Back after a two-year break, this long weekend all roads lead to the popular South African Cheese Festival in Stellenbosch. Cheesemakers and agricultural entrepreneurs are inviting you to go and enjoy their local offerings from handmade cheeses, selected wines, craft beer and gin, and other niche products, all while jamming to great music.
While the festival was presented this past weekend for the first time since 2019 as a pop-up festival at Groote Post outside Darling, it is Stellenbosch’s turn this weekend, from Saturday 30 April to Monday 2 May 2022.
The festival is presented at Sandringham outside Stellenbosch and starts daily from 10:00 to 18:00.
Johan Ehlers, CEO of Agri-Expo, organiser of the SA Cheese Festival since 2002 says that they are incredibly excited to host the festival again.
“It is a wonderful experience to create this platform for cheesemakers and agricultural entrepreneurs to promote their products to a wider audience,” Ehlers said.
Some of the exciting things that festivalgoers can look forward to include a wide variety of exhibitors offering local, international, and handmade cheeses, selected wines, craft beer and gin, as well as niche products for tasting and sale.
New products will also be launched. Ehlers says they range from “goat’s milk cheese spread to CBD infused rooibos, ‘eikesap’ gin infused with acorns, red wine and rosemary herbal salt, biltong jam with habanero honey, and even ‘wine teeth’.”
View the exhibitors’ list here.
Travel, taste and relax with music
The festival is known for its amazing entertainment and this year the programme is offering festival goers everything and more.
It includes the long-time favourite Ladismith Cheese carving competition with more than 7kg of cheese at stake.
Furthermore, well-known personalities who will host the Standard Bank Travel and Taste experiences during the festival include chef Tiaan Langenegger of kykNET’s “Tiaan Proe”, his actor friend Neels van Jaarsveld, chef Jenny Morris and sommelier Spencer Fondaumiere, author-chef Isabella Niehaus, as well as wine experts Junel van der Merwe, Heinrich Stipp and Ed Beukes.
Guests must register an hour in advance for these popular tastings to secure a ticket for a session at no extra cost.
Then on music duty are Die Heuwels Fantasties, Watershed, Ard Matthews, Will Linley, Flat Stanley, and Kurt Darren.
Bring festival friends
Visit Webtickets at https://bit.ly/SACheeseFest to book.
Tickets cost R290 per day and include an exclusive festival tasting glass. Tickets can be bought on Webtickets and only a limited number of tickets will be on sale at the gate, no cash.
Admission is free for children 12 years and younger. No Covid-19 access restrictions apply. A #FestivalFriends offer is valid for the public holiday on Monday 2 May with each ticket giving access to not just one, but two people.
Visit the South African Cheese Festival website for more information and a detailed breakdown of the weekend’s programme.
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