Farmers are preparing to reap what they’ve sown this fall as harvest time approaches in the city.
To celebrate the locally grown and wild foods harvested in the city, the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association is hosting its second annual Harvest Festival Sept. 15, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Old City Quarter. Admission is free.
The festival includes a fresh food fair, live entertainment, educational displays and interactive presentations, a Top Chef and CanSculpt competition.
The Top Chef competition pits nine downtown restaurant chefs against each other in a friendly cook-off, which requires them to use only local, natural ingredients. People can purchase $1 tickets for samples of the top chef’s creations. People who buy five tickets will receive a ballot to vote for their favourite dish. Proceeds from ticket purchases go to Nanaimo Foodshare.
The CanSculpt competition features canned food sculptures built by local designers and representatives from engineering firms.
The hundreds of cans used for the sculptures were donated by Nanaimo grocery stores. Donations of canned food are also being accepted for the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank and people can get a ballot to guess the number of cans used per sculpture by making a contribution.
For more information, please go to www.dnbia.ca.