EVENTS

Sample Food Festival Returns This Spring For A Special 10th Anniversary Celebration

WORDS: Leigh McGrane PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

Sample Food Festival, Northern NSW’s premier food event, is returning to the Bangalow Showground on Saturday 3rd September 2022 after postponements in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions. The 10th Anniversary edition will celebrate the resilient Northern Rivers community and feature a selection of the region’s best restaurants, breweries, distilleries and market stalls showcasing local artisans and producers.

For the first time, Sample Food Festival will be offering pre-sale tickets to the event. Limited capacity picnic experiences will also be on offer for groups of up to six and include festival entry and a reserved picnic spot in the main food precinct on a Wandering Folk picnic rug. There will be extra room around the festival site for attendees to bring their own picnic rug too.

This year’s special guest lineup includes Australia’s number one vegan chef Shannon Martinez, best-selling cookbook author Julia Ostro and Northern Rivers’ own Magdalena Roze.

Charismatic Chef and best-selling cookbook author Shannon Martinez has played a huge role in redefining vegan food and has been cooking in kitchens for the past 22 years in Melbourne. She is the owner of Australia’s two most prolific plant-based businesses, the recently awarded hatted, Smith & Daughters and Smith & Deli. Her latest influence has been with the OVOLO group of companies as head curator and menu design for the celebrated, Lona Misa. Earlier this year Shannon launched a new vegan hub in Melbourne joining Smith & Daughters and Smith & Deli, along with a boutique supermarket, wine bar and production kitchen. Condé Nast Traveler described Shannon’s new venture as “one of the most enjoyable dining experiences in Melbourne and arguably one of the coolest vegan restaurants in the world.”

Since the release of her first cookbook Ostro in 2017, Melbourne based Julia Busuttil Nishimura has gained a legion of fans who adore her generous, uncomplicated, seasonal and family friendly food. Julia’s cooking is influenced by her Maltese heritage and Japanese family, the distinctive ebb and flow of Melbourne’s seasons, and by her time spent living in Tuscany, where she learned the joys of the Italian kitchen. She is a regular contributor to ABC, Good Food, Good Weekend Magazine and The Design Files. Julia’s third book, Around the Table; Delicious food for every day is set for release later this month.

Magdalena Roze is an award-winning journalist, meteorologist, food writer, cookbook author, wildlife ambassador and food product innovator. Passionate about nourishing food and cooking, she released her cookbook Happy and Whole, based on her popular food and lifestyle website. In 2020, Magdalena garnered the attention of the country’s best chefs and food media for her cult food product “Oomite”, a premium, real ingredient umami and tasty mite spread. More recently Magdalena and her business partner Katie Graham collaborated with Australia’s favourite artisan butter maker Pepe Saya, to create their first retail product, a limited edition “Oomite Butter.”

 

Nick Pearce, founder of Blackboard Coffee and recipe creator for the popular Instagram @recipearce, has also been announced as part of Sample Food Festival’s workshop series. Nick, a passionate advocate for sustainable hunting, will teach participants how to prepare a wild deer with Fair Game Wild Venison. The workshop will be followed by a live cooking demonstration.

Event Director Rose Taylor said of the festivals return in 2022 “We are so thrilled to be back! There has never been more to celebrate and a better time to support our local food bowl. The Northern Rivers is made up of the most incredible, passionate and resilient small business owners and creatives and we are thrilled to showcase them this Spring.”

Sample Food Festival 2022 attendees can look forward to a taste of Byron Bay and The Northern Rivers with $5 and $10 tasting plates showcasing the menus from some of the region’s finest restaurants including; Harvest Newrybar, No Bones, Forest Byron Bay and Loft Byron Bay. Artisan desserts from Natural Ice Cream Australia will also be on offer as well as palate cleansers from Stone and Wood Brewery, local boutique distilleries and The Cellar wine bar. Live music and children’s activities will be announced closer to the event, alongside unique workshops and demonstrations.

Sample Food Festival 2022

 Date: Saturday 3 September, 2022

Time: 8am – 4pm

Location: Bangalow Showground, 1 Market Street, Bangalow 2479

Cost: Pre-purchased tickets are $5 per Adult + BF (child – 16 years and under free)

Picnic Package $80 + BF includes entry for up to six people, a reserved picnic spot in the main food precinct and Wandering Folk picnic rug hire with limited umbrella hire also available (for session time only)

For information on how to purchase festival tickets, further announcements, workshops and updates visit www.samplefoodevents.com and @samplefoodevents