This weekend should have been the 19th annual Cheese Festival.
It was supposed to be a weekend filled with cheesy goodness, wine, crackers and laughter - until Covid-19 reared its head and took all our fun away.
However, there's hope.
With lockdown in place, The South African Cheese Festival invites all festival friends to join them over the long weekend for a free virtual homebound festival on their Facebook page.
The South African Cheese Festival invites all festival friends to join them over the long weekend for a free virtual homebound festival on their Facebook page. Picture: Supplied
Speaking to Johan Ehlers, the Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Expo, he said that the main purpose of the festival is to create a platform for the cheesemakers in South Africa.
“This is a platform where they can introduce new and innovative products to the public and can get immediate feedback from 30 000 people over three days. Also to create a platform for entrepreneurs with related products such as honey, figs, nuts, etc.
"All of this in a safe environment where the family can relax the whole day, have a picnic, and listen to great music. We also want to transfer information and therefore we have created the Standard Bank Tasting Room, where we have different pairings of cheese with either wine, gin, beer and many more, as well as demo-areas where celebrity chefs share their creative cooking skills with cheese as an ingredient with the public,” said Ehlers.
Ever wondered what your perfect cheese platter should look like? Then don’t miss out on celebrity chefs Jenny Morris and Pete Goffe-Wood’s interactive demo on how they create theirs.
"Meet the makers of our artisanal cheeses during the small cheesemakers slot and find out from Alvi and Junel van der Merwe from Alvi’s Drift which cheeses pair best with Chenin Blanc. You’ll find the best cheesecake recipe and other easy cheesy recipes over the weekend,” he added.
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A post shared by SA Cheese Festival(@sacheesefest) on Apr 21, 2020 at 10:42am PDT
The festival will be live on the SA Cheese Festival Facebook page from Saturday 25 to Monday 27 April from 10am to 6pm.