Ice Cream Summer Vacation

Think of your favorite summer memories: sunscreen and swimming pools, days by the beach, barbecues and a lot of sticky, delicious ice cream! If you want to capture the very best of summer, why not go to an ice cream festival and celebrate the sweet creamy treats? All through the summer, cities all over the country are holding homages to everybody's favorite ice-cold snack. Take an ice cream vacation with the kids this summer, or just set out yourself on a wild ice cream extravaganza. Best of all, most of these festivals benefit various charities, so your conscience can be just as happy as your taste buds and your tummy.

Utica Old Fashioned Ice Cream Festival

Utica, Ohio
May 23-25

What better way than a small-town festival to capture the lazy days of summer? Ice cream is the star of the show at this festival (the 35th annual!), so in addition to more delicious frozen treats than you can handle, there's an ice cream eating contest for the truly adventurous. That's not the only draw, though. The first day is marked by a huge parade through the village, followed by the crowning of the festival queen, and from there it's a truly traditional festival. Local musicians serenade the crowd with country music and classic oldies, while visitors can enjoy activities like a balloon toss, egg toss, pony rides and walking through the art fair featuring works by local artisans. There's a magic show, a car show, a motorcycle show and even a demonstration of sheep herding. The organizers behind this festival are a local service group, and they use the proceeds to help the community. You and your family will be transported back to a simpler time if you take a vacation to Utica, which is just a few miles from Newark, Ohio. Why not stay in an Indian Lake vacation home for the majority of your vacation and head out for ice cream on a day trip?

Boston Scooper Bowl

Boston, Massachusetts
June 9-11
City Hall Plaza

Organizers boast this event as the largest all-you-can-eat ice cream festival in the world, and since it dishes out ice cream provided by nine of the biggest national ice cream vendors, it's easy to believe! Originally, it was just a part of a larger dairy festival, but over the years, it became one of the largest draws, if not the largest draw, for the entire festival. From its humble beginnings to where it is now, the Scooper Bowl has provided Bostonians sweet relief from the heat for 26 years. The Boston Scooper Bowl donates its proceeds to cancer research through the Jimmy Fund, making it a good cause, too. Just make sure you bring your appetite, because they mean it when they say all-you-can-eat! Boston's a great vacation destination even in the summer, so make a full trip of it – buy a weekend pass (you can get a discount if you're coming all three days) and make the festival just a part of your trip as you look at the museums and historical landmarks that make Boston (and Boston vacation condos) so great.

Official New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival

July 18
Toms River, New Jersey
Downtown

Toms River plays host to this festival, which includes both national and local ice cream makers. The best part of the festival is that you can buy a tasting kit that entitles you to a sample at each and every vendor! Once you've sampled everything, you can then vote for your favorite flavors. The vote is set to be fair to everyone, divided into local and national categories, with one position for the ultimate people's choice favorite. If you want to try the best of the best, this is the way to go. But the ice cream is only the centerpiece of an all-out entertaining festival, because you'll find other food vendors along with family-friendly rides, games the kids will love, and on-stage entertainment including live music and other shows.

Austin Ice Cream Festival

Austin, Texas
August 15
Waterloo Park

Local vendors and national chains alike come together to share delicious goodness in the name of doing good. Head on down to the Texas capital and stroll through the vendors, which go beyond just ice cream (Like coffee and gelato? They've got you covered) to make this a thoroughly yummy experience. The first thirty people who buy tickets to the event are eligible to participate in the ice cream eating contest, so if that's the sort of thing that tickles your fancy, be sure to get there early. You can also "scream for ice cream" in another contest, or if you're the culinary sort, you can enter your own homemade ice cream to compete instead. Austin considers itself the live music capital of the world, and it's a haven for artists as well, so if you like listening to local bands or are looking for a hip, eclectic place to vacation, book an Austin vacation rental in the heart of downtown and make a weekend trip of it.

Big Scoop Ice Cream Festival

Memphis, Tennessee
September 6
Autozone Park

The Big Scoop Ice Cream Festival uses ice cream as an excuse to get together and celebrate in a notably kid-friendly way, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House. Bring your kids to the Children's Activity Land, enjoy musical performances and a magic show and participate in lots of ice cream-related contests! Kids will love face painting and other traditional festival fun, and parents can feel good about bidding in a silent auction, knowing that proceeds go to a good cause. And you won't have to get by on just ice cream, though there's plenty of that to go round; in addition to sampling ice cream and other frozen treats until you're almost bursting, you'll have the full range of normal festival foods too. Memphis is one of the best locations in the whole country for music-lovers, so it's a great destination to plan your vacation around. Rent a condo in Memphis and scope out the rest of the city when you're not downing frozen creamy goodness.