Janet De Neefe is pounding fresh spices in a mortar and pestle in her kitchen in Ubud, Bali. There’s candelnuts, and coriander seeds, black peppercorns, red shallots, garlic, chillies, lemongrass stalks, galangal, fresh turmeric, lime leaves and palm sugar.
The aromas have my tastebuds on fire.
The Melbourne ex-pat is about to make one of her favourite Indonesian dishes – a mouth-watering golden kare ayam (chicken curry) as well as an assortment of other spicy and fragrant side dishes.
On the other side of Janet’s kitchen bench, and looking somewhat out-of-place, is a large jar of Vegemite – a reminder of Australia and her home for the first 25 years of her life.
“Vegemite reminds me of home – of course – and I love it on toast for breakfast,” Janet says, “but it’s the exotic Indonesian cuisine that’s captured my heart.”
From the moment the Melbourne teenager stepped off a plane in Bali in 1975 she was fascinated with the food and culture of The Island of the Gods. “I was besotted with the mouth-watering cuisine. It was just so different to what we were used to in Australia,” she says.

Janet De Neefe surrounded by some of her favourite Balinese ingredients.

Janet returned to Bali in 1984, and on only the second day of her holiday, she met her future husband, Ketut Suadarna. One chapter of her life closed and another opened and five years later the couple were married. Over the next 30 years, and with no formal culinary training, Janet (with the help of Ketut and her family) has built a food ’empire’ in Ubud of which many successful restauranteurs would be envious.
In 1987, and after learning as much as she could about Indonesian food from her sister-in-law, the couple opened their first restaurant – Lilies – in the famed Monkey Forest Road. In 1990 they established the Honeymoon Bakery and Guesthouse and in subsequent years Janet and Ketut opened two more restaurants – Casa Luna and Indus – as well as the Honeymoon Kitchen which operates from their guesthouse.
There’s also the popular Casa Luna Cooking School that attracts tourists from around the world keen to learn about Indonesian cuisine; the highly successful Ubud Food Festival which Janet started in 2015 and more recently, the exotic Spice Island Cruises.
Janet and Ketut also own a homewares store – Casa Luna Emporium – and in 2002 Janet started the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival as a way to draw tourists back to the island following the Bali bombings.
And if that’s not enough on their plate, the couple also have four children – Dewi 27, Krishna 25, Laksmi 22 and Arjuna 20.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Janet De Neefe, her husband Ketut Suadarna and children (from left) Krishna, Dewi, Laksmi and Arjuna at a recent ceremony in their Ubud home.

“I’m crazy about Indonesian food, which I feel is totally underrated,” Janet says. “I want to put a spotlight on this exotic spicy cuisine, which I describe as the ‘Italian food of the east’. It nourishes you from the inside out and is very medicinal. We don’t used canned or processed food and all our spice pastes are made from scratch with fresh ingredients sourced daily from the local markets. At the moment I’m crazy about jackfruit curry, I love smoked duck and my passion is baking sourdough bread with a host of different and unusual ingredients.”
Janet’s baking obsession has led her to invite sourdough ‘guru’ Chad Robertson from San Francisco to attend next year’s Food Festival, which will be held on April 26, 27 and 28.

An Indian Feast at the Ubud Food Festival.

Since its inception four years ago, the festival has grown into south/east Asia’s leading culinary event, showcasing Indonesia’s diverse cuisines, extraordinary local produce and shining a spotlight on culinary heroes – both new and established.
From the opening night party to the final mouthful, this year’s event held in April and presented by ABC was enjoyed by more than 12,000 hungry foodies – a 30 percent increase on last year’s attendance.
“The festival has seen enormous success and even though it’s mainly an Indonesian audience, it’s also attracting lots of westerners as well,” Janet says.
Janet’s latest food adventure, her famed Spice Island Cruises focuses on a small, but lucky group of foodies and adventurers who set sail on the high seas on an old-fashioned teak Indonesian pirate ship across stunningly clear tropical seas from Ambon to Banda Neira. Banda Neira lies in the middle of 10 small, sun-drenched volcanic islands scattered in the wind-swept Banda Seas, 200km from Ambon. “To arrive by water makes it nothing short of magical,” says Janet.
From snorkelling and diving in pristine waters full of some of the world’s most diverse marine life, to onboard cooking demonstrations led by Janet, to visiting the famous Run Islands which were home to the best nutmeg plantations in the world in the 16th Century, passengers are taken on an odyssey to a part of the world that still remains largely untouched. (The next cruise, by the way, is scheduled for November.)

