The Good Food & Wine Show (GF&WS) is the biggest culinary event and exhibition platform in Africa.
It welcomes almost a million gourmets and good-life lovers through its door each year.Presented by Fiera Milano Exhibitions Africa (FMEA) – which recently doubled the number of visitors to the Cape Town Art Fair – the theme for this year’s GF&WS is “Fresh”. This is apt not only because of international food trends, but also because of the show’s fresh new look and feel.
Interactive
Maria Chieppa, General Manager of FMEA, says: “We have transformed Africa’s biggest food and wine show with highly interactive content and exciting new experiences. This includes the introduction of a curator – the experience designer, Hannerie Visser of Studio H – for a raft of fun, interactive experiences that match the passion all South Africans share for good food and wine.”
Show dates
The 2016 GF&WS is taking place in Cape Town from 27 – 29 May, Johannesburg from 29 – 31 July and Durban from 28 – 30 October and, in keeping with its theme, it will explore the latest trends in lifestyle and design, as well as urban / rural integration.
Part of the show’s line up will be urban farming and gardens; the move towards more sustainable lifestyles; the latest in nutrition and a number of unique sensory experiences – not forgetting of course, the highly-anticipated appearance of select celebrity chefs.
Visser says: “For the GF&WS, curation has meant finding celebrities and experts to showcase how to work with quality ingredients in a fresh and exciting way. The abundance of fantastic work happening locally at the moment has made our process a lot easier. Exhibitors can expect exciting activations and many new and unusual experiences for visitors, including a sensory installation at the entrance, which will transport them into a magical world of food and wine.”
Exploring the ‘Fresh’ theme
The “Fresh” theme will be creatively explored via a number of channels – some of SA’s leading glossy magazines will create their ultimate dinner table installation, inspired by the latest trends in lifestyle. Special talks on these installations will be held in an intimate theatre environment, while “Health & Wellness”; “Market” and “Wine Theatre” will also be unpacked.
Visitors can look forward to special tastings, wine bar talks, a wine smell wall, as well as wine and food pairing sessions – all designed to turn enthusiasts into connoisseurs.
Training for exhibitors
GF&WS exhibitors will be offered world-class, complimentary training sessions by FMEA to help them to optimise their investments and derive maximum benefits from their involvement. These will take place in Cape Town on Monday, 14 March at the Cullinan Hotel and in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 16 March at the DaVinci Hotel.
Chieppa concludes: “The 2016 Cape Town Art Fair was the highest quality edition presented to date and we are proud of the fact that we doubled its visitor numbers as well as the amount of space required by the event. The GF&WS has been similarly reinvented and we look forward to announcing more about our celebrity chef line up, expert speakers, unique immersive experiences, and innovative food and wine activations – watch this space!”
Exhibitors and sponsors can contact Daniel Bloch of FMEA at daniel@fieramilano.co.za for more about the 2016 events.
