Visitors and locals will be flocking to the Clare Valley for a lamb-slide showcase of what’s on offer during ‘Festival of the Lamb 2023’.
Now in its fourth year, the multi-day event has become the Clare Valley’s Annual Spring Food Festival.
Supporting a collaboration between the sheep and lamb industry and the tourism sector, the festival has drawn six lamb producers who are being showcased at venues in Mintaro, Auburn, Watervale, Polish Hill River, Sevenhill, Clare and Blyth.
The paddock-to-plate experience will include lamb-inspired dishes prepared by Clare Valley local, state and national award-winning chefs, matched with some of the region’s finest wines.
Like Bubba’s list of shrimp dishes, the Clare Valley Lamb Festival has something for everyone. From Lamb Dumplings and Eastern Lamb Tagineto to Lamb Pizza, it’s an extravaganza to tantalise the tastebuds. If you like your lamb cross-bred with some international flavour you’re in luck, with the return of Master Chef Su Zhixiong, visiting guest Chef Judyta Slupnicki and Caterer Vicky Tolotta, who will be dishing up a taste sensation at the Festival launch at Mintaro, with keynote speakers including local lamb producers.
On Friday night, ‘Women, Wine & Nyowee’, at Knappstein Wines in the heart of Clare, are offering a four course dining experience, specially curated by world-renowned Chef Stuart Oldfield. Matched with Knappstein’s award-winning wines, you’ll need to don your Christmas pants for that one!
For the tea-totalling veggos who may find themselves swept up in the Festival by their carnivorous wine-swilling mates, it’s not just about local lamb, beer and wine, with a myriad of cultural activities at the historic Mintaro Institute.
The weekend coincides with the Annual Wool and Fibre Fair, featuring local artisans showcasing their use of wool in an exhibition and market. Or how about igniting your inner Banjo Paterson at Mintaro’s ‘Bush Poetry, Ballads, and Sing-a-long Dinner’? There’s even an open mic for enthusiastic performers.
Sunday morning you can head to the Uniting Church in Clare to repent for the sins of the open mic before joining in the Blessing of the Fleece ceremony.
The festival runs from Wednesday 20 – Sunday 24 September. To see the full list of what’s on offer click here