SET SAIL: Janet and her son Krishna enjoy life ou on the high seas, on a Spice Islands cruise.

So what’s next for Janet De Neefe?
Well, there’s cooking tours to the Komodo Islands and other eastern regions of Indonesia, and knowing this indomitable woman, probably a few other secret plans as well.
With such a hectic schedule, how does she find the energy to keep going?
“Daily yoga and the gym keep me physically fit, food nourishes my body and the spiritual side of Bali keeps me grounded and centred,” she says, before she shares one more secret: “Oh and a glass or two of wine is always a good idea.”

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For Mullum Music Festival Director Glenn Wright, when it comes to creating events it’s about keeping it ‘small and beautiful’. In fact, this humbler, and quieter approach to the big personality world of Festival Directors is the hallmark of Wright’s creative stamp. He loves making little festivals, and the model is paying off, with Bellingen’s signature event Bello Winter Music about to hit its fifth year and a new festival for Bendigo in April 2019.

This year, he says, he’s excited about Bombino coming to the festival: “I’ve been working on getting Bombino out for a few years now. Earlier this year the New York Times wrote an article on Bombino and announced him as the next biggest thing on the international world music scene. Back in the early 90’s I remember the same heralding of Youssu Ndour in the same way. I”m just over the moon that they’re coming to Australia.”

Glenn Wright – Director of the Mullum Music Festival

After 16 years of running the Harbourside Brasserie – one of Sydney’s most iconic venues through the 80’s and 90’s – Glenn is passionate about music. In fact when he moved to Mullum with his partner to have their first child in 2003, he was still running Vitamin Records, the label he had created for artists he believed “had fallen through the cracks”.

“I took on artists who hadn’t had much traction, their work wasn’t mainstream, so it wasn’t pop, it was across genres, and it was building,” Glenn says. “Then digital downloads hit the music industry and finally subscription music, significantly changing the role of the record label.” It was this change in industry, his long history with the Sydney music scene and his experience creating Live Bait back in Bondi in 2003 that seeded the First Mullum Music Festival which is now in its 11^th year. “In Sydney when I was booking the Brasserie, there were lots of great venues, like The Basement, and the Landsdowne,” he says. “I thought wouldn’t that be fun to mimic that in a small regional town, having all those venues in one precinct – you could have a music party each day!”

Although it was the advent of the digital era that really slowed down his record label, Glenn saw this as an opportunity to build a festival to offer people something real. “In this modern day people love the real thing,” says Glenn. “They love to touch the real thing, everything is so digital or it’s on Youtube – so to put on a music arts festival and have people see feel and touch music is very special. I think its more important than ever because of the way most people tend to live their lives through a screen. A music festival succeeds best when you put your screen down and get up and dance.” A good festival, according to Glenn, is a digital detox.

Glenn believes that smaller events like Mullum Music offer something different to the big events. “Small Festivals can really put love into particular interesting and fun aspects of a festival,” says Glenn, “whether it’s comedy sessions, or outdoor theatre or small piano bars of that kind of thing. If you try and do that at a massive festival of 50 000 it just doesn’t work. It only works when you have a smaller audience. Woodford is the only large festival that still really manages to profile small and beautiful performances.”

Mullum Music Festival operates for four days in November –usually the third Thursday to Sunday, attracting around 8000 people with about 2500 in attendance each day, with 500 on opening night. What is different about Mullum Music is that it engages people from the community to participate, even if they haven’t purchased a ticket. “Around 2000 people come for the free events at the farmers market to the pop up performances, the markets and the Sunday street parade,” says Glenn.

The Sunday Street parade is something special. It’s not like a usual town parade where you stand on the sidelines and watch. This one is New Orleans inspired and features a cacophony of horns that invite thousands of passerbys to come together and dance. “I love the authenticity of the street parade,” says Glenn. “I’m an old trombone player and we bring together musicians from the festival, and community members. The parade is an invitation to get involved. People do it because they love music and want to be part of it. A couple of years ago the street parade got rolling and the California Honey Drops turned up and joined in, Harry Angus plays with us most years. There is this incredible connection between fans and the people working on the festival and the festival artists – there’s this powerful inclusiveness and enormous respect.”

Mulum Street Parade. Photography: Evan Malcolm.

