Welly’s Epic street food festival
Every major city has its gastronomic epicentre. Melbourne boasts fabulous eats on Flinders Lane, London’s Clerkenwell houses Exmouth Market, and Wellington has Cuba St – and this year’s CubaDupa honours the area’s diverse culinary culture with a street food festival with more than 90 vendors, including the muchloved Wellington Night Market.
With the who’s who of the scene pulling together over the weekend, visitors can eat their way around the globe and enjoy some rare treats.
Garage Project will have a popup food and beer garden at its new Marion St brewery, and has set up a stage to host live music. The team has also created a bespoke brew for the very first time, the aptly named CubaDupa, a strictly limited crisp NZ pilsener that will only be available in and around the festival site, with a supply stocked at Moore Wilson’s.
If you’re in the market for hearty American-style fare, El Matador, Fidels Cafe and Laundry are all dishing out some beefy barbecue. There’ll be Asian plates aplenty with Malaysian from Satay Palace, and Tontory’s Japanese dumplings and yakitori. For the third consecutive year, fine-dining establishment Logan Brown will buddy up with the Cuba St Fruit Mart stall, slinging out some irresistible paua fritter butties.
Amid the performances and throngs of foodies, those needing a little downtime, some chocolate, and (we expect, much needed) caffeine refuelling, can escape to Re:treat at Matchbox Studios. The mini pop-up market offers clean treats alongside an exhibition from street photographer Mary Hutchinson.