Taste of Summer organisers promise fewer queues, plenty of room for food festival
Kadee Splann reckons the Taste of Summer is the best opportunity of the year to catch up with mates and enjoy the Tasmanian sun. Inside the first day of the Taste.
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Kadee Splann reckons the Taste of Summer is the best opportunity of the year to catch up with mates and enjoy the Tasmanian sun.
The Hobartian was among thousands of Tasmanians to get front and centre on day one of the festival to soak up the party vibes, and reconnect with friends over a few refreshing glasses of locally made beverage.
“I really like the fun atmosphere, the music, the drinks – it’s just a really good time,” Ms Splann said.
“The Taste is always an annual thing for our group, because it’s such a great time to come together.
“Later I’m keen to try a few of the gin stalls.
“We will probably return to the Taste a few times this year, including for New Year’s Eve.”
Other members of Ms Splann’s crew appeared equally keen to get into the party spirit.
Jayden Cowen made the pilgrimage in from Geeveston on a mission to spend quality time with friends, and to track down some of the Taste’s spiciest food.
“I’ll also dabble in some gins, and there’s some craft beers I might take a bit of a dip at,” Mr Cowen said.
Running for almost 40 years the festival was officially opened by Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Saturday with a steady stream of patrons waiting to lap up the best produce the state has to offer.
It was hoped as many as 15,000 people would attend the first day of the eight day event on the Hobart waterfront.
Mr Rockliff said it was “fantastic” to again celebrate the Taste describing it as an “iconic event”.
“Visitors from interstate and around the world will come and not only experience the wonderful atmosphere of this iconic event, but also importantly, the beautiful food and produce and wine and whiskeys and all the things that make Tasmania great,” he said.
“The Taste of Summer is a showcase of our State’s best, and this year’s program recognises the breadth of what Tasmanian producers have to offer.
“We’re investing some $7.7m into this event over a number of years, and every single dollar that is invested goes into the local economy and supports our wonderful, iconic producers.”
Taste chair Jarrod Nation was upbeat about this year’s Taste which he hopes will attract 100,000 people.
“We can’t be more excited.
“We’re nearly 50 per cent up on ticket sales for this time last year so if that’s anything to by then it should be a fantastic time.
“We can’t wait to welcome people from interstate that’s a big contingent of our ticket sales, but we’d love to see the locals back.
“This is not the Taste of old. There’s plenty of room. There’s hardly any lines. It’s a family event. We’ve got a great Hobart Airport kids’ area. You can find a seat very easily.”
Mr Nation said as well as hosting the Hooroo Gurus on New Year’s Eve, the stage would host 100 local acts.
He said there were big early ticket sales from Queensland and locals also were realising it had changed.
“People can find a seat, and locals are starting to learn that it’s not the Taste of old, so I think that’s more the positive.
“We have a free flowing event. We don’t have a crush of people coming at any given time.”
Mr Nation said organisers worked all year round to make the Taste better each year.
“The planning for this event will start the moment it finishes,” he said.
“We travel a bit, we look at other events around Australia, and we make sure we observe and we listen to our patrons and this event has been shaped by the research from the last year’s event.”
The Taste has more than 75 stalls including 17 newcomers.
Mr Nation said a study into the economic impact of the Taste showed it contributed between $45m and $50m to the economy.
“So it does reverberate through the Tasmanian economy, and it’s essential for locals, it’s essential for jobs,” he said. “Lots of people are working here, lots of produce is being sold here, so the economic activity is vital and obviously, a professional study has backed that up.”
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