Each year Glenn programs a festival that not only reaches out towards international and national profile acts, but also draws down on the strong base of local talent. “I watched the Sydney festival and it was always disheartening to see the lack of local artists perform at that festival, and it was almost a month where local musicians had to go interstate to find a gig, I don’t know if it’s the same now, but putting on a concert you can put on your internationals and nationals, but if you put on a festival you have to engage your local artists – otherwise it seems opportunistic and a bit mean, artists in a regional area want to get their art out and playing Mullum Music Festival gives them a chance to meet artists from other regions and get out and perform in major cities.’

One of the key features of Mullum Music Festivals is its knack for booking emerging artists just before they break through on the world stage. Tash Sultana played Mullum just two years back, now she’s in demand on the World stage. Parcels who came through the mentorship program are playing shows in Europe to hundreds of thousands of people.

“We focus on career artists who may have been through it and artists who may be about to go through the next step,”  says Glenn. “If you’re a music lover and you want to find the next Tash Sultana, then a boutique festival is a good place to start, if you are a real music fan and you know all about the music scene you’ll know Susannah Espie is one of the best singers in the country and she’s playing Mullum this year. We are not guided by who is the most popular act of the day but who will be in the future and who has an impressive career already. We delve into a lot of different genres, if you like diverse genres of music then this is the festival for you.”

Bombino – on this year’s list for Mullum Music Festival.

Mullum Music Festival 15 – 18 November. For line up info and tix go to Mullum Music Festival

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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s search for new sounds – especially natural or “found” sounds – leads him to standing outside in the rain with a plastic bucket over his head, listening to the noise the drops make as they land.

The film Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, screening at the Byron Bay Film Festival, documents that obsessive search and how it fuels Sakamoto’s compositions, along with much else about the innovative musician, activist, writer, actor and dancer.

We watch – and listen – as he slides a violin bow across a cymbal’s edge, pounds a hollow log and plucks away at a piano that has been “warped and frayed” by its drowning in the tsunami that devastated Fukushima in 2011 – the focus of Sakamoto’s other preoccupation, the insanity of the world’s embrace of the nuclear option, be it for power or weaponry.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Searching for new sounds.

His artistry and activism are intertwined and the search always uncovers something more than sound: in the film it takes him, thrillingly, to the Arctic and to Africa. Seeking to answer the question “why are we such a violent species?” he travels to Northern Kenya, to the site where Turkana Boy – the oldest human remains – were found. “It’s where we all came from,” he says. “The African Exodus started with a family group of about 30 – our universal ancestors. We are all ‘African’. So the notion of race is a false concept.”

And in music he finds a commonality: “Africa is a vast continent but it has one universal rhythm pattern. That family shared one language, one music … the first sounds we made as humans, our original language. What songs were sung? What was our first language?”

He is struck by the “minimal and modest” community living there still, and gleefully reports recording “some great sounds” at the site, and using them “at length in my song Only Love Can Conquer Hate”.

Sakamoto is fascinated by water and in the Arctic Circle he tramps across boulders and snow to drill down through the ice to locate water running below – the sound of snow melting. He is “fishing” for the sound, he says, and records it, capturing “the purest sound I have ever heard”. He incorporates these pellucid tinkles into a later work, Glacier, along with the tingshas, or Tibetan hand cymbals he plays within that wind-swept realm.

This mixture of natural sounds and instrumentation creates “a sonic blending that is both chaotic and unified”, and segments of it within the film, alongside his calm and modest musings, make Coda an enriching aesthetic and meditative experience. For the sounds all have a significance beyond the merely aural – in the Arctic he is “at the frontlines of global warming” the melting snow below the ice a sound from a pre-industrial age, when the Earth was a healthier place. Footage of these expeditions pre-dates a diagnosis of throat cancer in 2014 – something that made him put a compositional project on hold, and indeed stop playing altogether.

But in their expansiveness – in the breadth of Sakamoto’s curiosity and wonder at nature – they mirror the expansiveness that comes as he re-emerges into creativity, into composition once again, despite the cancer.

Despite a diagnosis of throat cancer Sakomoto keeps creating.

A humble heroism is revealed: while ill he remained active in the anti-nuclear fight, and towards the film’s end he is brave enough to enter the contamination zone around Fukushima, and walk along the seafront, his Geiger counter going off the scale. The camera circles him repeatedly, expressing the giddy sensation of absorbing the unbelievable reality of a radio-active ocean.

It is a gross example of humanity’s impact on nature: Sakamoto sees that impact everywhere, even in the magnificent piano he composes on – an instrument only made possible by the Industrial Revolution which created machines capable of exerting the tremendous pressure needed to bend the wood out of its natural shape to suit the tastes of humanity.

