BY CYRIL BRABANT
Lacombe Express
Nothing beats hearing mom yell ‘dinner’s ready’ which is why Lacombe Days came up with the idea to treat Lacombians to the Locavore Lacombe Food Festival.
Locavore Lacombe will be a chance to showcase Lacombe’s growing diversity and rich culture while festival goers get a chance to savour some of the fine gourmet foods that are available all around town.
The event will be held on July 23rd from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. on the front lawn of the Lacombe Memorial Centre as part of Lacombe Days.
“It’s a food festival highlighting local producers, retailers, growers and anybody around Lacombe who is producing something and selling locally,” said Chelsey Gavins, chair of the Locavore committee. “We want the community to know more about their local farmers and what they have available.”
There won’t be just food at the event because nothing says Lacombe like a pint of Blindman Brewing or a ‘cuppa’ of some Good Neighbour Coffee.
“It’s important for us to support each other,” said Gavins. “Especially during these economic times - buying, selling and eating local food is a good way to do that.
“You also get a better quality product when it’s not harvested months in advance to be shipped and sold at a large grocery store.”
Organizers plan on serving more than farmers’ market appetizers, but instead will provide restaurant quality food and they expect the community to be fairly pleased. The event will also be host to five red-seal chefs from the Red Deer College Culinary program who will be helping out during the festival.
Gavins said they plan on selling around 700 tickets and they have high hopes for the community’s interests and appetites.
She also added Lacombe Days organizers wanted to bring in an event that would not only draw in a new crowd each year, but to also remind people how important it is to buy locally.
“There’s such a huge range in variety in foods being produced around here,” said Gavins. “It’s nice to know who the farmers are, what they’re growing and how to access what they have.”
If the festival goes well, Locavore Lacombe organizers say they plan on returning to Lacombe Days next year and perhaps have another Locavore gathering during the winter.
“If we’re successful then it’ll be interesting to see where the committee decides to go with it,” said Gavins. “There’s such a diverse food culture around Lacombe, I think that a lot of people are unaware of.”
According to the event page on facebook, one pre-sale ticket will get a festival attendee 12 samples, so they can sit and enjoy local the local and instrumental music while helping themselves to heaps of delicious food.
Pre-sale tickets are available at establishments all across town such as Cilantro and Chive, Blindman Brewing and the Public Library.
Tickets are also available online at the Lacombe Days web site as well as at the gate.
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