The Taste

The Hobart Summer Festival (HSF) is Tasmania’s premier summer event, offering over 28 diverse activities and events based in and around the historic Sullivans Cove.

The Taste of Tasmania (The Taste) (established in 1988), has been a major event within the HSF program and comprises a week of activities showcasing some of Tasmania’s best food, finest wine and beverages on over seventy stalls. In addition to the culinary delights, locals and visitors have the opportunity to enjoy music and entertainment across a combined total of four indoor and outdoor stages and watch international buskers perform on two outdoor pitches.

The 2008/2009 Festival promises to bring many new concepts and ideas. The Hobart Summer Festival will be merged with The Taste to become The Taste – Hobart’s Waterfront Festival. Event programming will be condensed into a shorter period and be consolidated in, and around, The Taste site in Sullivans Cove, thereby creating a more intensive event experience.

As the 2008/2009 Taste Festival celebrates 20 years of the Taste of Tasmania we will look back at the past and celebrate the event that ‘The Taste’ has become. We will also be looking forward to the future and working towards ensuring the long term sustainability of the Festival and all it encompasses. The Festival will celebrate food and culture on the waterfront, by providing a sophisticated program of diverse events – integrating many of the Hobart Summer Festival favourites and offering a range of activities which are free. The repositioned and reprogrammed site will add to the breadth of cultural experiences within the community and will bring a new and refreshed Festival program with an integrated, interactive approach. For eight days and nights, the sounds, sights and celebrations of The Taste Festival welcome hundreds of thousands of locals, interstate and international visitors to celebrate the Festival’s history and move into a new decade of community celebration.

As part of the new direction, The Taste Festival is looking to reprogram the Festival’s entertainment and cultural activities. In addition to music based stage performances and street theatre, the 2008/2009 Festival is looking to present food theatre, community performances, a resident DJ program, site specific installations, ephemeral art, local provenance food tours and workshops. The repositioning of the Festival and the new site layout is also looking to bring the waterfront together and to utilise the wharf, marina and Derwent River in a curated and directed celebration of 20 years of this much loved and supported local festival. It is envisaged that the whole site will be linked through integrated programming and the use of flags, lighting and structures.

There are several new initiatives being developed for the 2008/2009 Taste Festival offering new sponsorship opportunities, avenues for business partnerships, arts and programming possibilities and greater involvement for the community at large. We are keen to talk through any of the following opportunities, and to discuss ways for involvement.