The tsunami piano takes on a new significance: a chord he has played on it leaps out as he is listening to his latest composition. It sounds damaged, melancholic – a bit like the composer himself – but fits perfectly into the musical work. And, he suggests, the piano’s transformation in the tsunami is one in which nature reasserts itself, slowly taking the man-made object back to its natural state.

Sakamoto is probably best known in the West as the composer of scores for films such as Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky, and these are lovingly referenced here. But his work since, and even very recently, is more significant: richer and more meaningful.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda will be of interest to anyone concerned with current Japan, or with nuclear power, or even those interested in witnessing a man’s response to cancer. Fans of his music will gain an understanding of the beautiful spirit of its creator.

For them, and all music lovers, and anyone interested in the creative process, it is especially mesmerising.

By Digby Hildreth

The Infinite World of Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama is revered the world over for her extraordinary repetitive patterns and her ‘dotty’ paintings.

Kusama – Infinity, a 17-year project conceived by American filmmaker Heather Lenz, brings Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s fascinating journey to life through rich imagery, archival material interspersed with great snapshots from 1960s America—media imagery, archival video footage and photographs—together with short interviews with key museum figures and Kusama’s long-time friends and associates. Importantly, the narrative includes readings and interviews with the artist and revealing insights into her art practice. The film presents a chronological overview of a colourful life—a story of struggle, of hard times and above all, one of fierce ambition.

Today, Yayoi Kusama (b.1929 Matsumoto, Japan) is the most successful living female artist, although this is a relatively recent accolade. It is only in the past 30 years of her prolific career that she has gained greater recognition for her contribution to contemporary art. Her practice is far-ranging: painting, sculpture, fashion designer, installation, collage, performance art, film, poetry, novels and anthologies. In 1968, she starred in her award-winning film Kusama’s Self-Obliteration (directed by experimental filmmaker Jud Yalkut). In 1969, she opened a boutique and in 2012 co-created the Louis Vuitton + Yayoi Kusama Collection.

Kusama – Infinity affirms the artist’s important contribution to the story of art; her unrelenting desire to succeed (against the odds)—with little support from her family (and eventual repudiation), many years of patchy interest from gallerists, ongoing illness and intense competition from the male-dominated art scene in 1960s New York.

Yayoi Kusama and some of her more recent Infinity Nets…

Central to the narrative is the formative New York years (1958–73). Lenz acknowledges Georgia O’Keeffe’s importance and the adoration Kusama received from the reclusive genius Joseph Cornell. While Kusama failed to achieve the fame she so eagerly desired in the 1960s and a fraction of that enjoyed by her male counterparts—Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Jackson Pollock— she remained loyal to her practice, consistently depicting her obsessions and inner torments.

Following her move to the United States, Kusama began producing Infinity Nets paintings; in the early 1960s, soft sculptures (continuous productions of her fears—the phallus—in an attempt to self-therapy); in December 1963 her first installation Aggregation: One Thousand Boats Show (which inspired Warhol); and less than three years later, her ground-breaking Peep Show/ Endless Love Show (first Infinity/mirror room). From the mid-1960s Kusama was staging Happenings (often anti-war/pro-peace performances incorporating her trademark dot painted onto naked performers) that attracted much publicity in the US and Europe and a backlash in Japan.

Lenz’s film begins and ends in Japan—from a prosperous, dysfunctional family, having a troubled childhood and experiencing frightening visions from a young age, to her return to Japan in 1973, decline in health and self-hospitalisation (to this day her place of residence) and return to a fervent art practice and ultimately global recognition.

In the years following her move back to Japan, Kusama’s work received little attention. In the 1980s there was renewed interest in her work and this increased in the 1990s. The final chapter of the film outlines some key exhibitions: from ‘Yayoi Kusama: Retrospective’ at the Center for International Contemporary Arts, New York in 1989; to the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993 (Narcissus Garden was her unofficial entry in the 1966 biennale) where she was the first artist to stage a solo exhibition in the Japanese pavilion; and ‘Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama 1958–1968’ a major retrospective, which opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1998) and travelled to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

An Infinity Room – Lithoar, the Spirit of the Pumpkins.

Today, museums are eager to exhibit her work: high visitor numbers are guaranteed. Her Infinity rooms attract long queues and when on display her work The obliteration room (2002–present, in the Queensland Art Gallery’s collection) is obliterated in days as visitors clamour to stick coloured dots to a white room filled with white-painted furniture. Her audience is far-ranging, and her work lends itself well to an ever-increasing world of social media users—museum visitors eager to capture themselves in her wondrous infinities.

