Innovative, genuine and down right delicious, South African street food just keeps getting better, and a culinary capital like Cape Town wouldn’t celebrate amazing local fare any other way than with a festival.
The fourth annual Visa Street Food Festival will be bringing some of South Africa’s most supreme chefs and food makers to the Side Street Studious in Woodstock on Saturday 2 September, with the launch of it’s first ever night market. The food-loving doesn’t stop there, as the festival continues on to Sunday 3 September, with a day filled to the brim with scrumptious street food, live DJ’s and free talks.
The festival’s Business of Food themed conference, Visa Food Studio, will be bringing together premier chefs and speakers for a day of interactive tastings, workshops and demonstrations.
Director Hannerie Visser says “street food is something everyone can relate with, and South Africans have always been fans of informal dining, whether it’s pancakes at a church bazaar or bunny chow in a corner shop. With more food trucks than ever popping up, the festival will not only give visitors the chance to taste all their favourite foods, but also create a platform where food makers can educate visitors.”
Test your knowledge at the Hot Sauce Library, or enjoy the long table session with Chef PJ Vadas of the Hoghouse at Spier wine farm. Learn a thing or two from sausage master Josh de Kock’s talk, or amp up your sweet-stuff know-how with a talk from cake designer extraordinaire, Nikki Albertyn.
What’s even better at this year’s festival, is that you can get your hands on your grub even quicker with Visa’s partnership with the festival this year. Thembeka Ngugi, senior director of marketing for Sub-Saharan Africa, says that Visa is proud to be partnering with the festival for the first time as headline sponsor.
“With Visa’s payWave enabled cards and connected mobile devices, this year’s festival will be the first to go cashless. Visa’s easy-to-use and secure tap and go technology will make sampling authentic street food easier than ever.”
See and hear speakers like food blogger Ming Cheau Lin and pâtisserie chef Nikki Albertyn among the lineup of speakers at the festival. Chefs Wesley Randles of award -winning restaurant The Shortmarket Club and Andy Fenner of Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants will be offering up a taste of their Convivum – a showcase of local food, chefs and producers – at the festival for the first time.
Keeping the good tunes rolling and the atmosphere lively, some of South Africa’s best musical talents will be getting the festival groove ignited with acts like Dope Saint Jude, Felix Laband, K-$, DJ Okapi and more.
Two days before the event, food-makers will be able to attend an exclusive conference held at Workshop 17 at the V&A Waterfront. On 31 August, the Visa Food Studio will offer a workshop that aims to empower food-makers with all of the necessary tools and knowledge to transform their passion into a career. The hands-on conference offers tastings, workshops, demonstrations and talks, and all you need to know on sustainable food practices to getting a new business off the ground. Tickets for the conference are priced at R1 500.
R50 gets your into the Saturday market (2 September), festival doors open at 5pm and close at 9pm. R100 will get you admission to the Sunday market (3 September) and a full day vendors, free talks and live DJ’s from 9am to 4pm.
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Grab your tickets here (if you pay with Visa Checkout, you’ll get 10% off your ticket price!) Tickets will also be available at the door.
Photography Courtesy