Cape Gourmet Festival gains global weight with new international accolades

The Gourmet Festival, South Africa's premier culinary event held annually in Cape Town (9 - 25 May 2003) and Gauteng (3 - 19 October 2003), has just been voted as the African member of the World Gourmet Club, whilst the festival's pinnacle event, the Good Food and Wine Show, has been appointed as sole agent in Africa for the annual BBC Good Food Show.This blue chip involvement will encourage international visibility, growth and expansion by offering South African exhibitors favourable rates to participate in this world-renowned Show which attracts more than 300 000 visitors annually in London and Birmingham.

The Gourmet Festival offers special exhibition packages to local exhibitors who wish to showcase their products at the BBC Good Food Show, that include assistance with conceptualisation, stand building, stand bookings as well as travel arrangements.

The Swiss based World Gourmet Club is an umbrella organisation for top-level international gourmet events and includes elite food festivals in Australia, America and Singapore, giving new meaning to the concept of global gourmet tourism.

"We are very excited to have been invited to join this prestigious international gourmet summit which aims to cultivate relations in the field of high quality cuisine and to facilitate and promote the international exchange of culinary expertise and collaboration between chefs," said Christine Cashmore, Director of the Cape Gourmet Festival.

On the local front, the demand for more exhibitor space after phenomenal growth of over 70% in attendance figures over the past three years, has necessitated the addition of another 300m² to the 6th annual Good Food and Wine Show, which will be held in Cape Town's Good Hope Centre from 22-25 May.

An entire exhibition hall of the Centre will be allocated to the Good Taste Wine Theatre and up-market wine and spirits exhibitions and workshops when the Festival throws its spotlight on South Africa's world-class wine industry at this year's Show. It will be the first time that the entire Centre will be utilised to its full potential for the Good Food and Wine Show.

Another addition on the wine front includes the all new Swiss International Air Lines Wine Awards, focussing on smaller and lesser-known wine estates, which will be judged by a panel of local and international judges, within separate categories at the Show. The Awards will include sponsorships of two local winemaking trainees to attend this year's London Wine Awards and the winning wines will be showcased under the SWISS International Air Lines label at the upcoming London Wine Trade fair.

"The Show has entered a new phase to the benefit of exhibitors and consumers, creating more exhibition space to optimise opportunities for interaction, added value for money and enhancing the quality of events," Cashmore said.

Cutting-edge exhibits of both established and brand new products, innovative appliances, live presentations, food and wine matching action, hands-on workshops and a feast of taste temptations, make the Good Food & Wine the most cost-effective face-to-face marketing and sales tool for exhibitors in the food, wine and hospitality industries.

The Good Food and Wine Show runs from 22-25 May in Cape Town's Good Hope Centre followed by the 3rd Gauteng Show which runs from 16-19 October in Gallagher Estate. For information and stand bookings, contact the Gourmet Festival offices at Tel: (021) 465 0069, Fax: (021) 461 0294, Email: or visit www.gourmetsa.com.