DOUBLING the number of stallholders at yesterday’s Taste in the Park to 30 and creating new events such as Bite Size to run with it has paid off handsomely for Tamworth Regional Council.
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Taste Festival co-ordinator Catherine Burton said almost 2000 people had streamed through Bicentennial Park before noon yesterday to grab a bite to eat and celebrate the region’s finest wine and produce.
“Really overjoyed,” Ms Burton said when asked whether she thought things were going well.
“Very happy. You couldn’t ask for a better rollout – there are queues at the stalls. Great crowd, great stalls, lots of families.”
She said Bite Size, a kitchen for children to cook in with the help of adults, had been “overwhelmingly popular”.
Debbie D’Costa, of South Tamworth, whose two children Danielle (10) and Ben (9) had participated in Bite Size, said there had been at least a dozen children waiting for their turn while her two children were cooking.
Mrs D’Costa said it was an excellent way for children to be recognised and to help encourage their cooking prowess.
“They’re the next generation: they need to know they’re important and can contribute to society as they get older,” she said.
A celebrity cook-off featuring 2TM’s Taylor Livingstone and Kaia McDonald and Prime TV reporter Nicola Strohal was also held during a Taste in the Park.
Taste in the Park is part of a revamped and expanded Taste Tamworth, now known as the Taste Tamworth Festival.
The event, formerly run by a volunteer committee, has been taken over by Tamworth Regional Council this year and expanded from two separate events over two weekends to a full-blown 10-day festival including another new initiative, the Farm Gate Trail.
The Kootingal Pumpkin Festival between 9am-4pm at Kootingal Showground on Sunday, April 14, has also come under the Taste Festival umbrella.
The Long Lunch will also be on at noon this Sunday – but has been moved from Peel St to the cooler, more amenable setting under the Bicentennial Park trees.
The Long Lunch will feature food prepared by the talented chefs of Le Pruneau, Quality Hotel Powerhouse, Square Man Inn and Corey’s Catering.
On the Farm Gate Trail, look for the red flags at participants’ premises. Maps can be picked up from the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre.
The Farm Gate Trail, which features 16 farms and businesses, goes until April 14.
Ms Burton said there had been 208 inquiries at the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre on Saturday about Taste in the Park and plenty of brochures about The Farm Gate Trail being handed out.
She said it was “mind-blowing” and showed there was plenty of potential for council to grow agri tourism – which was its objective.
