Organisers of a culinary festival have supported a dairy’s decision to pull out, but festival-goers will still be able to indulge in more than 100 events.
The organisers of The Curated (side) Plate backed Maleny Dairies’ difficult decision to cancel their picnic, in light of the foot and mouth disease situation in Australia.
They said the move was a proactive and precautionary biosecurity measure to protect the health and wellbeing of the cows and calves in the local area.
Sunshine Coast Council Division 2 Councillor Terry Landsberg said council respected the decision and appreciated the importance of biosecurity.
He said there was still plenty on the table at the festival.
“The good news is there are still plenty of locations, activities, menus and price points to suit everyone, and many hidden gems to surprise visitors and locals.
“I encourage everyone to taste a bit of the Sunshine Coast and support our local businesses and producers given there are more than 400 food tourism operators on the Sunshine Coast.”
There will be more than 100 events at the 10-day festival, offering a taste of the Sunshine Coast to locals, intrastate, interstate and international visitors from July 29 to August 7.
Only a handful of tickets remain for popular events.
There are intentions to announce a new date for the Maleny Dairies event, outside of The Curated (side) Plate 2022 schedule, but ticket holders have been contacted directly and refunds issued.
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Maleny Dairies has cancelled tours on the property, along with the picnic.
“Australia is facing the potential risk of a foot and mouth disease outbreak,” the business said via social media.
“The biosecurity and the health and wellbeing of our cows and calves is of the upmost importance and it is for this reason we have decided to indefinitely cancel our dairy tours.
“This also means we have had to cancel this Saturday’s Maleny Dairy Picnic which formed part of the Sunshine Coast’s The Curated Plate culinary festival.
“We would like to thank you for your continued support, and we will advise you as soon as our tours are back up and running.”
The disease, which affects pigs, cattle, goats and sheep, was detected in Indonesia in May and spread to Bali this month.
The Curated Plate is an initiative of Sunshine Coast Council and supported by the Sunshine Coast Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) and Visit Sunshine Coast. The Curated (Side) Plate 2022 is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
To see the full calendar of culinary events, visit The Curated Plate.
