Indianapolis community members will have a chance to brush up on their cooking skills, sample food from local vendors and enjoy demonstrations from celebrity chefs this weekend at the in-augural Fantastic Food Fest.
The Fantastic Food Fest is a two-day culinary extravaganza featuring food exhibitors, cooking presentations, tastings, workshops, book signings and appearances by TV food personalities including Indiana native chef Ted Allen and other celebrities, put together by Circle City Expos and Indiana Grown.
The festival will take place at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the Champion Pavilion, Jan. 16 – 17 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Leslie Swathwood, co-founder of Circle City Expos says the com-pany has been planning the festival for three years but it was all about the right timing.
Swathwood says her and her husband would plan trips to attend events across the country and saw the need to bring something even better to Indianapolis.
“We thought ‘oh this is neat, we need to try to do something like that’, but at the time we were thinking about doing that, we [Indiana] were still really know as a chain-restaurant town,” said Swathwood.
Swathwood says she believes this year Indianapolis is ready.
“The food scene in greater Indianapolis and central Indiana in general has significantly changed over the years. I think we have a much more diverse array of restaurants, both local and chains. We have a lot more independent restaurants than we ever have,” said Swathwood.
The festival will present over 200 exhibitors ranging from fine food to beverages. Chef Loreal Gavin, of Indianapolis, and winner of season 8 of the Food Network’s cooking competition Cut-throat Kitchen says her Indiana roots have inspired her to make a treat that everyone is sure to love.
”I’m creating something that is near and dear to my heart, which is my grandmother’s recipe for apple dumplings so I’m going to be warming people up from the inside out while also adding new twist to it,” Gavin said.
General admission tickets are $15 for a day or $25 for both days which allow guests into the show, access all the demonstrations, guest speakers and more. V.I.P tickets are also available while supplies last for a price tag of $55 for both days, which grant access to a V.I.P lounge with a live jazz band, private food displays, cocktail and coffee bars, reserved sitting for demos and more.
Tickets are available online at FantasticFoodFest.com and at the door. Children 12 and under are free with an adult.
