Storm clouds don’t rain on Food Fest’s parade of visitors

Published: 10 September 2018 at 12:00 am

A pre-event hailstorm and threatening skies weren’t enough to keep hungry food lovers from attending the seventh annual Parklands Food Fest on Saturday.

While the rest of the city mopped up after a night of wild weather, organisers were putting final touches on the event, which brought together Western Sydney’s best food businesses.

Around five thousand people showed up from all over Sydney and beyond, lured by the promise of fresh produce, live celebrity cooking demonstrations and, of course, the food.

They packed into live cooking masterclasses from Matt Preston, the Shahrouk Sisters, delicious. magazine’s Phoebe Woods and OzHarvest’s Travis Harvey.

They took home salamis, breads, preserves and boxes of fresh produce, much of it grown in Western Sydney Parklands’ Urban Farms Precinct, just a kilometre up the road.

They lined up at food stalls and trucks serving a global array of street foods and traditional cuisines – including El Salvadoran pupusas, Vietnamese banh mi, Filipino soul food, ginger tonic from Sierra Leone, Hungarian kurtosh and Italian gelato.

They sat and watched as Western Sydney musicians played a mealtime soundtrack, featuring African rhythms, Gypsy energy, smooth R’n’B and barrelhouse country blues.

Food Fest Director and Cooking Stage MC, Joanna Savill, thanked the crowds for making the day a success.

“We are grateful that so many people took a chance and came out to Lizard Log for Parklands Food Fest, especially when the sky looked like it was going to open up at any moment,” Ms Savill said.

“Our celebrity chefs and food experts lived up to their reputations as great entertainers and brilliant food minds, and our stallholders gave the people the great food experience they were looking for.

“Onwards to the eighth Parklands Food Fest, next September, which promises to live up to the outstanding tradition this event has now established.”