Wine and Food Festival leaves a sweet taste
The annual Wine & Food Festival from 28 – 29 September was a phenomenal success, with thousands of people enjoying the new line-up of events and activities. Although a wine festival at heart, this year’s edition included an extended spread of food vendors and food trucks, with gins, brandies, and craft beer sharing the limelight.
The venue for the festival was again the school hall and sports grounds of Curro Hermanus. New additions that proved very popular included the Wine, Sushi, Oyster & Jukebox Lounge in the wine hall, the Pop-up MCC & Cake Bar offering the most delicious Belgian waffles, crêpes, cakes and other sweet indulgences, coupled with delicious MCC labels sold by the glass, and the Sensory Play Park for children. Here the young ones were kept entertained by a petting zoo, train rides, Zorbing balls, a gaming centre, giant Jenga and other garden games, as well as interactive educational fun presented by ‘Plaasjapies’.
“The children’s play park, as well as the lounges and other seating areas that could accommodate more than 1 500 people at any one time, were filled to capacity throughout the festival,” said Ulla du Toit of Wine Village, which has hosted the festival for the past 20 years. She added that the event drew the right crowd and that the vendors were very pleased with the high sales figures.
“We haven’t processed all the figures yet but we can say that this was one of the most successful festivals ever hosted in Hermanus. People were not put off by the rain on Sunday and many returned for the second day in a row.”
Live entertainment added to the festive atmosphere and among the performers were SAMA Nominee Carol Thorns on electric cello delivering a contemporary ensemble inside a bubble at the sunset concert on Saturday, and the Betsie Beers country-folk band on Sunday afternoon. Other performers included local artist, Ryno Velvet and the Ilitha Lelanga Marimba Ensemble from Cape Town.
Several festivalgoers commented on the fact that this year’s festival was more family-friendly, that it offered a greater variety of food, wines, gins, brandies and craft beers, more seating areas to sit back and relax, more live music, and informative signs giving clear directions to the different areas and activities. Sounds like a winning recipe!
For the Love of Yummyness from Cape Town, were a big hit with their waffles.
Kai Moolman and Marie-Luise Zeitvogel from Triple Three in Stellenbosch, who often make use of Blue Bee Co’s (Kleinmond) cocktail syrup in their gintails.
TreatMe Chocolate from Stellenbosch had a variety of chocolates that were infused with things such as coffee, orange, toffee and a mix of alcohols.
Carol Thorns, the ‘Girl in the Bubble’, entertained festivalgoers with her electric cello on Saturday evening.
Six Dogs Karoo Gin was a popular choice at the festival. They have a delicate and balanced mix of twelve select gins, distilled and bottled by them at their distillery.
Melanie Lourens, Tasting Room Manager from Raka, loved interacting with the festivalgoers.
Juan Pieters, Duwayne Pietersen and Libby Pieters from Paul Cluver Wines in Elgin.
For those who were not interested in wine, gin or beer, coffee was available.
Beautiful signage made it easy to navigate the festival.
Curro was filled with seating areas and delicious food and drink stalls for the Wine and Food Festival.
Sonja and Clifford Pocock from Oudewerfskloof Olive Farm made their way from Stilbaai for the festival.
Oudewerfskloof Olive Farm from Stilbaai had beautifully packaged olives on sale in the gin tent.