Kusama tells the story of climbing the Empire State Building soon after first arriving in the city in the late 1950s and there deciding to conquer New York. Whilst she did not achieve the success she craved during this stage of her career, Kusama: Infinity is proof that now she has conquered the art world. With her ever-increasing popularity , the release of Lenz’s film is timely.

Emily Gray

The Byron Bay Film Festival runs from October 12-21. Kusama: Infinity screens at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 18 at Byron Community Centre. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda screens four times at the Festival – in Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads and Murwillumbah. Program and tickets at BBFF.com.au

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Capture some macadamia inspired photos from Sample Food Festival 2018 (presented this year by Gold Coast Airport) for your chance to win $1,000 cash and enjoy a weekend out ‘sampling’ some great local produce at one of the Northern Rivers most popular festivals.

From the Le Cordon Bleu Australia workshops to the sold out Sample Festival Lunch by Shannon Bennett & the Vue de Monde Team and Fab Ladies Wine Soiree…and of course the main festival itself at the Bangalow Showgrounds. The opportunities for great images are endless.

Entry is simple, just capture some amazing macadamia inspired photos and share them on your public social media account with the hashtag #AusMacadamias for your chance to win! Entries open: 6.00am Thursday 30 August 2018 Entries close: 11.59pm Sunday 2 September 2018.

You can also join Australian Macadamias for the third annual #AusMacadamias Instameet: 10am Saturday 1st September 2018 in the Centre Ring at Sample Food Festival, Bangalow Showgrounds.

The Australian Macadamias Instameet is a free meeting for any person attending Sample Food Festival 2018 who has a public Instagram account. Meet guest chef Shannon Bennett plus other local and visiting Instagrammers and sample some delicious fresh macadamias amongst new friends. The Instameet will run for approximately one hour and you can pre-register to attend the Instameet and secure a macadamia goodie bag.

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Organisers of Splendour in the Grass have dropped another world class line-up of music on North Byron Parklands, with some of the biggest legends in music from Australia and around the world to perform at the festival.

Kendrick Lamar spearheads the Splendour line-up this year straight off the back of winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, making Lamar the first non-jazz or classical artist to win the award.

The stellar international cast also includes Lorde, Vampire Weekend, Khalid, The Wombats, CHVRCHES, Miguel, Franz Ferdinand, MGMT, Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite and the legendary Henry Rollins.

International star Lorde will be at this year’s Splendour.

Australian acts make up around 70 per cent of the Splendour line-up this year, making the festival the best place to catch Australian live music, including Hilltop Hoods, Angus & Julia Stone, Gang Of Youths, DMA’S, PNAU, The Avalanches DJ set and Dune Rats.

In all, over 100 acts will perform over three days across the Amphitheatre, GW McLennan tent, Mix Up and Tiny Dancer stages.

Tickets to Splendour were snapped up within minutes when they went on sale, with a record number of fans waiting online. A ticket resale facility – the only place where legitimate tickets for Splendour in the Grass 2018 can be purchased – has opened for anyone that missed out.

Splendour’s co-producers Jessica Ducrou and Paul Pittico were thrilled to see so many people wanting to attend the festival this year.

“The love and excitement for Splendour this year has been nothing short of amazing. We’re thrilled to be bringing you another awesome edition of Splendour in the Grass!” they said.

But Splendour isn’t only about great music. Splendour in the Grass also plays host to an innovative arts and cultural program that showcases some of the best arts practitioners from Australia and around the world. The 2018 program will once again present everything from projections and paintings to large-scale street art and unexpected encounters with life-size art installations.

And for Generation X and Y music fans that now have children, Splendour in the Grass organisers are set to continue their innovative Little Splendour program. Little Splendour is located in a fully fenced and secured area in the middle of Splendour in the Grass, designed exclusively for families to relax and explore their creativity. And when it’s time to count sheep, a dedicated family friendly campground has been set aside specifically for families in a quiet pocket of the regular camping area.

Little Splendour caters for families and kids.

