In today’s local news, the committee behind the Canberra Food Festival has released a preliminary schedule for this year’s proceedings. This marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the event, and as a result, it’s slated to be bigger and better than ever.

Whereas in the past the festival took place over two days…a Saturday and Sunday…this year’s festival will last an entire week. It’s slated to run from July 19 through July 26.

Furthermore, although Marion Park has posted previous events, the committee had to seek out a new venue in order to accommodate a much larger anticipated crowd.

The Canberra Food Festival will be held at Waterfront Park instead. This venue is much larger and can easily hold thousands of visitors. It also has many more public transit links and several nearby carparks that will be available free of charge throughout the duration of the event.

Tickets for the event will be available starting next week. In years past, festivalgoers were required to purchase a pass for the entire event, but this year, different options will be available. A single-day ticket can be purchased for ten dollars, and a three-day punch card good for any three days of the festival will be available for 25 dollars as well. The punch card can be used on any three days – it’s not required that the days are consecutive.

Lastly, for those who want to experience everything the festival has to offer, a seven-day VIP pass can be purchased for 50 dollars. This will entitle the passholder to attend all events that take place during the festival, including a special VIP opening party attended by local celebrities, business figures, and other notable individuals from our community.

As usual, the food fest will kick off with a speech by Mayor Robert Ford. As is tradition, the mayor has been asked to judge the cake competition, where local bakeries compete to see who can make the tastiest dessert. Can anyone top the creation of Ruby Red Bakery, who’ve won the title of Canberra’s Best Cake for three years running? We’ll soon find out.

Above and beyond the cake competition, over 100 local chefs from the city’s restaurants will be participating in dozens of events. Furthermore, each participating restaurant will have a tent set up where you can sample some of their finest creations, and even purchase full portions on the spot. Cash machines will be available at several locations on the park grounds, as many vendors will only accept cash.

As I mentioned, this year’s event will also feature a number of first-time events. With the city’s ever expanding array of international cuisine, the festival’s organizing committee has added individual events for over a dozen types of cuisine, including Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and a handful of others.

Winners from each category will be brought together on the final day of the event for a showdown to determine who serves the best international cuisine in town. For all of these events, visitors will be given ballots to fill out with their top choices, and the votes will be added up in order to determine the winners.

For more information about the Canberra Food Festival, including a full schedule, or to purchase tickets once they become available, please log on to www.canberraeats.com. 

Answers

1. 25th

2. July 19-26

3. Waterfront Park

4. $10

5. $25

6. $50

7. Mayor Robert Ford

8. Ruby Red Bakery

9. 100

10. Visitors