Nearly 900 people gathered at Marley Farm in the Mount Newton Valley for FarmFolk CityFolk's 14th annual Feast of Fields’ fundraiser on Vancouver Island. The gourmet harvest, with its emphasis on local, seasonal and organic produce and chefs, is considered by many to be the best local food event of the year.
As people arrive at the farm, they line up to get their wine glass and napkin, peruse the menu, and prepare to spend the next four hours strolling around the gorgeous Marley Farm and enjoying some of the best food and drink Vancouver Island has to offer.
Every year, there are always a few local bands that play throughout the day to help set the mood and provide a little foot stomping music to accompany the sumptuous food and libations. This year’s music was provided by The Sweet Low Down and Jane's Way (pictured above).
With a guest list of nearly 900 people, chefs are busy long before the gates open preparing enough samples for everyone. The chefs from the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Resort had their hands full preparing their mouth-watering offerings: savory cones with hand peeled shrimp, basil pesto and Natural Pastures Camembert Cheese, and sweet cones with white chocolate mousse with Nanoose Edibles marionberries and dark chocolate walnut bark.
Vin Coco Patisserie, a locally owned chocolate and pastry shop in Victoria, upstaged everyone as they demonstrated just how fun, sweet (and rock and roll) desserts can be.
There were a number of new participants at this year's Feast of Fields including The Oak Bay Bistro. Serving up Driftwood Wort and molasses-cured wild salmon, dill seed buttermilk crackers and candied apple relish, the bistro’s delicious bite-sized finger food was rivaled only by its presentation.
One reason Feast of Fields is so much fun is because it draws people of all ages. To help make it affordable for families, there's a discounted ticket price for kids under 12. Although a word of warning, your kids may be more interested in what's in the field than on their plate. This year we also had a dedicated children’s area with Slow Food showing some interesting vegetables, a farm mural the little ones could add to and a giant (human) carrot to inspire everyone to eat more vegetables.
Feast of Fields is an annual fundraiser for FarmFolk CityFolk, a non-profit society that works year-round to cultivate a local, sustainable food system. During the festival, executive director Nicholas Scapillati (second from right) shared a few moments with Bev Marley (far right), the host of this year's festival, and Ryan Vantreight (second from left) who first introduced Marley to the festival's organizers so many months ago.
Of course, the annual Vancouver Island Feast of Fields wouldn't be possible without the many volunteers and people behind the scenes. Friendly, helpful and always smiling!
Melody Wey is a local photographer and writer and one of the organizers of the Vancouver Island Feast of Fields. She is also the editor of the popular food blog Audrey Needs More Wooden Spoons. Visit: http://paigeout.blogspot.com/
Show/Hide comment form
