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Taste of Summer

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For the international food festivals, see Taste festivals.
Taste of Summer
Salamanca Place near a waterfront in Hobart, Tasmania
Musician playing his guitar during the festival 1998
Information
StatusActive
FrequencyAnnually
Most recent27 December 2003 – 6 January 2024
VenuePrinces Wharf N1 and Salamanca Place
LocationHobart, Tasmania
CountryAustralia
Inaugurated1988
AttendanceClose to 100,000 (2023)
Current organisersPinpoint Group PTY LTD
Previous organisersHobart City Council
Websitehttps://tasteofsummer.com.au/

The Taste of Summer Festival, previously known as the Taste of Tasmania, is an annual event held in Hobart, Tasmania, from 27 December to 6 January. The festival includes over 75 stalls featuring local breweries, distilleries, wineries, and eateries, drawing in both locals and tourists from around the globe. Hosted at Princes Wharf Nº1, adjacent to the historic Salamanca Place,[1] the festival coincides with the State's peak of the tourism season. Additionally, Hobart's waterfront is the place where New Year's Eve festivities are celebrated, including the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, "one of the world’s greatest, and hardest, offshore races."[2] Visitors have the opportunity to taste the best of Tasmanian cuisine and beverages while enjoying live music and entertainment provided by a diverse selection of interstate performers. The event serves as an example of the significant role tourism plays in the economy of Australia.[1] Beyond offering a platform for displaying local products, Taste of Summer generates socio-economic benefits such as job creation and amplifies the region's food and wine industry.[3] Also, the active participation of the community in organising, managing, and providing entertainment emphasize their role in economic development.[3] The diversity of Taste of Summer allows interconnection within the communities through "employment, volunteerism, networks and participation."[3]

History

Taste of Tasmania was a celebration of the state's culinary excellence and a stage for local produce.[4] Its origins back to 1988 when the Hobart City Council introduced it as part of the Hobart Summer Festival. One of its main goals was to entertain the competitors of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. Combined with the yacht race, The Taste of Tasmania became the centre of the entertainment on the waterfront.[1] As their arrival port, the yachties were going to find a more vibrant setting to celebrate the New Year's festivities. At the beginning, the Hobart City Council managed the inaugural festival[5], and its subsequent editions for over three decades. Due positive response from stallholders, locals and visitors, the Taste of Tasmania transitioned from three days to seven, making of Sullivans Cove and Salamanca Place a festive stage that presented the best that Tasmania had to offer in matters of food, drinks, restaurants, local produce, and entertainment.[5]

As one of the biggest food and wine festivals in Australia, by the 1990s, The Taste of Tasmania brought together 64 stallholders and 24 local wineries,[5] with around 300.000 visitors, more than half of Tasmania's population at the time.[6] The line of restaurants on the waterfront took this opportunity to integrate to their menus local produce such as fish, cheese, fruits, and wines. The festival stallholders were very enthusiastic by the event's outcomes that The Taste of Tasmania became an annual "gigantic feast."[5] In 1996, the 200-metre-long shed Princes Wharf Nº1 gathered together around 100 local producers and sustainable measurements, such as the use of biodegradable plates, took place that year[4]. Among the celebrations, there were cooking classes that showed the visitors culinary creations. Quails, scallops, strawberries, and flavoured-infused ice cream were part of the selected fresh produce that visitors had the opportunity to try while enjoying of the multiple street entertainment. There was no cost for admission and the trading hours of the multiple daily events were from 11am-11pm.[4]

As the festival became an integral part of Tasmania's social calendar,[7] during the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, more than 70 events including fine foods, arts, theatre, film, and sports were part of the program. That year the celebrations focused on the beginning of the new millennium. Two of the main highlights were the everyday 15 hours of sunlight during the event, and Hobart receiving the first sunrise for 2000 in the country.[8] The event included platinum sponsors that contributed to the festival through their reputation and background[9]. The Decoration Project 2000 took place and offered awards for the ceiling decorations of the Princes Wharf Nº1. As one of the State's most prestigious community art projects, these were a crucial part to the festival's identity and a way to display Tasmania's talented youth, as the participants were from different schools.[9]

By 2018, within the framework of the festival's 30th anniversary, there were culinary events, food and wine stalls, and live entertainment[10]. The program featured a diverse repertoire on cheese making, bush tucker tours, and gin tastings. During July 2018, the future of the event was discussed during the Hobart City Council workshop. The local government was evaluation its operational model and "exploring potential fund streams."[11] At that time, the Taste of Tasmania had reached a crucial point and is pursuing collaboration among government and private parties to secure funding and sustain the event.[11] In 2019-2020 edition of the festival, some of the events included the soprano Emma Bourke singing from a boat on the River Derwent,[12] and the culinary event of the battle North vs. South Tasmania, where stallholders showed the produce of their regions and the audience had to decide the winner producer among them. This was the last edition of the festival before the pandemic in 2020.

Until that point, the festival was organised and managed by the Hobart City Council. In 2021 the City Council voted "to divest itself of ownership and exclusive rights to the Taste of Tasmania, […] due to rising costs of running the event."[13] In 2021 the event transitioned and adopted a new name: The Taste of Summer. From that year, the Pinpoint Group, a private consortium of Tasmanian businesspeople, has "planned and delivered"[7] the festival by featuring changes on its branding and identity, keeping the core value of Tasmania produce only. To this day, the Taste of Summer continues highlighting Tasmania's local produce,[14] including food, wine, and culture.

