Texans love their queso, but the fine art of making and enjoying cheese of all varieties is the focus this weekend at the Hilton Austin. The American Cheese Society is hosting its annual conference, culminating in Saturday night's Festival of Cheese.

An epicurean bonanza, the Festival features samples of more than 1,100 cheeses from more than 30 states and Canada.

"The Festival of Cheese is the best opportunity of the year for chefs, retailers, journalists and cheese enthusiasts to experience what America's skilled cheesemakers are up to," says conference co-chair Cathy Strange, global cheese buyer for Whole Foods Market. "It's a great venue for trend spotting."

The Festival is open to the public. Click here for ticket information. Gourmet bargains abound at Sunday's cheese sale from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Salon B of the Hilton. All proceeds from the sale benefit the ACS Scholarship Fund.

The Cheese Society's annual conference is a gathering of cheesemakers academicians, marketers, distributors, food writers and retailers from the U.S., Canada and Europe-celebrates the widespread enthusiasm for American specialty cheese.

More than 700 cheesemakers, academicians, food writers and retailers attended this year's conference, participating in seminars on cheesemaking and maturing to pairing cheese with just the right chocolate.

Tineke and Colin Dennison of Evansdale Cheese

Colin Dennison of Evansdale Cheese travelled all the way from the South Island of New Zealand to participate.

"It's the people, the contacts we make, the information we can gather and share with other cheesemakers here in America. We find Americans are really, really friendly people."

Dennison says Evansdale produces only 40 tons of cheese each year -- a small amount by American standards but significant for an artisan. He is focused on producing a "cheese of character" by "doing as little as possible to interfere with nature and with more interest in preserving the flavour of the elements within the milk." Evansdale is sold through direct marketing on the Internet and in farmers markets around New Zealand. He encourages the curious to treat their taste buds to a trip to a local farmers market.

"The farmers market is where you meet the grower or the producer one on one, listen to the stories around their product -- the passion of the maker, the grower, whether he's growing vegetables or making cheese -- why they do it. They're working for themselves and love that individuality which you get from doing your own thing," explains Dennison.

The conference included a competition of more than 1,300 entries, and 314 ribbons were awarded.

Rogue Creamery in Central Point, OR was named "Best of Show" for its Rogue River Blue in Friday night's judging and competition. Other noteworthy winners from Friday's awards ceremony include second place winner Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk. Third place was a tie between Carr Valley Cheese's Cave Aged Mellage and Consider Bardwell Farm's Rupert. For complete judging and competition results, visit www.cheesesociety.org.