Taste of Summer revellers savour sunshine, food from 80 stallholders
The Taste of Summer is gearing up for a colossal day three, with the festival revealing how many tickets were sold on the festival’s first day. MEGA PHOTO GALLERY >>
Tasmania
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The Taste of Summer is gearing up for a colossal day three, with the festival revealing how many tickets were sold on the festival’s first day.
The highly anticipated festival replacing the Taste of Tasmania at PW1 has experienced sunny weather every day so far, with organisers confirming more than 7000 tickets were sold on day one on Tuesday.
Organiser Jarrod Nation said on Tuesday he was anticipating upwards of 5000 people for the opening session.
Capacity has been capped at 5000 for Covid-safety, with visitors able to join a virtual queue by scanning a QR code on site so they can kick back at a nearby bar or restaurant while they wait for their turn.
Thursday’s Taste opens back up at midday and will run until 11pm.
For a list of stalls, kids’ events and live entertainment visit tasteofsummer.com.au
PHOTO GALLERY: All the action from the Taste of Summer so far
Revellers at Hobart’s Taste of Summer were again bathed in sunshine on Wednesday, as locals and tourists sampled some of Tasmania’s finest food and beverages.
For Melbourne couple Rod Tuttle and Anna Hitchcock, their one-week visit to Tasmania for a wedding was a welcome relief after spending much of the year in lockdown.
“It’s great, very relaxed,’’ Mr Tuttle said.
“This is our first trip out of the state since lockdown.”
The couple, who were enjoying some beers from Hobart’s T-Bone Brewing Co, was also set to explore Shipstern Bluff, Port Arthur and Bruny Island during their trip.
Georjie Stegeman and partner Kurt Grimes sampled some traditional Ethiopian food and a sparkling espresso martini.
For Brisbane’s Sue Smith, the Taste of Summer was a great family outing and a chance to spend time with her 19-month-old grandson Oscar.
Taste of Summer - December 28
MAINLANDERS and locals alike soaked up the sunshine and savoured the flavours of Tasmania on Tuesday.
Pastel-coloured dinghies dotted the ceiling inside PW1 and live music filled the Salamanca area for the Taste of Summer’s opening day.
Sydneysiders Bee Stevenson and Keeris Aguirre tucked into Nepalese dumplings and planned to sample oysters and gin.
“I work in a bakery and one of my customers told me about the Taste of Summer festival and I was just going for a walk and saw it all set up,” Ms Stevenson said.
Mr Aguirre was impressed with the festival, having previously come to Dark Mofo’s Winter Feast.
“Here in Tassie I find it’s very easy to get the fresh quality and the diverse quality,” he said.
The pair felt safe despite the threat of Covid, saying the crowds had been respectful.
Bellerive couple Ian and Kate Jones relaxed on bean bags with their children.
“We know there’s probably going to be cases but we’re doing the right thing with masks and sanitising and distancing,” Mrs Jones said.
Mr Jones said he would have been disappointed if the event didn’t go ahead.
Food and drink curator Jo Cook said there were 80 stallholders at the Taste.
“It’s got a beautiful sunny vibe, lots of sparkling wine, which Tasmania is so famous for,” she said.
Seafood on offer included southern rock lobster, Bruny Island oysters, char-grilled abalone, salmon, Bass Strait scallops and East Coast squid.
The 2021 event has added a twist to the typical Taste menu.
“I asked (stallholders) to design a dish that was unique to this festival so you can’t get it anywhere else,” Ms Cook said.
“People will hopefully come down here, try something new, and then these dishes will become a cult dish for that business.”
Taste of Summer predicted to reach capacity
December 28, 2021
IT started as a small Tassie tonic start-up and evolved into a soda and spirits powerhouse – and now Spirited and Southern Ocean Soda is ready to quench thirsty crowds at the Taste of Summer.
The regenerated Taste of Tasmania-style waterfront event opened its gates at PW1 and Salamanca on Tuesday morning ready for a bumper first day.
Dina Gregson said Spirited and Southern Ocean Soda would “showcase the beauty of Tasmanian products” without artificial flavour and colouring.
Ms Gregson’s said the stall would deliver a new range of flavours and drinks, including a “very sessionable” sparkling espresso martini, vodka mixed with lemon, lime and pepperberry, a rum and smoked cola concoction, and alcohol-free drinks such as leatherwood and sea salt soda.
“If there’s a flow-on cash effect that’s excellent, but as long as it covers its costs and we get engaged with the community to introduce our product to them, then it will be a venture well undertaken,” she said.
“We chose to create a small business in Tasmania after having lived overseas for many years and having come back to Tassie, simply because it’s the perfect microcosm.”
