A renowned Sunshine Coast chef will take on a key role for a bumper nine-day food festival next year.
Peter Kuruvita will be the culinary director for Curated Plate Food and Drink Festival, to provide more support for local chefs and venues on conceptualising ideas for events, particularly around menu development using local products.
The festival won Best Small Regional Event at the 2024 Australian Event Awards.
Mr Kuruvita said he was keen to start talking to industry partners about their event concepts.
“I’m excited to become more involved in The Curated Plate in 2025, particularly to provide guidance and share my knowledge and skills with local chefs and producers, if that’s what they would like,” he said.
“I hope to influence and guide the festival program to ensure we curate the best possible festival of events to showcase both local chef talent and produce and promote the Sunshine Coast as a fantastic food and drink destination.”
Chefs, food producers tourism operators, venue managers, restaurant owners and agri-tourism experience operators have been invited to take part of next year’s festival.
The festival, to be held from July 25 to August 3, will celebrate local produce, talent, collaboration, food and drink, with the stunning backdrop of the region’s natural landscapes.
The 2024 event attracted more than 7000 attendees to 85 events thanks to local businesses, producers and venues who participated in the region-wide culinary showcase.
Expressions of interest are open for potential industry partners to submit their event concepts to become part of the 2025 program.
Interested parties can visit The Curated Plate website and head to the TCP Partners page for more information and to put forward event concepts. The deadline for submissions is December 6.
The festival is an initiative of Sunshine Coast Council, supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism & Events Queensland, the Food and Agribusiness Network and Visit Sunshine Coast.
Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli said the festival created opportunities that strengthened our economy.
“We are looking to create a program full of diverse experiences for locals and visitors with extraordinary events that take place in unique settings, from our farms to beaches, from our breweries to distilleries,” she said.
“We also want our local restaurants to participate and do something special for The Curated Plate.
“They may consider changing their menu to feature Sunshine Coast local produce, to help tell the story of our vibrant food culture and showcase Queensland’s Sunshine Pantry.
“This industry-driven event is one of many delivered for the Sunshine Coast and aligns with key actions within council’s Major Events Strategy and the Regional Economic Development Strategy.
“Food and agribusiness has been identified as a key high-value industry in our Production Economy, which is one of the six high value economies identified for growth as we target a $33 billion economy by 2033.’’
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