Cheesefest+FERMENT – Step into Spring with One of Adelaide’s Favourite Food Festivals

Adelaide blitzes the rest of the country when it comes to major food events. CheeseFest+FERMENT will once again set the benchmark for food festivals.

As I write this, it’s about 5C in the Adelaide Hills and I’ve got the oven door open to help keep me warm. The winter fires are glowing, comfort food is on high rotation, and thick cheesy sauces are about as comforting as a meal gets. Don’t get me wrong – I love winter. But by this stage of it I’m almost over icy mornings, damp washing draped over any spare surface, muddy dogs and the soot and dust from wood fires that quietly settles in every corner of the house.

While I can’t immediately recall what it actually is that I wear in warmer weather, I’m keen  to shrug off the winter woolies and step into spring sunshine – and a food festival is always my preferred option for an outing! 

Longtime readers will be aware that this blog has been a firm supporter of Cheesefest since it’s inception, and yours truly had a small part in last year’s bold and innovative celebration of fermented foods, Ferment the Festival. 

As the late Anthony Bourdain said, “You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese”, but that’s just what Adelaide does every year – and we’re bloody good at it, so this year the hugely popular CheeseFest will be back, excitingly combined with FERMENT the FESTIVAL. 

Last week I attended the launch of Cheesefest+FERMENT 2018, another blockbuster of a cheese celebration. Once a gain, the event will be held in Rymill Park,  from 27-28 October where a record number of cheese producers will be joined by some of South Australia’s finest food producers presenting a diverse range of delicious fermented foods and beverages.

This year’s event will once again have a rich program of activities, including a host of free demonstrations by “Master of Fromage” Matt Preston, Adelaide favourite chef Simon Bryant, and Masterchef alumni Jessie Spiby and Callum Hann. Cooking everything from cheese toasties to lentils and kimchi, they’ll be on the demonstration stage along with, at various times, Adelaide’s Karena Armstrong from the Salopian Inn, The Fermentary’s Sharon Flynn and Level One Electra House new Chef Josh Kim.

All cooking demos are free to the public (first in best dressed) with book signing after each demonstration.

In an exciting new development, celebrating the sister-state relationship South Australia has with Brittany in France, a new French Quarter will be featured, serving delicious French cheeses, charcuterie, and of course, French Champagne.

There will be lots of fun to be had with cheese + gin, cheese + beer and, of course, cheese + wine matching sessions, cheese trivia sessions with yummy prizes, live music, delicious treats from some of Adelaide’s best restaurants – including Salopian Inn, Level One, Electra House, Lost Loaf, The Kings Head, Hereford Beefstouw and Ballaboosta, and plenty of kids activities.

Naturally, there will be loads to wash all that cheesey wonderfulness down with, including beverages from the Adelaide MINI Garage Aperol Spritz bar, and the 23^rd Street Distillery and G+T Bar. Nine South Australian brewers will be on tap at the Beer and BBQ Garden at CheeseFest+FERMENT, and natural wines will be available from the Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills.

Seriously, life is so much better with cheese, so don’t miss out!

Tickets are available online now for $25/day or $40 for a weekend pass.

Tickets at the gate will be $30.

 All images from Meaghan Coles, Now and Then Photography.

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