prizes to those that look the most like books, are the funniest (puns are welcomed) and tastiest. The event’s slogan is “We welcome the wacky, the weird, and the yummy!” After the awards ceremony, everyone there gets to eat the entries. Plus, there are basket raffles to enter, bookmaking and printing demos to see, and a vendor corner featuring local foodie and book artists. Tickets for the event are available online at wnybookarts.org/events.
All the proceeds from the ticket sales, entry fees and basket raffles help pay for ongoing programming at the non-profit center. The festival is just one part of The International Edible Book Festival, celebrated in various countries since the year 2000. At past Buffalo festivals, the cakes entered that looked the most like books included one that looked like a copy of “Catch 22” by Joseph Heller. Another tasty creation depicted characters from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”. “A few years ago, for ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger, I created an edible catcher’s mitt, and added to it a ball of mozzarella decorated to look like a baseball”, said Jeff Sherven, President of the Western New York Arts Center.
Anyone who visits the festival and is familiar with the ever-popular, surreal children’s book, “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, will especially appreciate the opportunity to actually experience eating words, as the hero does at various times. One particularly relevant sentence, in Chapter Seven, reads: “Milo looked at the great assortment of cakes, which were being eaten almost as quickly as anyone could read them.”
To enter in the Adult or Youth (up to 12th grade) categories, fill out the form at wnybookarts.org/edible-book-festival-2026. One of the questions on it involves entry size (the choices range from “Teensy” to “Massive”), and it includes a request for a general list of ingredients, to prevent allergic reactions. Only one entry is permitted per person or group. The submission fee ($8 for non-members and $5 for members) includes two admissions. Creations requiring refrigeration must be dropped off between 10-10:45am on Saturday, March 28th but shelf-stable entries may be dropped off on the 27th between 11am-5pm. On Saturday, the judging and tallying of scores takes place from 11am-12:45, and the winners are announced at 1:15pm, along with the winners of the basket raffles. Admission is $5, but members of the Western New York Book Arts Center pay only $3. Children under five are free. To help sponsor the event, email: director@wnybookarts.org