The Adelaide Food Fringe festival today announced a return for a second shot at an inaugural year with an expanded festival program of 9 days from Friday 7 May to Sunday 16 May 2021, a celebration of pubs called “International Pub Week” and a new poster featuring artwork by much-loved Adelaide artist, Billie Justice Thomson and the opening of all registrations for food and beverage events.
After cancelling the inaugural program in 2020 due to Covid-19 shutdowns, the festival’s ‘COVID comeback’ was made possible thanks to the continued support of major partners City of Adelaide Council, Pirate Life Brewing, new major partner Never Never Distilling Co and other generous sponsors.
Back and ready to start from where it left off, the open-access food festival is encouraging all food and beverage businesses, brewers, wineries, distilleries, venues, clubs, producers, multicultural communities and cultural institutions (large or small) to share their food and beverage experience by becoming a part of its 2021 program line-up and registering their event at adelaidefoodfringe.com.au.
As South Australia’s 100% open-access food and drink festival, the Adelaide Food Fringe program exists to support and celebrate the state’s incredible food and beverage businesses, venues, clubs, producers, multicultural communities and cultural institutions. What SALA and the Adelaide Fringe is to amateur, emerging and established artists and performers, the Adelaide Food Fringe is for the people, businesses and venues working in food and beverage in SA.
With an affordable, diverse and accessible food and beverage program for everyone to enjoy, it importantly, is NOT a festival with a fenced in area and food vendors. The whole state is a potential festival site as every business, club, venue or premises presenting a food or beverage related event is the venue.
Adelaide Food Fringe Director Vic Pisani said the festival concept was created to make food and beverage businesses, producers, venues, clubs and cultural communities the stars of their own Statewide food festival that they also effectively curate.
“As a festival,100% of our line-up is curated by the businesses, clubs and individuals bringing their events to our program. Because I don’t curate any of the program I’m just as excited as anyone to see what the lineup will be.”
“Like so many in our industry, our festival was a victim of the COVID shutdowns last year which of course was devastating but the silver lining was that we still achieved so much as a proof of concept despite not making it to the finish line.”
“Before COVID hit our shores, events in our 2020 program were selling out and audiences, clubs and businesses were engaging with the program beyond our expectations and the cultural diversity, affordability and range of food and beverage experiences people brought was amazing”
“We’re also really proud that through our festival we were still able to achieve another big part of our festival mission in helping Foodbank provide meals for people experiencing food insecurity.”
The Adelaide Food Fringe donates 10% of all net registrations fees collected to charity partner, Foodbank. However, because of COVID and the impact it had on the wider community, the festival decided to donate 100% of its 2020 net registration fees collected to help with the extra demand for Foodbank’s service. The donation resulted in 1080 meals provided to South Australians and in 2021, the festival has a target to provide funding for 5000 meals through registrations and any event pledging a percentage of their event’s profits to Foodbank.
Other exciting new elements to this year’s festival include:
- FREE registration for all Not for Profit organisations such as multicultural communities and sporting clubs thanks to the support of Never Never Distilling Co, City Rural Insurance brokers and OMD Adelaide.
- The world’s first International Pub Week proudly supported by major partner Pirate Life
Adelaide Food Fringe’s International Pub Week initiative was co-created by Pirate Life Brewing and is all about celebrating the culinary, cultural, social and economic impact of Pubs to life in SA through a program stream that will drive activity and support pubs in through the challenging COVID environment they’ve had to navigate.
Thanks to Pirate Life Brewing, the festival will dedicate a week between Sunday 9 May and Sunday 16 May for pubs to registered their special ‘International Pub Week’ events, functions and food and beverage offers in the program as well as share stories and shine a spotlight on the pubs, publicans, patrons and people behind some of our great locals.
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