PRECEDE
Food and craft festival to showcase what’s great about the Mary Valley. ERLE LEVEY is there to get a taste of things.“
BREAKOUT QUOTE
“The two main drivers of the Mary Valley economy are agriculture and tourism, and it makes sense to combine them and create a celebration of the region’s farmers, producers and creators.“
The river runs through it, providing the life-blood of the Mary Valley.
Many different communities depend on the Mary River as it winds down from the foothills of Maleny to the open plains of Gympie.
It is this variety of lifestyles, farming pursuits and the environment that gives the region its strength.
The GourMay Mary Valley food festival planned for this autumn is an important step in bringing all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
Food enthusiasts will get a taste of what the region has to offer in a month-long celebration that also includes art and music.
It is this combining of food cultures and creative economies that are providing the life-blood of so many communities.
At the launch of the festival of food, Mary Valley Chamber of Commerce president Janelle Parker said the event was breathing life into the former Gympie region event GourMay, which had struggled to grow after the Covid pandemic.
“The two main drivers of the Mary Valley economy are agriculture and tourism, and it makes sense to combine them and create a celebration of the region’s farmers, producers and creators.
“The Mary Valley is not a single product area. Our soil and climate allow us to farm an enormous variety of things, so visitors can expect their tastebuds to be well and truly satisfied.”
GourMay will include satellite events across the Mary Valley as well as agricultural workshops and presentations, dinners, lunches and picnics, all focussing on the food grown and produced in the area.
It will allow visitors to experience life in a farming community, with a variety of events to celebrate the food we all enjoy.
Chamber secretary Malcolm Oakley said the festival would kick off in fine style with Opera in the Shed on April 30.
Sydney soprano Donna Cain will present favourite opera pieces and show tunes at a lunch to be held in a bespoke building at a secret location near Imbil.
Festival Day on Saturday, 6 May, will be held in Imbil with cooking demonstrations, competitions and presentations. Included will be bush food with Peter Wolfe from Cedar Creek Farm, and cheesemaking/dairy farming by Kenilworth Dairies.
“There’s something like 26 events proposed,’’ Malcolm told me over coffee at Amamoor.
“Steve from Lotsa Limes is opening his farm on three Sundays.
“Kylie from Bunya Grove Farm is having a special event where guests arrive on Friday, stay in a tent then cook up breakfast with a pack that includes farm-fresh bacon and eggs.
“After that there will be a two-hour tour of the farm.
“Our events are not just all about farm experiences but the eating and preparation of food.
“Kenilworth Dairies are hosting a tasting festival which involves pre-purchase picnic hampers of local food only for the one day May 6.’’
The satellite events include picnics, lunches, dinners and workshops – from making sourdough to market gardening.
Imbil is the hub because it’s a bigger town and very central. There are cafes in the town and the Rail Park allows for a variety of events.
“It’s coming together – it’s a celebration of all that’s good in the Mary Valley,’’ Malcolm said.
“We are basically starting on April 30, which is the May Day weekend, and finishing on the evening of the 27th at dinner with Amanda Emblem, a jazz singer.
“One of the key events is the opening of the Arts on Yabba gallery at Imbil.
“It will be a display of still-life painting. Everything is food-related.’’
Internationally celebrated artist Ian Mastin will bring his still-life collection to Imbil in what is regarded as a major coup for the new gallery opened by Mary Valley Artslink and managed by its president Heinke Butt.
There is even a short film evening that’s connected to the Gympie festival Heart Of Gold.
“We will present a program of nine short films which have a food theme,’’ Malcolm said, “… not necessarily of food but about food and the farming industry.
“Some of the films will be a documentary, some animated, and some comedy. It will be a real mix.
“In the middle of last year we had a brainstorming session about the festival – what are we going to call it, what’s it going to look like?
“The Mary Valley has an amazing landscape but it’s been disconnected.
“However, the small communities are the attraction. It’s this diversity that is of interest and the festival is bringing everything together to showcase what the Mary Valley is all about. “Council has previously done GourMay and after that they did Forage but it was obvious it wasn’t going to continue.
“It’s been a matter of combining tourism and farming, bringing the people together. Not just in one place but in lots of different places.’’
The Mary Valley extends from Gympie to Conondale and Maleny so the question was how do we bring people together?
“Covid has changed the perception of where the Mary Valley is,’’ Malcolm said. “A lot of people didn’t know until a couple of years ago.’’
The criteria to participate in GourMay is that the event has to be in the Mary Valley.
For anyone to come in from outside they need to have a point of difference, not double up with local people.
For anyone to have a stall they need to have Mary Valley content, such as produce or a signature dish.
Peter Wolfe is doing a long lunch for Kandanga Farm Store and a cooking demonstration on festival day.
Imbil Community and Sports Club are running a photo competition in which the image must be taken in Mary Valley in the past 12 months.
It needs to be food related and will be displayed for a month.
The photo doesn’t have to be food on the plate – it can be a farmer in the paddock harvesting.
“The thing about the Mary Valley is there are so many things which open up and people can get involved in,’’ Malcolm said.
“Dingo Creek Winery will open up each week and they will have winemakers talking about the produce.
“It’s about people, it’s about food.’’
A highlight will be a Walking with Macadamias tour at Amamoor, amongst the ancient macadamia habitat.
Being run by the Macadamia Conservation Trust, Russell Bennett will be doing the talks and his knowledge is fascinating, Malcolm said.
“In this Gympie area it’s believed there is that still the mother tree from which all macadamias come from.’’
The walks will be in the morning and coming back to Amamoor for morning tea.
The Mary Valley Rattler historic train will be there, so it’s going to be quite busy that morning.
Something that came out of the brainstorming sessions was that the festival would not include celebrities, but people from within the region.
“A lot of what we do this year will be about next year,’’ Malcolm said.
“We are not going to do this once and forget about it. The plan is to make it a long-running festival.’’
Perhaps Janelle Parker summed it up well: “The festival is about the people who produce and prepare our food.
“While other events might rely on imported celebrities, we believe those in our region that grow, produce and prepare our food, are the true celebrities.
“So we are inviting visitors to meet them, learn from them and to understand and appreciate what’s involved in putting food on the table.”
For a detailed calendar of events, go to maryvalleycountry.au/gourmay-2023.html