The drinks will be sold in single-use cans to be Covid-safe.
Festival Tempura Mushrooms has returned after fears the popular stall could disappear completely under new ownership from Marcus Walmsley, his wife and two sons.
“It’s traditional tempura mushrooms that you’ve always seen for 30-odd years at the Taste, but this year we’ve put a bit of a twist to it,” he said.
“We’re adding some exotic mushrooms into our mix.”
The range has included oyster mushrooms, white and brown varieties, shiitake and lion’s mane.
Mr Walmsley said the stall expected to sell about one tonne of fungi this year, compared to as much as two tonnes in previous years.
“It’s our main event of the year,” he said.
To keep patrons safe, the stall has been built to have two serving counters and a spacious collection area to break up the usually long queues.
Taste of Summer organiser Jarrod Nation expected “at least 5000” guests would visit the festival on its opening day.
If the site hits capacity, patrons can join a virtual queue through scanning a QR code at the venue and waiting for space to become available.
“You can make your way to one of the many great bars and cafes around at Salamanca or indeed at Parliament House Lawns and soak up the sun (while you wait),” Mr Nation said.
He said the event was 97 per cent outdoors, including stalls and live music, with 200 seats available inside at the “grab and go” area.
Premier Peter Gutwein reminded locals to have fun while doing the right thing.
He estimated the festival would “generate millions of dollars” and “bring this waterfront back to life after almost two years”.
Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the Disability Advisory Committee had consulted on the festival layout, with stallholder counters lowered for better accessibility.
“It’s a very inclusive event and I think it’ll be fantastic for everyone to come down and have a look,” she said.
“It’s just lovely to have this event back on, it’s fantastic weather for the coming days.”
The Taste will run each day from noon-11pm, except for Friday – when the event will send off 2021 in style with two sessions from 12-4pm and 6pm-1.30am – and the final day on January 3, which will run from noon-8pm.
Tickets for most days will cost $16.25 for adults with under-12s free.
New Year’s Eve tickets will cost $296.05 (platinum), $112.45 (premium) or $71.65 for general admission.
Tickets and information tasteofsummer.com.au
YOUR GUIDE TO THE FESTIVAL
WHERE & WHEN:
Taste of Summer at Princes Wharf No. 1, Hobart
Tuesday: noon-11pm
Wednesday: noon-11pm
Thursday: noon-11pm
Friday: noon-4pm, NYE party 6pm-1.30am
Saturday: noon-11pm
Sunday: noon-11pm
January 3: noon-8pm
TICKETS:
New Year’s Eve: General admission, $71.65; Premium, $112.45; Platinum, $296.05
All other days: Adults $16.25, Ages 12 and under free
Visit tasteofsummer.com.au/tickets/
PATRON LIMITS:
When the venue is at full capacity of 5000 people, patrons will be admitted on a one in, one out basis. A virtual queue is available to check into on arrival and patrons will be notified when there is space to come into the venue.
FOOD STALLHOLDERS:
A’Petit (Bistro & Bar)
Annapurna Indian Cuisine
Banh Mi N’ Grill
Bendita Brazilian Bites
Best Wurst
Bombay on the Beach
Bruny Island Cheese Co
Bruny Island Oysters Tasmania
Canopy Ice cream
Cantina Latina
Danphe Nepalese
Deep End Farm
Ethiopian Restaurant
Flavours of Lebanon in Tasmania
Fried & Loaded
Hejo’s Restaurant
House of Fudge
Indonesian Kitchen – Yellow Rice
Indonesian Martabak
Kaki Lima Indonesian Street Food
Kiltro Street Food
Krumbies Ice cream Cookie Sandwiches
Kung Fu Canteen
Lost Pippin & Lamb Baa
Luna Chan
Miam French Crepes
Mount Gnomom Farm
Mr Jianbing
Munchies Street Food
Noodle House
Odds & Ends Co
Panelas
Pizzirani’s Bambino
Sea Urchin Dumplings
Silver Spoon Icecream
Sirocco South
Smallest Pancakes
Souv Road
Taco Taco
Tasmanian Gourmet Seafoods
Tempura Festival Mushrooms
The Candy Van
Tummy Thai
Wattlebanks
Woofee Cake Lab
BEVERAGE STALLHOLDERS:
7K Distillery
Barringwood
Bream Creek Vineyard
Bruny Island Beer
Haddow & Dineen Wines
Captain Bligh’s Brewstillery
Charles Rueben Estate
Clover Hill Wines
Derwent Estate Wines
Devils Brewery Tasmania
Domaine Dawnelle
Forty Spotted Gin
Frank’s Cider
Hobart Brewing Co
Hobart Whisky
Lawrenny Estate Distillery
McHenry Distillery
Nocton Vineyard
Osare X Currawong
Plenty Cider
Punch & Ladle
Shambles Brewery
Simple
Southern Ocean Soda
T-Bone Brewing Co
Tasmanian Juice Press
Endangered Distilling Co
Taylor & Smith
The James Boag Bars
The Stagg Coffee
Willie Smith’s Cider
Time to plate up as Taste of Summer kicks off
WITH warm, sunny weather forecast and a tantalising line-up of Tasmanian food and beverages, it is unanimous that “the Taste is back”.
