It’s gouda brie a good day in Adelaide today because Cheesefest is back on the menu. The festival, celebrating all things cheese, was created to showcase South Australia’s artisan cheese producers and has grown to become the country’s largest outdoor cheese festival.
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00:00Well, Lactose Intolerant viewers, avert your eyes because I'm here at Cheesefest kicking
00:06off this weekend in Adelaide.
00:08It's now in its 19th year and it brings together a range of producers when it comes to food,
00:14wine, and of course cheese from around Australia.
00:17I'm joined now by the founder and director, Chris Lloyd.
00:20Chris, this is going to be a record-breaking year, I hear.
00:23It absolutely is.
00:24So for the first time ever, we have a record number of cheese stalls, which is absolutely
00:31fabulous.
00:32That's what people come to Cheesefest for.
00:33So you could start at the Toasty Bar, you could go to the Burrata Bar, and then you
00:37might like to go to the Mozzarella Bar or even the Halloumi Bar.
00:41So I imagine it's just cheese heaven for those that love cheese.
00:45But we've also got a fantastic array of local producers, whether that's food or drink, our
00:53cooking demonstration stage is back again this year.
00:57We're very, very lucky to have Matt Preston, our master of fromage, back this year.
01:02And we also have masterclasses, so there's plenty for everybody to do, lots for the kids
01:07to do as well.
01:08We're very, very family-friendly.
01:10We create an amazing vibe here.
01:13It's a gorgeous community event, you can throw a picnic rug if you like, go and sample the
01:18different cheeses.
01:20One of the things I love about Cheesefest is that you can actually meet the producer.
01:24Because generally you'll get the producer to come along themselves and they explain
01:29how they make their product, whether it's cheese or whether it's the beverages or food,
01:34and where they actually source their raw material from.
01:37And that whole buying local thing, which I'm a real advocate for, is something that we
01:42really believe in here at Cheesefest.
01:45And you're the founder and director of this festival.
01:47It started back in 2006.
01:49What was the inspiration behind it?
01:51Because I also understand you're a little bit of a cheesemaker yourself.
01:54I am a cheesemaker, but the inspiration for Cheesefest was a festival in Italy where they
01:59really celebrated the cheesemaker like God.
02:03And I just thought, do you know what, I actually want a bit of that.
02:06And so I took, and I travelled quite a bit and I found a number of different cheese festivals
02:11across the world.
02:12And I took little bits from each one that I thought were amazing.
02:16And I pulled together Cheesefest and I thought, you know, people really need to celebrate
02:21what a fantastic food.
02:23And what a diverse food cheese is, because there's a whole cheese galaxy out there.
02:29There's so many different styles of cheese.
02:31And again, coming back to Cheesefest, one of the wonderful things is you can sample
02:36cheeses maybe that you haven't tried before.
02:38So if you're a little bit of a novice cheese lover, it's the perfect place for you to go,
02:43I've never tried blue before, I haven't tried that style before, and have an opportunity
02:49to broaden your palate, which I'm all about.
02:51So broadening the horizons.
02:53Of course.
02:54And speaking of that, how has the festival evolved since its origin in 2006?
02:58Yeah, well, I mean, it's certainly got a lot bigger, that's for sure.
03:02I think we ended up, we had about 12 cheese stalls back then, and we're up to over 90
03:08this year.
03:09But we've also included vegan cheese, and I never ever allowed international cheese
03:14because I was very hounded on basically being number one South Australian, but also only
03:20Australian.
03:21But I've grown up and I'm letting the international cheeses in, which is great because there's
03:25some beautiful styles.
03:27And for the first time this year, we've actually got an international cheesemaker from New
03:33Zealand, which is wonderful to be able to include somebody from New Zealand on board.
03:39And what are some of the other highlights that people can expect this weekend?
03:42Well, I think we have our live music stage.
03:47I love it because it supports South Australian musicians, and it's live.
03:53So you get people up dancing.
03:56As I mentioned earlier, the masterclasses are great.
03:59We look at a whole different range of cheeses and wines, and our cooking demos are so entertaining.
04:06A little bit of fun, but it's just fun.
04:09And I think for me to be able to create something that people can come and enjoy and really
04:15celebrate food.
04:17We all love food.
04:19We all love to sit at a table, maybe with wine or just a drink of sorts, and enjoy food
04:26together.
04:27It's such a wonderful thing to share, and I feel like that's something that Cheesefest
04:31really does well.
04:32It brings the community together with a great vibe and an opportunity to share.
04:38And it is South Australia's most snackable weekend of the year.
04:43Sounds delicious.
04:44Thank you, Chris, for your time.