When music fans from across the country descend on Adelaide later this month to get a taste of Harvest Rock II, they are also going to get a taste of South Australia’s best food and beverages.
The two-day festival has locked in some of the state’s best chefs and restaurants, including Africola chef Duncan Welgemoed and drinks curator Nick Stock.
The new Wildwoods Village food precinct will feature a pop-up version of Africola, adding to a total of 14 restaurants and cafes on offer, including a modern delicatessen, Thai, Filipino, pizza, fried chicken, and a smokehouse.
Some of the eateries involved include Bottega Bandito, Dirty Doris, Pizza Reggina, The Filipino Project, Ragi’s Spice Kitchen, Salopian Inn, Shibui, Smokin’ Grillers, Thai BBQ House, and Thirsty Tiger.
Last year’s popular Truck Town also returns, with 18 food trucks all highlighting seasonal and local produce.
The popular Cellar Door will also return, offering more than double the local wines on offer compared to the festival’s inaugural year. Curated by Nick Stock, festivalgoers can discover more than 100 wines from 25 of South Australia’s finest wine purveyors.
In 2022, Harvest Rock generated a return to the tune of $16.5 million in total economic activity for Adelaide, saw almost one third of festivalgoers attend from out-of-state, and drove hotel room bookings over the weekend (Friday-Saturday) to their highest for the year.
The event returns to South Australia after last year’s debut, which featured headline acts Crowded House, Jack White, Groove Armada, The Avalanches, Kurt Vile, Hot Chip, Angus & Julia Stone, and Goanna.
This year’s line-up promises to deliver again with exclusive Australian performances from funk, soul, and acid jazz master, Jamiroquai as well as Beck.
Other acts include Nile Rogers & Chic, Flight Facilities, Chromeo, Ladyhawke, and Australian legend, Paul Kelly.
Tickets for the event, on October 28 and 29, have been snapped up by 37% interstate visitors and 63% of South Australians.
Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison said last year’s inaugural event brought almost 24,000 festival goers to the heart of Adelaide, with nearly one-third of those visiting from out-of-state and it is really exciting to welcome back more interstate visitors again later this month.
“South Australia knows how to put on a party, and we saw from last year’s Harvest Rock that people love the idea of a festival with world-class artists, amazing food and beverages, and a great vibe,” Minister Bettison said.
Secret Sounds co-CEO, Jessica Ducrou said it is super exciting to welcome the Africola gang to Harvest Rock, one of Adelaide’s finest restaurants.
“We are awed by Duncan’s enthusiasm and all-round awesome work advocating South Australia’s best in show food offerings alongside the sublime beverage curation of legend Nick Stock will make for a weekend to remember,” Ms Ducrou said.
“Harvest will rock indeed!!”
Africola Chef, Duncan Welgemoed said South Australia is on show once again and teaming up with some of the best food and booze folks in the state with the music festival gurus of Secret Sounds, makes this a pretty iconic collaboration across the board.
“There is a strong community amongst the vendors and winemakers already, add a couple of bands, makes this the craziest party of the year,” Mr Welgemoed said.
“We are super lucky to have some incredible talent at Harvest Rock II this year and also a few first time ever festival activations such as Salopian Inn and Dirty Doris Diner.
“We really wanted to showcase the famous joints and the hidden treasures of SA dining and no better place to do it than at a huge Rock Festival.”