The highly anticipated Taste of Summer festival starts on Tuesday and organisers are thrilled to reinvigorate the previous long-time format of the Taste of Tasmania with new Covid-safe protocols and brand new features, while retaining all the old charm.
“The food and drink is back to its roots; the unique part of the Taste has always been small tasting plates,” Taste of Summer chair Jarrod Nation said.
“We have got southern rock lobster caught wild in Tasmania, lovely sea urchins and amazing oysters.”
The seas urchins in particular offered Tasmanians the rare opportunity to try what is a prized delicacy in places like Japan and China.
“It is one of the most expensive seafoods in Asia, for one tonne of shells we only get 10kg of meat, and it’s really time consuming to crack the shell and separate the meat from the other parts,” Oscar Zheng of Sea Urchin Dumplings said.
“They are really nice, they actually taste just like the ocean and the dumplings balance out the rich flavour.”
The Launceston-based business sources its sea urchins from across the state’s pristine waters, but particularly the East Coast, and their farming has environmental benefits too.
“The sea urchins are seen as a threat of the ocean as they eat the seaweed off the bottom and the rock lobster and abalone have to look elsewhere for their home as there is no food for them,” Mr Zheng said.
There are 80 stalls at the Taste of Summer and a crowd limit of 5000 people, with a one in, one out protocol.
“This allows people to move freely through the site, find a seat and 90 per cent of the site is seated,” Mr Nation said.
“You can move freely and enjoy lots of Tasmanian tasting plates, and go from the kids area to the waterside and into the Forty Spotted Gin house.”
Mr Nation said Tuesday was set to be one of the event’s biggest, to be rivalled only by New Year’s Eve where 28C weather has been forecast.
“Come along, bring the family, it is the only time of year you can sit and enjoy this beautiful waterside,” he said.
“The Sydney to Hobart boats are coming in from the 28th and 29th so what a wonderful time to be there.”
Taste of Summer set for sunny stunner
ORGANISERS of the Taste of Summer festival say the hotly anticipated event will be complemented by “the best weather of the year”.
After the Hobart City Council voted to dump the Taste of Tasmania festival in May, a private consortium stepped in to fill the void with a “Taste-style” event over the new year period.
The state government is contributing $1.4m to the Taste of Summer, while the council is chipping in $300,000.
Taste of Summer chair Jarrod Nation said when he checked the weather forecast on Christmas morning he “thought all my Christmases had come at once”.
“Not only will Taste patrons get to experience the best Tasmanian food, drinks and entertainment, it looks like they will get to enjoy the best weather of the year as well,” he said.
“There will be plenty of room for everyone, plenty of seating outside, the best views in the country and perfect weather. It just doesn’t get any better than that.”
The festival runs from Tuesday to January 3.
A high of 26C is forecast for Hobart on New Year’s Eve, with only a 10 per cent chance of rain. A maximum temperature of 30C is expected for New Year’s Day.
Here’s cheers as popular glass returns for charity
THE iconic Taste of Tasmania reusable plastic wine glass has been a staple of homes and picnic baskets across the state for the past 30 years and is making a comeback to raise funds for a good cause.
Hobart City Mission was gifted a supply of 15,000 of the glasses from the Hobart City Council and these will be sold at the latest incarnation – Taste of Summer – during the festival from December 28 to January 3.
The sale of the glasses will be used to support Hobart City Mission programs, such as providing emergency relief and housing for vulnerable Tasmanians.
“We want to make this the most Tasmanian Taste ever,” Taste of Summer chair Jarrod Nation said.
“That doesn’t just apply to the fantastic food, drink and entertainment we have on offer.
“It also means that we’re committed to supporting the community as well, which is why we’re delighted to work with Hobart City Mission.”
Each season’s glasses will be on display and available to buy for $5.
“We think this is a really fun way to pay homage to the Taste of Tasmania and engage with the community at this new-look event,” Hobart City Mission CEO Harvey Lennon said.
“We are very grateful to City of Hobart for their generous donation – the funds raised will make a real impact on those in need.”
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