Throw another festival on the barbie; Adelaide is starting to sizzle all year 'round.
Every year at Fringe time, Adelaide people lament that 'they wish Adelaide was like this all the time'. Little by little this dream is coming to fruition.
Image © Erin Eustace
On a weekend (8-10 July) in the depths of winter, the city was host to a pop-up winter wonderland with the Alpine Village and an orgy of flame-grilled meats and fermented hops at the Wayville Showground with the second annual Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival. Mad March is slowly seeping into the other 11 months of the year, and it makes sense for this to happen.
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Running a festival is undoubtedly a skill, and our city is now bursting at the seams with entrepreneurs, artists and food vendors who hone this skill every year in the Southern Hemisphere’s largest arts festival. These people need to work and create all year around; the struggle is finding occasions that have the same broad appeal as the Fringe.
Image © Erin Eustace
In Australia, selling beer and BBQ is like ice hockey to a Canadian; it requires no sales pitch at all. In the second year of the event, eager punters were lined up like herds of cattle; all were chomping at the bit to enter the smoky feasting grounds. Once inside, it was a beer lover’s paradise; imagine the alcoholic equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. In the frosty, winter conditions, stouts and porters were the perfect tonic to wash down the slabs of meat on offer.
One of the arguments against having Mad March-style events all year around is the weather. This event refutes this argument. Provide barrels and fire wood, plenty of covered areas and a valid reason to brave the elements and the people will come; they will simply don a winter jacket and a beanie.
Image © Erin Eustace
While the multitude of beers on offer was a drawcard, so too was the food. We like to think that BBQ is a distinctively Australian phenomenon, but it is truly a global phenomenon; there was Oriental BBQ, African BBQ and of course American BBQ.
Those wanting to channel their inner Frank Underwood or Bill Clinton and gorge themselves on southern pit, roasted hog needed to get in fast; the Adelaide crowd stripped that poor piggy to the bone quicker than a piranha on amphetamines.
Cosmo Thundercat - image © Erin Eustace
The bacchanalian ceremonies were soundtracked by melodious local tunesmiths Cosmo Thundercat, synth duo Panama and indie darlings The John Steel Singers, while the beer hall shaked to '90s dance classics; the back room was even streaming the footy, so all tastes were catered to.
Beer and BBQ might be more of a summer thing, but summer is crowded enough as it is; keep this new fixture in winter to lure locals out of festival hibernation.
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