The Taste Festival, formerly the Taste of Tasmania, is an 8-day event spanning the end of the last year and the beginning of the next (that's Dec 28-Jan 4 to you plebs!). It's a mix of food stalls highlighting the produce of Tassie that has now been well padded out with art installations, short cinema, roving comedy, concerts and loads of free events. There are also the Sydney to Hobart yachts in dock which hold more interest to me now through the eyes of a fascinated toddler than ever when I was a kid myself.
Among the fun stuffs was the Mercury Kidz in the Park, in St David's Park yesterday - the highlight of which for us was the petting zoo. I fell in love with the jersey cow and the piebald donkey. Turkeys you can keep. Ugly buggers! There were performers too, such as George from Playschool (who I secretly wish I could've seen. I could so happily work on Playschool. Except for the whole not-living-in-Hobart bit of it. Maybe Andy Muirhead and I can do a Tassie version.)(If I knew him, that is.)
We missed seeing George from Playschool because we went over to the Cenotaph for the Hobart Kite Festival, which was a brilliant afternoon out. The Tasmanian Kite Club, or Kite Association of Tasmania, or whatever they called themselves, were selling $3 hotcakes: simple black or orange plastic kites, that were idiot-proof and great fun to fly. Loads of families with picnics, kids and old coots in suspenders (think Uncle Jessie from Dukes of Hazard) flying kites, a stunning blue sky and the panoramic view of Hobart, the bridge and the mountain. What a perfect afternoon!
