It may still be eight months away, but the Coleambally Food and Farm Festival is already looking to be bigger and better than ever.
The biennial event is in its third go around and organiser Julie Bellato expects numbers to rise on the previous years’ attendance.
“It’s grown each time we’ve held the event and I don’t think that will change this year,” she said.
“It's not just about Coly either.
“It's about farming in the Riverina about how we go about growing our food in a sustainable manner.”
There are a couple of new inclusions to the festival for 2016.
The committee have extended an opportunity for people to showcase their company or product.
They will have the chance whereby ‘farm, food, fibre stories’ will form part of a series of themed banners guiding visitors through the festival trail on Sunday at the street festival.
There are also the usual attractions.
These include the cocktail party/exhibition opening on Friday night, the fun run Saturday morning, farm tours and cellar door and or the 50 mile meal event.
She outlined the festival’s objectives for this year.
They are:
- To educate people on primary production and the importance of agriculture and water to our region and Australia.
- Provide a platform for food and fibre producers to market and showcase their product/service
- Educate people on sustainable living through the use of local produce in cooking
- Support development of a cohesive arts community with interactive displays and workshops.
The ‘guest foodie’ for this year will be food writer and chef, Rodney Dunn. He will be a feature at the degustation style meal as well as the main-street festival on Sunday.
The festival will take place on October 21-23.
Riverina businesses are invited to strut their stuff over the weekend.
