Riz Aly's dream was to be an "Indian reggae guy," but that didn't quite work out. Now his avocation is something equally unusual: chronicling the world of food-related festivals on his website, www.rizstakesandfunnelcakes.com.

Aly went to Parkway South High School, then graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a double-major in philosophy and history and a minor in political science — what he jokes was "a triad of uselessness."

He had always enjoyed cooking and had worked in restaurants starting at age 15. "I'd get up at 4 a.m. to be at work at 5 to chop a lot of lettuce," Aly remembers.

He later did pizza deliveries, and when he returned to St. Louis after college, he gravitated back to the restaurant business, taking a job at the old Bahama Breeze restaurant at Chesterfield Mall. He stayed there for 5 1/2 years, working his way up to a position as a trainer.

His passion for unusual festivals was inspired by the International Horseradish Festival held each June in Collinsville. "It made me wonder what else is out there," Aly says.

"I started seeing new and different things and going to more and more of the festivals. It's always exciting to get in a car with a very loose plan and see what happens — often, the drive itself is a rewarding experience. Many of these small towns have scenic two-lane highways along the way."

His enthusiasm for festivals was infectious: "My friends urged me to start up a site, and a year later, here we are."

Aly's favorite festival is one of the first he visited, the Strawberry Festival that's held in May in Newton, Ill., about 10 miles southwest of Effingham. Newton (or at least its 'suburb," Hunt City) is also the birthplace and burial site of singer Burl Ives.

"Every festival is a little different — some you learn about the ingredients they're highlighting, or others feature history about the town," Aly says.

"Also, festivals can even be educational at times. I learned at the Sheep Festival (held in April in Waterloo) that sheep have a recessive gene that creates black wool. Every now and then a lamb will be born with a black coat — and black wool is significantly less valuable as it cannot be dyed. Thus the term: black sheep."

As for the strangest festival he's experienced so far: "That begins and ends with the Testicle Festival in Olean, Mo. You stand in line for an hour or more for what they call the 'Nut Hut.' It's actually pretty much just a biker rally in a tiny town, but I guess now I can check testicles off my list."

Aly uses a nationwide network of friends — plus a growing Internet audience — to seek out festivals.

"Some are too far for me to get to," he says. "And a lot of the other festivals don't have a lot of Internet presence, so it's hard to find out much about them."

His main challenge, however, is finding time to attend.

"Contrary to what my writing of the site may indicate, I don't have a lot of free time — I have to create it," Aly says. By day (and often nights and weekends), he coordinates events and fund-raising for UCP (United Cerebral Palsy) Easter Seals Heartland, which provides programs and services to people with disabilities.

He still enjoys cooking, especially when he works out original recipes, such as his festivals-inspired Chicken and Funnel Cakes. And he still plays guitar and bass, although he now describes music as a hobby.

Aly hopes his website helps St. Louisans find easy and inexpensive ways to have fun.

"There's so much silliness right around here," he says. "You can find something pretty much every weekend to get out of town for a mini-vacation."