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2018 – SOLD OUT
Friday 20 July, Saturday 21 July and Sunday 22 July
North Byron Parklands
Tweed Valley Way, Wooyung (15 mins north of Byron Bay)
splendourinthegrass.com

KENDRICK LAMAR • LORDE (ONLY AUS SHOW) • VAMPIRE WEEKEND (ONLY AUS SHOW) • KHALID (ONLY AUS SHOW) • THE WOMBATS • HILLTOP HOODS • CHVRCHES • MIGUEL • GIRL TALK (ONLY AUS SHOW) • ANGUS & JULIA STONE • GANG OF YOUTHS • FRANZ FERDINAND • MGMT • BEN HOWARD • DUNE RATS & FRIENDS • BEN HARPER & CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE • PNAU • JAMES BAY • THE AVALANCHES DJ SET • CHROMEO • DMA’S • BALL PARK MUSIC • HENRY ROLLINS (ONLY AUS SHOW) • SAFIA • THE JUNGLE GIANTS • LIL XAN • METHYL ETHEL • AMY SHARK • THE BRONX • OCEAN ALLEY • CARMADA BY L D R U & YAHTZEL • DZ DEATHRAYS • LORD HURON • MIDDLE KIDS • HOCKEY DAD • TOWKIO • CUB SPORT • TOUCH SENSITIVE • SAMPA THE GREAT • DEAN LEWIS • SKEGSS • ALBERT HAMMOND JR • MALLRAT • MARMOZETS • ALEX LAHEY • RITON & KAH-LO • JACK RIVER • SUPERORGANISM • ANNA LUNOE • LEWIS CAPALDI • ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS • ALEX THE ASTRONAUT • YUNGBLUD • CROOKED COLOURS • NINA LAS VEGAS • SOCCER MOMMY (ONLY AUS SHOW) • ELDERBROOK • ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER • TIM SWEENEY • STELLA DONNELLY • BULLY • BAKER BOY • WAFIA • NO MONO • WAAX • ANGIE MCMAHON • WEST THEBARTON • EVES KARYDAS • G FLIP • THE BABE RAINBOW • HAIKU HANDS • DIDIRRI • ALICE IVY • AMYL & THE SNIFFERS • ZIGGY RAMO • FANTASTIC MAN • LO’99 • HUMAN MOVEMENT • MANU CROOK$ • KASBO • MADAM X • ANDRAS ALTA • ARA KOUFAX • TWO PEOPLE • B WISE • MADE IN PARIS • JENSEN INTERCEPTOR • WOODES • TEISCHA • ANTONY & CLEOPATRA • MUTO • ELK ROAD • TRIPLE J UNEARTHED WINNERS
PLUS MIKE GURRIERI • LOVE DELUXE • LAUREN HANSOM • POOLCLVB • GODLANDS • NYXEN • EMMA STEVENSON • EBONY BOADU

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If you’ve been in the Byron Shire a while you’ll know that once upon a time most weekends involved gathering some friends and heading to one of the many gorgeous country halls that dot our coast line and hinterland. From major touring artists to small collectives of local original musicians, experiencing music up close and personal was the norm, usually with a chai in hand and some yummy food in our bellies.

But these days our scenic halls that were once the perfect location for live music have been appropriated by the higher paying clients, such as weddings, so that even those halls willing to host music are now priced out of the park for community events.

These days most of us are left to experience live music at crowded festivals, in passing as we loiter by a busker on street corners, or as the stripped back soundtrack to our café trip, or over the hum of drinkers in covers-dominated sets in local bars. The spaces to really savour the magic of live, original music and intimate community gatherings are now few and far between. Enter ‘The Song Lounge’, a fully curated, intimate music event for communities to come together to share music, share spaces, share food and share experiences.

Its first sparkling event launched in lovely South Golden Beach in April. The newly renovated SGB Community Hall was transformed into an oasis of tasty original music, delicious food and fabulous friends. Micka Scene, Phil and Tilley and Christina Giorgio & The Wishing Well brought to the table musicianship, storytelling and a reverence that had audiences captivated for hours. Even as the organiser I was blown away by seeing these artists in this setting and I booked them in! It had the feeling that we were experiencing a magical moment in time which we’d be telling our friends about in the future.

Luke Bennett at Mullum Drill Hall on June 16.

Song Lounge events are a total night out with doors opening at 6.30pm and Kristina’s Tasty Kitchen’s serving up $10 bowls – locally sourced, nourishing, kind to the planet and super tasty. Local Chai masters Hari Har Chai will also be brewing up spicy delight and baking sweet treats. In between acts set up on one of the shared tables, meet somebody new and get the conversations flowing. Grab a rug and cosy up with a cushion, chai and a loved one. These events are a chance to come together and escape the everyday in a space fuelled by community, connection, excellent music and a little bit of magic.

