Festival Series - Gerard's Bar launch of the James Street Food and Wine Trail

http://www.gerardsbar.com.au/

There is so much cool stuff going on in Brisbane it really is hard to keep up with it all.  July has seen the fun that was the Good Food Month which included the Night Noodle Markets as well as the annual Regional Flavours festival at South Bank.  The fun and frivolity doesn't seem like ending anytime soon with the third annual James Street Food and Wine Trail kicking off from the 31st of July to the 3rd of August.

The James Street Food and Wine Trail is a way to share in the celebration of all that is food and wine from one of Brisbane's top food precincts.   There will be fresh produce stalls, cooking demonstrations from live pop up kitchens, tasting corners and family fun zones to tease and tantalise the tastebuds and excite the soul.  Run by the James Street collective of bars and restaurants, the Food and Wine Trail is an event not to be missed.

You can check out the details here

Festival Series - Night Noodle Markets

http://brisbane.goodfoodmonth.com/noodles

In a month that just kept getting better and better, for the first time Brisbane was host to the Night Noodle Market. As part of the Good Food Month, the Night Noodle Market pulled together a heap of Queensland and interstate eateries to South Bank for an Asian Inspire hawker style market.

Taking over the cultural forecourt at South Bank, the Night Noodle Markets has added a fresh new event on the annual calendar, which this year coincides with the annual Regional Flavours event (see post here).  Bringing together over two dozen food stalls and bars, the Night Noodle Market became a beacon of great food and fun drawing people from all around the South East.  

We decided that we would head over to join in with the festivities and check out some yummy Asian cuisine on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  Arriving a little before sunset, we were able to slowly wander around the markets and get a sense of the food available.  Near the entrance of the markets, we bumped into Jake Harris, formerly of My Kitchen Rules, running Chitty Banh Banh, who'd been surprised by the success of the markets.  Jake explained that on the previous day, they'd sold out of Banh Mi within the first two hours - thats over 900 Vietnamese rolls in short order.

As we slowly wandered around the market stalls and soaked up the atmosphere, the sun set and the Night Markets really came alive, with the lights of the stalls, the colourful lanterns and the various bars taking over from the natural sunlight.  It was quite spectacular to witness.  The only problem was with the departure of the sun came the drop in temperature!

Festival Series - Regional Flavours

http://regionalflavours.com.au/

Something is always going in in Brisbane these days, it seems.  No sooner does one event finish, than another takes its place, and what's better, is that much of the festivities revolve around food.  Regional Flavours is the latest of the year's big events and is South Bank's signature food and wine festival, which has been running for six years and has fast become the highlight of the foodie calendar.

I still remember my first Regional Flavours, which was only three years ago, and the impression it has made on me.  It was a beautiful sunny winter's day, with Little Stanley Street completely transformed with food vendors from around the state showing their fare.  I resolved at that time to make sure I marked Regional Flavours into my diary and attend every year...  Of course, at the time I didn't realise that I would miss the very next year, the festival coinciding with my trip to New York (see posts here).  But as much as I loved my Regional Flavours experience, I certainty loved NYC more!

So, Regional Flavours 2014 became my first as a Food Blogger and the experience was enhanced by being a #Hunter for the Hunting Club, set up by the South Bank Surf Club (see post here).  Leading up to Regional Flavours saw me helping find other #Hunters to join in on the fun and spread the word about the event on social media.  

The Hunting Club was one of a number of major features of the 2014 Regional Flavours, with Eat-Show-Tell, All Day Breakfast and Savour at River Quay all providing opportunities to watch cooking demonstrations and celebrities involved in the food industry.  There were book signings and some pretty special guests strutting their stuff at the main stage at the Courier Mail Piazza.  We were wandering around when Master Chef's Matt Preston was performing and then doing a book signing!

Festival Series - The Teneriffe Festival

http://www.teneriffefestival.org/

I still remember my first time fondly.  We were blissfully unaware that the inaugural Teneriffe Festival was underway and out for a morning walk through Newstead and Teneriffe.  It was pretty random to be honest, we just picked a direction and head towards Teneriffe, thinking a long walk along the river would be a great idea.

As we rounded the corner of Commercial Road, we could see some commotion a little further up the road and as we got closer, we could see that the street was closed off and there seemed to be some sort of street party (big understatement).  That first year of the Festival was a random occurrence, but we've made our way to the Teneriffe Festival each year since.

In the five years that the festival has been running, we've watched it slowly consume more and more of  the trendy inner city suburb and this year was it's biggest yet.  I couldn't believe how vibrant and incredible Teneriffe becomes during the festival, with live music, fashion shows, laneway parties and all-so-much-food.