Street food and pop-up bars to become regular fixture at Canterbury’s night racing series

Street food and pop-up bars will line Canterbury Park Racecourse this Friday – and for many Fridays to come – after a match made in foodie heaven.

Rees Birk from Long John's Hot dogs, organiser Alex Maniatis, Francesca Cavallari with gelato from Dolce Bacio, organiser Krissy Spanos and Paul Angeloski with Spiro from Hawesbury Pony Express. Picture: Ian Svegovic

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Street food and pop-up bars will line Canterbury Park Racecourse this Friday – and for many Fridays to come – after a match made in foodie heaven.

The Canterbury Foodies and Farmers’ Market is partnering with the Australian Turf Club and will be a regular fixture of the summer night racing series.

But as the ATC’s Matthew Sharman explains, it’s not just for the punters.

“We want to bring the community back to the racecourse,” Mr Sharman said.

“We normally get between 2000 and 3000 people at the races, but with the markets we’re anticipating between 5000 and 6000.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen numbers like that at Canterbury Racecourse.”

The summer racing will launch this Friday and nine meets will be held at the track under the stars from October to February, each one with a feature race.

Around 30 stallholders from the markets held each weekend at Canterbury, Peakhurst and Ramsgate will be serving up cuisines from every continent from 5pm.

Racegoers can chow down on everything from angus beef sliders to Spanish tapas and then wash it all down with $5 beer, wine and champagne.

With free entry and oodles of free kids’ entertainment – including petting zoos, face painting and a jumping castle – the evening races are set to be a family affair.

The first starting gate will open at 6.15pm, with the last horses hurtling down the straight at 9.15pm.

Details: organic foodies.com.au