The next Song Lounge event is at the Mullum Drill Hall on Saturday June 16, featuring Loren and Luke Bennett. John Butler says of Loren:  “Loren writes the kind of music that when you listen to it you somehow feel like you’re getting a massage. A sweet, gentle voice accompanied by relaxed melodically plucked guitar written by a man with a heart of gold. I’ve watched him play a few times and am always inspired by how effortless the music is.”

Loren is widely known in the folk and acoustic roots circles for his emotive storytelling in song and passionate performances. His six album releases have found their way into many homes and his latest collection of songs shows a natural evolution in his ripening as a songwriter. The past few years have seen Loren take a step back from the festival/touring circuit, to stoke the fires of his passion for making music. Nestled in the mountains of the northern New South Wales a new direction has emerged in Loren’s music – more meditative and medicinal in flavour.

Launceston-born Luke Bennett grew up falling asleep to the sounds of Fleetwood Mac, Tracy Chapman and Dire Straits. At 14 he started to learn the guitar, and after finishing college he adopted a nomadic lifestyle. Songwriting turned out to be a natural expression for him. Luke’s songs talk about the richness of and adventure of life as well as its questions and internal desires. With the catchy pop sensibilities of John Mayer and Sting fused with the stripped back earthiness of Xavier Rudd and Jack Johnson, Luke Bennett’s warm vocals and intricate guitar sound are food for the soul.

The Song Lounge, Mullumbimby Drill Hall
Saturday June 16^th, 6pm
Featuring Loren and Luke Bennett
https://www.facebook.com/events/859236784263875/
https://www.ticketbase.com/events/the-song-lounge-mullum

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Share the fun with your �
Love doing things with your four-legged best friend? Well, Love Lenox 2018 has you covered. Continuing with our hugely popular Dogs of Lennox mini event, we are back this year, with a great show, just for you … and your .

The fun categories you can enter are: DogWalk Model 2018 (Best Dressed), Waggiest Tail, Peanut Butter Challenge, Best Trick and Aren’t They the Cutest! (Cutest Puppy). Entry fees are only $2 per dog per event and all proceeds go to Save Mexican Street Dogs. Great prizes are up for grabs so don’t miss out!

Enter your online. More information, including T&C here.

LOVE LENNOX FESTIVAL – 2nd JUNE 2018

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Melissa Etheridge is making a welcome comeback to Bluesfest this year.  Byron Bay embraced the singer/songwriter on her previous visit, who some years ago survived a battle with cancer.  Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, the singer unerwent a particularly brutal form of chemo.  “My work had always been a drug-free zone,” she’s said, “but the chemotherapy that was prescribed was called “dose dense”: a harsher, stronger chemo than the usual because I had the benefit of not having to work during the treatment. My close friends told me that, as an alternative, medical marijuana was a natural way to help with the excruciating side effects of chemo.”

Melissa Etheridge (left) and Sheryl Crow – Bluesfest solo then Australia together.

Etheridge and Crow are both set to perform their own solo spots at Bluesfest before teaming up to hit Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in early April.  Now that will be an outstanding gig.

For more info on the 29th annual Byron Bay Bluesfest go here: https://www.bluesfest.com.au/

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Facilitated by complementary healing practitioner, father and musician Michael Benhayon and businessman and father of five Ray Karam, the session will provide a forum for fathers to explore any issues or challenges they might face as their daughters enter the teenage years.

Teacher Kristy Wood has been volunteering at a number of Girl To Woman local market stalls in the lead up to the event. Here she shares some of the conversations she has had with dads regarding the upcoming Festival, and what she’s noticed over the past few years.

“I remember at one of the markets, a mother and father walked into the stall with their six-year-old daughter,” says Kristy.  “The daughter sat down to have her nails painted and the father asked what the festival is about. When we shared that it was about celebrating and appreciating girls for who they are and what they bring, he loved the idea and said it was very needed.”

The man told Kristy that he was a truck driver who had worked in the industry for many years. He explained how he used to work long hours and how he would try to push each job to get it done as fast as he could. “Now since my daughter has come along, it’s totally different,” he said.  “There’s nothing more that I love than to come home to her, and while I want to get back to her as quick as I can, I don’t push it anymore because I want to make sure I get home safely.” When he went on to say how much he loved having a daughter, his daughter overheard him speaking and was thrilled. “When she came along it changed me,” he said, “it softened me and I just totally adore her.”

