Foodies relish our local Flavours

MORE than 500 people savoured local flavours over the weekend at the annual Flavours of EchucaMoama Festival.

Morrison’s Winery hosted the best local food and wine producers on Sunday as part of the Grazing Festival which organiser Trent Eacott said was topped off by glistening autumn weather.

‘‘The weather was perfect and everyone had a great day,’’ he said.

‘‘Overall it was what we were aiming for and there was a great cross-section of people, from locals to people from Melbourne, Bendigo, Kerang as well as kids.

‘‘It is nice to see we are starting to become part of the people’s annual calendar and I think that is because we maintain that premium boutique feel.’’

Mr Eacott said the numbers this year were what organisers aimed for.

‘‘It is important to us to keep the crowds low and not overdo it,’’ he said.

‘‘We have had plenty of feedback from both producers and the festival-goers who agreed the number of people were the right fit for the venue.

‘‘There weren’t big line-ups at the producer tents and everyone enjoyed the two performers.’’ riverineherald.com.au

Local talent Charlotte Gemmill entertained the crowd as well as folk-grunge duo Little Georgia who was a crowd favourite.

‘‘Both acts were magnificent and it was great to see people sitting back enjoying our local produce and listening to great music,’’ Mr Eacott said.

He said he was already looking forward to next year’s festival.

‘‘We can always tweak a few things but we certainly feel that we, as a festival, are certainly getting into a good place,’’ he said.

‘‘It is all about celebrating all the great things that are produced here in Echuca-Moama and the day certainly did that.’’

The Local Producers Dinners on Saturday night at Port 53, Junction Moama and The Mill also achieved what they set out to.

‘‘The feedback from the producers dinners were that a lot of people enjoyed their dinners and came on the Sunday as well,’’ Mr Eacott said.

‘‘The Junction was full to capacity and Port 53 and The Mill also had great nights with really good local food and wine.

‘‘It is great to have close to 150 extra people enjoying the local produce across the weekend.’’

Stacey Warren and Deb Duncan.

Roger Pinson, Kim Warde, Kell Warde and Jazz Warde.

Tameka Thorpe and Zayden Molluso.

Di Dean and Shari Butcher.

Darren and Angela Olarenshaw.

Nick Sheldon and Pat Arnold.

Travis and Madeleine Gilby.

Carley Dohnt and Brady Threlfall.

Matt Dobeli and Ben Connellan.

Ash Spencer and Justin Carter.

Hannah and Arabella Mills.

Charlotte Gemmill performs.

Nat Carpenzano and John Oliveri.

Andrew and Jenny Mitchell.