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Sneak a quick look into the colourful history of this popular festival - you'll wish you were part of the action right from the start:
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2011
Almost 32 000 visitors celebrated the 10th SA Cheese Festival at a brand new venue, Sandringham, with more cheese and other exhibitors than previous years. The layout consisted of four sections, the Dairy Square, Carnival Park, Meander and Waterfront. In the intimate and interactive atmosphere of the DStv Food Theatre and the BBC Lifestyle Network workshop several culinary greats shared their secrets and showed off their skills with a host of awe inspiring demonstrations. Kids loved the fun activities at the Wilde Fruit Juice Kiddies Corner and DStv Kids. In the largest ever air cooled Checkers Cheese Emporium, visitors did not only taste cheese and other delectable products, but approximately 8000 fans of the Checkers line-up of hosts including Nataniël, Brümilda van Rensburg, Shaleen Surtie Richards and the Giggling Gourmet, Jenny Morris, sat down at the Living Table. |
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2010
Thousands of cheese lovers from far and wide celebrated the good life at the 2010 SA Cheese Festival over the long weekend. The festival kicked off with a bang on Saturday 24 April and kept its momentum until the very end of this four day event. Highlights included the quirks and culinary skills of celebrities such as Nataniël, Soli Philander, Diaan Lawrence and Jody Abrahams who drew capacity crowds to the Checkers Theatre and Cooking Pot, the 200 000th visitor, the wide variety of sumptuous cheeses, creative related products as well as a fun filled programme of events and entertainment for young and old.
Part of the success of this event rests on the limiting of visitor numbers per day. This was the last time the SA Cheese Festival was presented at Bien Donné, as the 10th anniversary of this sought after culinary event will be celebrated at Agri-Expo’s farm Sandringham on the N1, halfway between Cape Town and Paarl.
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2009
The strict limitation on attendance numbers and the fact that no tickets were sold at the gates, enhanced the enjoyment of the public. Despite rain on Saturday, the festival drew almost 29 000 visitors and on three days tickets were sold out (8 000 visitors are allowed per day). The festival had the most exhibitors ever, the most new small cheeseries and a record number of tasty related products.
The fun menu for the young ones also grew to include entertainment with favourite cartoon characters, music and games. And the cherry on top: the Festival was once again named the “best exhibition for trade and consumer in Southern Africa in the category 12 001m² and over” by EXSA.
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2008
Size does matter! This one was the biggest festival in the seven years of its existence in all respects: number of visitors, number of exhibitors as well as the utilisation of the extended space at the venue.
Checkers came on board as the new main sponsor and kept their advertising promise by bringing a ‘World of Cheese' to the Festival dished up by outstanding chefs and celebrities. No less than 48 demonstrations kept packed audiences riveted in the Surepure Cooking Pot and Absa Cheese and Wine theatre.
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2007
The judges were as happy as the 26 000 visitors (despite pouring rain on the first two days)! The Festival received the EXSA award for "best exhibition for trade and consumer in Southern Africa in the category 12 001m2 and over".
Visitors had more than 400 different cheeses to choose from and the Absa Cheese and Wine Route replaced the Workshop.
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2006
Agri-Expo found the winning recipe: a good balance between happy exhibitors and number of visitors. The media embraced the Festival and gave exposure worth R19,5 million.
Two new additions, The Mall and the Fair Cape Alfresco Corner, with fresh milk and entertainment for the youngsters, gave visitors a still wider scope of enjoyment.
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2005
Still the Festival grew and drew more than 26 500 visitors. Due to the overwhelming interest in the festival the organisers took several precautionary measures to ensure a pleasant experience for every festival goer. The Absa Cheese Workshop was expanded and sponsors and media representatives were treated in the Simonsig VIP tent.
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2004
The Festival boasted a new identity and logo and 22 000 people came to taste and enjoy. The visitor numbers were monitoblue to improve the flow of people and to enable the small cheese makers to cope better with the number of tasters.
The width of the passages in the Emporium was doubled; a Cheese Market and Market Square with 26 exhibitors were introduced; the Gourmet lane now housed 31 top restaurants and wine cellars and the Milk Factory and Kiddies Corner were enlarged. A Cheese Workshop was added, housing 150 visitors at a sitting, for six sessions per day.
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2003
20 000 people visited the Festival which was now held over 4 days. The Emporium and Gourmet Lane were doubled in size, 19 illustrious chefs participated in the kitchen and the Milk Factory was added.
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2002
The 1st South African Cheese Festival was held at Bien Donné under the Agri-Expo flag for the three days of 26 to 28 April. 12 000 people arrived to inspect the newcomer on the gourmet scene. The Festival boasted a Cheese Emporium, Gourmet Lane, Celebrity Chefs’ Kitchen and Kiddies Corner.
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