Local food luminaries meet at Eat by Northeast
Eat by Northeast (EAT x NE) is a local food festival and fundraiser that will take place at Oakledge Park in Burlington today through Sunday.
The event is organized and presented by The Skinny Pancake and Higher Ground. Eat by Northeast is built around contributions from numerous Vermont food and drink enterprises — from Hen of the Wood restaurant to Fletcher Allen Health Care — with sponsorship by many local businesses.
• Most festival events are free, including music by bands Josh Panda and the Hot Damned; The Felice Brothers, Dan Zanes and more. (Panda came up with the festival name, according to Jonny Adler, a riff on South by Southwest, the music festival in Austin, Texas.)
•More than two dozen free food-related workshops will be presented by businesses including Citizen Cider, City Market, Healthy Living and South End Kitchen. Among the workshops: Cultivating kitchen confidence; Roasted roots made easy and tasty; Eating local on a budget; Savory cooking with chocolate; Start your own community garden.
• Kids activities Saturday and Sunday are free and include sack races, hands-on science experiments and scavenger hunts. Musician Dan Zanes will perform at noon and 2 p.m. Sunday.
•The Brewhaha is 6 to 9 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Brewhaha tickets are $40.
Drinks from more than 20 breweries, cideries and wineries will be available. Among the breweries at the Brewhaha: Lawson's Finest Liquids, Lost Nation, Rock Art and Zero Gravity, and more. All Vermont cideries will be at the festival, according to organizers. Including: Boyden Valley Ice Cider, Citizen Cider, Hall Home Place and Shacksbury.
•The Great Harvest Supper has two sittings, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
The meal will feature whole-roasted calf, steer, goat and pig made by Hen of the Wood, Guild Commissary, Misery Loves Co., and Prohibition Pig. Side dishes will be prepared by Fletcher Allen Health Care, Pingala Cafe is providing vegan fare.
"It sounds cool to me," said Tom Deckman, the Guild's meat smoker. He will be one of the all-night animal roasters at Oakledge Park. "I guess being present is a state of mind at 2 in the morning."
Great Harvest Supper tickets: $40 adults, $15 children
Tickets for the Brewhaha and Great Harvest Supper will be available at Oakledge Park, or can be purchased in advance online. Music, workshops, children's activities and hanging out in the park are free.
The Skinny Pancake, which brought together food luminaries to organize and run the festival, is the driving force behind Eat by Northeast. The festival will cost more than $100,000 to produce, according to Skinny Pancake owner Benjy Adler.
Information and tickets:www.eatxne.com
If you go:
What: Eat by Northeast(EAT x NE)
When: Today through Sunday
Where: Oakledge Park in Burlington
Featuring: Live music, food workshops/demonstrations, children's activities (free). Beer festival and harvest supper (tickets required).
Presented by: The Skinny Pancake and Higher Ground
Fundraiser for: ECHO, Intervale, Slow Food Vermont, Vermont Community Garden Network, Vermont FEED.
Information: www.eatxne.com