Events

Cultural festivals like The Taste of Summer embody the essence of local traditions.[3] By having a strong main theme and a high profile, the festival is popular and relevant to locals who support this event with their community energy.[15] It has included a diverse range of events since 1988,[7] and some of them include food and wine tasting, cooking demonstrations and masterclasses by famous chefs, fine dining experiences at the local restaurants near the waterfront, cultural performances, workshops, family-friendly activities, market stalls, and special events such as the New Year's fireworks.  First, the Hobart City Council and now the Pinpoint group have been more concentrated on strategies to make the event and the city more festive among locals and visitors. The diverse character of a place, for instance the waterfront zones, such as Salamanca Place and the Prince Wharf Nº1, become major tourist destinations during the festival, and these locations serve as the primary visual representation of the city.[16]

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

The Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race is one of the international sporting events in Australia. It started on Boxing Day in 1945 with nine yachts as its inaugural fleet.[17] Due to public interest, the race increased to an international level, and competitors, including Eric Tabarly and British Prime Minister Edward Heath, have been part of the event.[18] By the 1970s various sponsors lent their names to the race,[18] marking the beginning of a tradition. From 1988, the end of the race became part of one of the main attractions of The Taste of Tasmania as the racers needed to be entertained during the New Year's Eve season.[5]

New Year’s Eve Fireworks

One of the traditional activities of the Taste of Summer is the New Year's Eve fireworks. There are theme parties, and the fireworks display can be appreciated by visitors from different points of the docks area at Sullivans Cove.[19]

The Buskers

The festival includes activities related to entertainment, including local and international buskers. In 1999, performers from Scotland, England and multiple locations in Australia were part of the program and their shows included "juggling, unicycling, escapology, classic clowning."[19]  

Stalls

The Taste of Summer highlights the region local produce.[14] Industries such as food, wineries, breweries, and distilleries, participate in the festival, showcasing Tasmanian food and beverage to visitors. Ciders, wine, non-alcoholic beverages, vegetables, fruit, and seafood are also part of the products from around Tasmania and "more than 30 per cent of the stalls"[20] come from regional areas. Some of the participating stalls include international cuisine from Latin America, Italy, China, Lebanon, Nepal, and Indonesia, among others.

Participation in awards and recognition

In 2023, the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards declared the Tasmania's Taste of Summer festival as one of the eight finalists in the category of Major Festivals & Events.[21]  

References

  1. ^ a b c Hall, C. Michael (10 September 2008). Food and Wine Festivals and Events Around the World (1 ed.). Routledge. pp. 113–130. doi:10.4324/9780080887951. ISBN 978-0-08-088795-1.
  2. ^ Schmidt, David (23 December 2023). "At the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Women Are Making Their Mark". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Gibson, Chris; Waitt, Gordon; Walmsley, Jim; Connell, John (3 January 2010). "Cultural Festivals and Economic Development in Nonmetropolitan Australia". Journal of Planning Education and Research. 29 (3): 280–293. doi:10.1177/0739456X09354382. ISSN 0739-456X.
  4. ^ a b c Tastes of Tassie (14 December 1996). "Dec 14, 1996, page 131 - The Age at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Brown, J. (27 December 1997). "page 66 - The Age at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  6. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (29 January 1998). "Main Features - Census of Population and Housing: Selected Characteristics for Urban Centres and Localities, Tasmania, 1996". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Gutwein, P. "Introducing a Taste of Summer to Hobart's waterfront". Premier of Tasmania. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  8. ^ Holliday, P. (1 December 1999). "Countdown to 2000 and a fabulous festival". Festival News librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b Hobart City Council. "New Sponsor Partnerships". Festival News librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  10. ^ Aquilina, S. (13 November 2018). "Northern Taste stallholders sample what's in store for 30th anniversary". The Examiner. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b Oong, S. (14 June 2018). "Workshop to shine a spotlight on the future of the Taste of Tasmania". The Mercury. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  12. ^ Howard, J. (2 January 2020). "Taste of Tasmania 2019-20: still lots of fun, food and frivolity left to go in favourite festival". The Mercury.
  13. ^ Inglis, R. (24 January 2024). "Taste of Summer: Festival organisers say 2023 biggest and best year yet, look to build on success for future". The Mercury. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b Ewen, T. (27 December 2023). "Taste of Summer Festival expects record numbers for 2023 opening night". The Mercury. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  15. ^ Cameron, N.; Kerr, A. "Future Options for The Taste of Tasmania [electronic resource]". Trove. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  16. ^ Reiser, Dirk; Crispin, Stuart (1 January 2009). "Local perceptions of the reimaging process: The case of the Sullivans Cove waterfront precinct". Journal of Place Management and Development. 2 (2): 109–124. doi:10.1108/17538330910975856. ISSN 1753-8335.
  17. ^ "Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race". www.utas.edu.au. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  18. ^ a b De Montfort, Carlin (2011). Sailing traditions: a cultural history of sailing and yachting in Australian waters, 1888-1945 (Thesis thesis). UNSW Sydney.
  19. ^ a b Hobart City Council. "New Year's Eve at The Taste". Hobart Summer Festival 0708-Festival Guide librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  20. ^ Perillo, S. (12 November 2022). "Taste of Summer festival announces line up". The Mercury. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  21. ^ Dalton, S. (16 March 2024). "Tassie shines on the national stage taking out seven top gongs at the 2023 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards". The Mercury. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
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