About twenty minutes later another family came along who also had a six-year-old girl. Within minutes her father was opening up to Kristy about the pressures of working long hours as a medical specialist.  He also realised the need to look after himself more, because it had begun to affect how much he could interact and be there for his daughter. “Now I make sure I rest when I can because spending time and being with her is really important to me,” he said to Kristy and went on to tell her, “You get home from these night shifts and then a few hours later in the morning my daughter comes into the room and her smile just brightens up the place.”

Kristy realised it was as if these men had so much that they wanted to share about how much of a joy it is for them to have a daughter, but they had not had an avenue to say it. She reflected on these men as she drove away from the markets.  How often do parents, she wondered, and fathers in particular, stop and get the opportunity to share with others the blessing that a daughter brings to their lives?

“As a teacher I’ve noticed that, as girls approach their teen years, those who have fathers who openly cherish and adore them and have not held this back, are often the young women who have a more solid sense of themselves,” she says. “They are more comfortable in their own skin and are not as easily swayed but able to hold more steady in themselves. I’m thrilled we’re facilitating an event that will encourage fathers to talk about the special relationship they have with their daughters.”

The Girl To Woman Festival takes place at Lennox Head Sunday the 21^st of January. For more information and to book tickets, please visit the website: https://girltowoman.com.au. The first 150 young women who book online will receive a free giftbag.

For more information and the full program see: https://girltowoman.com.au

 Esoteric Women’s Health is a major supporter alongside a team of 50+ volunteers who organise and donate their time to put on the event on behalf of the community: www.esotericwomenshealth.com

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Twenty-six of the region’s best restaurants and caterers will produce $5 and $10 tasting plates inspired by their signature dishes – a fraction of the cost of dining in their well known establishments.

Award-winning Sean Connolly (The Balcony Bar, Byron Bay), will have a signature plate on offer while TV’s Paul West (Foxtel Food Channel’s River Cottage Australia) and original Ready Steady Cook chef Matt Golinski will battle it out in the Olsson Salt Celebrity cook off.

Being held in the picturesque village of Bangalow, 10 kilometres from Byron Bay, the Festival will also play host to more than 100 lifestyle exhibitors including local growers, artisans and boutique distilleries.

Punters ‘sampling’ delights at last year’s festival.

Renowned brewery Stone & Wood will offer a range of beers with Cape Byron’s Brookies Gin and the Tweed Valley’s Ink Gin joining the line up.

Festival founder Remy Tancred said the Festival is designed to celebrate the region’s vast array of top quality farmers, producers, chefs and artisans. “There will be cheese-makers, macadamia farmers, spice artisans, Asian street food specialists, fruit growers and dozens more delicious opportunities to try our region’s amazing fresh produce,” said Remy. “We have live music, baby animals for the little ones, cooking demonstrations, gifts and home wares as well as the chance to try to best food from our amazing region.”

Le Cordon Bleu’s Blue Ribbon and logo would be known to almost anyone with an interest in food and beverages.  Now in its fifth year, the Le Cordon Bleu Master of Gastronomic Tourism is the only post-graduate degree of its kind available in Australia. Talking to festival goers about the Masters of Gastronomic Tourism is the key motivation for Le Cordon Bleu’s involvement in Sample 2017.

The ‘MGT’ is designed so that students can explore the ‘gastronomic tourism experience’ from business studies and academic perspectives, add their own creative input and create graduate opportunities for work or further study.

With the exception of our MGT Residential, now an annual three-day series of gastronomic adventures hosted by Le Cordon Bleu and current students (often working professionals), the degree is delivered entirely online. Graduates of the program typically work in food and wine business, media and tourism. Le Cordon Bleu Australia’s Senior Brand Manager Sophie Davies will be a member of our expert panel for our networking event ‘Ahead Of The Curve’.

The first event in the 2017 SampleFoodFest program, Ahead Of The Curve combines food, business and networking.  An expert panel including Sophie Davies of Le Cordon Bleu Australia will be hosted by MC Kerry O’Brien will meet at the Bangalow Hotel, Wednesday 30th August.  The panel will discuss their own unique entrepreneurial paths and what’s working in food and business right now.  To book tickets to this unique event go to: Ahead of the Curve

Local chefs Kartrina Kanetani (Town), Bret Cameron (Harvest), Monique Guterres (Hungry Like The Wolf) will join visiting chefs Matt Golinski, Luca Ciano, Ben Williamson and Clayton Donovan to complete the 2017 line up.

WHEN : Saturday September 2, 8am – 4pm

WHERE: Bangalow Showground

TICKETS AT THE GATE: $5 per adult, children free

www.samplefoodevents.com

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