I’m holding my breath with excitement. Tonight is the media event for the hotly anticipated Madame Zingara ‘The Celebration’ dinner cirque sensory experience second to none. That is how it was just described in a Tweet, and I can’t think of a better way to say it.
Watch this space later tonight when the Instagrams and Tweets will be flying off the handle. Follow @food24 (Twitter) and @food24_sa (Instagram) for some scintillating updates.
First thing tomorrow morning (clutching bacon sarmies) we are heading down to Plett (if we can get through Knysna) to the Plett MAD Festival. We’ll be getting into the groove and watching some gorgeous foodie films at the Plett Food Film Festival, and hanging out with the likes of Reza Mahammad, Karen Dudley and Lika Berning. You can too! Just check out all the fun stuff going on around these great films.
I wish we could be in more than one place at a time, as it seems the whole country is celebrating with festivals this weekend and in the coming Winter weekends.
Wine and mussels
Franschhoek will be buzzing this weekend with the Bastille Festival. Get your beret on and head down to any one of the beautiful wine farms celebrating in style. Who needs Burgundy?
Later on in the month, everybody’s favourite beer and mussels restaurant, Den Anker, will be ditching the beer for a day and hosting the Wine and Mussels tournament. This is a wine festival with a difference. You absolutely have to check it out.
In Cape Town again is the very awesome sounding Hop ‘n Vine Festival. Where it’s all about the beer and wine at the newly renovated River Club. A fantastic venue for a fun festival.
Cheese
Cheese is the new black, and fondues must be making a comeback in the Winelands as both Maison (every Saturday) and Delheim (with Jazz) are hosting cheese fondues this July and August.
Food trucks
Although South Africa in general doesn’t have a thriving street food culture like places in the East, the trend of buying a meal from a mobile or portable stall and eating on foot, has washed up on our shores with many food truck vendors injecting a bit of gourmet flavour into their offerings. The annual Street Food Festival takes place soon (26 July – Cape Town) and 1 August (Joburg) where local street food cuisine is highlighted and forms a great platform for SA street food entrepreneurs. It’s always a highly anticipated event and a great day out for the family!
Craft beer
Head up to Durban and you will catch the SA on Tap Craft Beer Festival as well as the upcoming and very exciting Taste of Durban. There are some amazing restaurants in Durban and this event will be worth going to.
If you love craft beer as much as we do, then another one to look out for is the Consol Craft Revolution – happening in Joburg, Nelspruit and Muldersdrift – kicking off in August.
Culture
The Grahamstown National Arts Festival is in full swing so if you are headed to the beautiful and historic town, check out this list of restaurants and pubs to visit between shows. The Tops SPAR wine show is also kicking off in PE on the 30th of July.
Some things to put in your diary ahead are the super-popular Pinotage on Tap festivals happening in Joburg, Durban and Cape Town this August and September and also another SA on Tap Craft Beer Festival in Pretoria in September.
If there are any amazing food and wine festivals happening near you that you think we should know about then please let us know on Twitter or tag us on Instagram or just email us on editor@food24.com and we will add them to our events page.
Who says we only party in Summer?