The parking and campus can be a bit overwhelming, but the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA is always worth the minor hassle, especially since they show some food love. This year's Culinary Stage on Saturday, April 25 features a farmers' market cooking demo at 11 a.m. with inveterate market-crawlers JoAnn Cianciulli (read more about her L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook below) and Amelia Saltsman; author Jeff Henderson at 12:30 p.m.; Jamie Purviance is showing tricks from Weber's Way to Grill at 2; and Katie Lee Joel performs at 3:30. Then Evan Kleiman kindly grills Russ Parsons about more food matters at 4 p.m. at the L.A. Times Pavilion.

On Sunday, April 26, Food Dudes Vinny and Jon from Animal do their thing on the stage at 11 a.m.; Curtis Stone is up at 12:30 p.m.; Bon Appetit's Barbara Fairchild steps from behind the editorial desk to do a cooking demo at 2, after which she'll interview food media darling Giada De Laurentiis at 3:30.

But inquiring minds want to know: as Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar gets feted on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary, will Mr. Carle please elaborate on the protagonist's salami, cupcake and pickle preferences?

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