One of the many things visitors love about Tasmania’s East Coast is it’s world-class food and wine. The East Coast has long attracted passionate growers, winemakers, beer makers, cider makers, cheesemakers and chefs, whose creations are just waiting for you to try. The East Coast’s mild climate creates perfect growing conditions for premium fresh produce. From sweet berries and nuts, to fine cool climate wines, award-winning cheeses and the freshest seafood imaginable. One of the best places to meet these creative gourmands – and savour their mouth-watering creations is at the Bicheno Food and Wine Festival.
Celebrating culture, produce and people
The Bicheno Food and Wine Festival is an annual celebration of the East Coast’s culture, produce and passionate gourmet creators. Held each November on the Bicheno waterfront, the festival showcases Tasmanian and East Coast producers, chefs, wine, beer, cider and gin makers along with other gourmet innovators offering tastings, demonstrations and cooking classes. Think of it as the best all-day lunch of your life! But it’s not simply the local produce and culture that’s inspiring, it’s the passionate people who make the produce.
Scrumptious Spanish paella helps injured wildlife
A beautiful case in point is Arabella and Nick from Bicheno Hideaway who have long supported the wonderful work done by Vicki and Geoff at Pademelon Park Wildlife Refuge. Every year Arabella and Nick cook up a huge amount of delicious paella – a hearty and delicious Spanish rice dish – for the Bicheno Food and Wine Festival with all profits going directly to Pademelon Park in Bicheno. This annual contribution is a lifesaver in the true sense, as it allows the park to continue saving wounded and orphaned wildlife.
Pademelon Park is a not for profit refuge. It cares for orphaned and injured pademelons, wallabies, wombats and possums with the goal to nurture them back to health and return them to their natural habitat. Pademelon Park is not open to the public, which means they don’t generate income through entry fees. Their great work, along with running and infrastructure costs, is purely supported by donations. So with the help of local volunteers, Arabella and Nick cook up their irresistible paella, jam-packed with fresh Tasmanian produce and sell it to support the wildlife refuge. As you can imagine, there’s a long line of customers from the moment it opens!
It’s a project of passion, fuelled by a fondness of the local wildlife and a belief that food made with love and purpose makes a big difference.
Bicheno Food and Wine Festival
The Bicheno Food and Wine Festival will be held in November on the Bicheno waterfront. Do yourself a favour and plan for a delicious Great Eastern Drive road trip this November. For more information visit www.bichenofestivals.com.au
