Scenic Rim's Eat Local Festival Is Returning for 2023 This Winter — and It'll Run for an Entire Month
Why spend just a week at harvest festivals, sipping carrot beers and hanging out with alpacas when you can spend a whole month?
When it rolls around each year, Eat Local Week serves up a massive incentive to wander through southeast Queensland's Scenic Rim, showcasing the absolute best in food and drink — and related experiences — that the region has to offer. Can't manage to fit in a trip south across its usual nine-day run? Always wanted to head along, but the end-of-June dates haven't worked? In 2023, there's a solution: expanding the festival to take place over a whole month.
Goodbye Eat Local Week, hello Eat Local Month — which'll run from Thursday, June 1–Sunday, July 2. That actually means that it'll span across a huge 32 days this year. The festival turns 12 in 2023, and taking over an entire month is an ace way to mark the occasion.
Glenn Hunt
"In its 12th year and from now on, Australia's most authentic paddock-to-plate, food and farming experience in Eat Local Week will become Eat Local Month, which means more time to shine the light on the farmers, growers, producers, artisans, chefs and creators in our region, and on our spectacular local and seasonal produce," said Scenic Rim Regional Council Mayor Greg Christensen.
"This expansion reflects the success and hard work of our entire community, and of the support of visitors from across the country," the Mayor continued.
"Eat Local Week is a significant economic driver for the region, with the event pumping $2 million into the region, and playing an important role in placing farmers, growers and producers centre stage. We can't wait to celebrate for a full month in 2023."
While it's too early to announce this year's Eat Local Month lineup, which'll drop in April, it'll still involve exploring, eating and drinking — all while showcasing Scenic Rim produce and the people behind it. 2022's bill spanned more than 125 events at 42 locations, in a region that was named one of the best places to visit in 2022. On offer last year: a winter harvest festival, street food festival and a carrot festival; picnics with alpacas among the vines and cocktails with camels; plus brewery brunches, jam sessions amid lambs and more.
Expect an even bigger feast of festivities in 2023, from a fest that kicked off in 2011 with ten events attended by a few hundred people, then evolved to host 80 events with 15,000 attendees in 2014, before notching up almost 40,000 folks heading along in 2022.
While 2023's lineup is still to come, Eat Local Month does already have the support of some impressive food names thanks to its ambassador chefs. Alison Alexander, Ash Martin, Brenda Fawdon (Picnic Real Food Bar), Cameron Matthews (Mapleton Public House), Caroline Jones (Three Girls Skipping), Glen Barratt (Wild Canary), Javier Codina (Moda), Josh Lopez (Monstera Group), Kate Raymont (Scenic Rim Farm Shop Café) and Richard Ousby (Ousby Food) are on the list so far, with more to be added this year.
Scenic Rim Eat Local Month 2023 will runs from Thursday, June 1–Sunday, July 2 at various locations in the Scenic Rim. We'll update you with program details when they're announced in April. For more information in the interim, visit the festival's website.
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