Locals and tourists alike spent last weekend eating, drinking wine and socialising in the sunshine (and occasional showers) to celebrate this year’s Barossa Gourmet Weekend.
Attendees were spoilt for choice this year, whether it was places to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, or places to spend the afternoons soaking up the Gourmet Weekend atmosphere.
As usual, Gourmet Weekend showcased everything the Barossa does best - wine, beautiful food, live music and landscapes.
Chairman of the Barossa Gourmet Weekend, Mr Marty Powell, said this year’s Gourmet Weekend went ‘very well’, and that a majority of the success was due to the enthusiasm around the event.
He believes that moving the date to the start of September gave Gourmet Weekend a ‘renewed interest’ and despite the chilly weather, all venues were prepared for what weather the day brought.
“The date change has given locals and visitors a renewed and continued interest,” he said.
In terms of Gourmet Weekend coinciding with Father’s Day, Marty described it as ‘intentional’.
“It was a gamble for the committee to team Gourmet Weekend with Father’s Day,” said Marty.
“We wanted to embrace the events and encourage families to get involved together.
“It definitely worked in our favour!”
Marty said that this year’s attendees were on par with last year, even as it was the first time all the events were ticketed and pre-sold. In his terms, “the entire weekend had a price tag”.
He believes that although it’s early days, this new system will allow the committee to discover the popular events and gather statistics on attendees.
Marty said the committee is already looking forward to next year’s Barossa Gourmet Weekend, adding that it will be bigger and better than previous events.
He also is looking forward to discovering new restaurants/wineries/venues etc. to be involved with Barossa Gourmet Weekend in the near future.
For the full story see this week’s edition of The Leader.