Season 2 Recap
Season 2 of Fork on the Road has been an amazing journey, over the past 12 months, 9 Forks were held in 8 locations, with 7 in the city and one in Port Adelaide.
Bonython Park – 31 August 2013
Fork on the Road commenced season 2 with a new location, Bonython Park, the old netball court opposite on the Coke factory to be specific on Saturday 31 August for lunch and dinner double. This Fork featured over 30 food vendors, drinks from McLaren Vale and live music from some great young performers. The weather was awesome and people came from everywhere to grab something to eat and then sit amongst the magnificent tree in Bonython Park. The close proximity to the great new playground and the bike training track made resulted in a great number of families in attendance. This Fork also included in an SA Life TV show segment filmed hosted by Callum Ham, you can check this out here.
Whitmore Square – 21 September 2013
Whitmore Square was the location for the Fork on the Road Saturday September 21 between 12pm and 9pm. Adelaide’s most under-rated square proved to be a popular and splendid location. Despite some rain about in the morning, it turned into a gorgeous day and evening, featuring great food and drink, some smashing music from DJ Modus, the basketball court heavily used and some great dancing. There was even a special secret appearance from a bucking bull thanks to a TripleM promotion. Picnic rugs and chairs were everywhere and the food from over 30 food vendors heavily consumed.
Hindmarsh Sqaure – World Solar Challenge – 13 October 2013
This Fork on the Road was extra special treat as it was held in conjunction with the finish line of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, certainly a great bonus for all the teams after the long solar powered drive from Darwin. With the finish line on the western side of the square, Fork on the Road took position on the eastern side, with 30plus food and drink vendors parked for lunch. There were many of your favourites and several new vans serving up innovative and delicious grub, plus various drops of McLaren Vale wineries, beer from Swell brewing and cocktails from the VW bar, all backed by live music. Lunch was packed with barely a blade of grass spare with those in attendance loving the food and drink and enjoying checking out the World Solar Challenge cars. To cap off a great day, and a first for Fork on the Road, there was a wedding party in attendance, they love Fork and made a stop between the ceremony and reception.
South Park Lands – Park 17 – November 10 2013
On Sunday 10 November between 12pm and 5pm an extra special Fork on the Road was held in the South Park Lands. We thousands in attendance enjoying a great atmosphere, food, drink and company this Fork on the Road had the added bonus of raising much needed funds for the Hutt St Centre. The Hutt St Centre is committed to contributing to the reduction in homelessness in Adelaide, and through fundraising efforts, like The Big Picnic featuring Fork on the Road, is able to ensure the most vulnerable group in society receives quality services to help exit homelessness. This was a rather massive and amazing turn-out at this Fork which was held in a rather hidden and different location, for the year is one of our favourite Forks….just brilliant turn-out in the many thousands and amazing atmosphere.
Forkmas – December 20 2013
This is the only disappointment for the year, we had a rather massive Xmas event planned for the last Friday before Xmas in Light Square. Unfortunately the weather was not onboard with our plans, and decide to deliver a combination of extreme heat followed by a cool change powered by 60km/h winds…..the first time we had to cancel a Fork.
Tour De Fork – January 19 2014
2014 was a massive start for Fork on the Road with a lunch and dinner combination on Sunday January 19 2014 in the city at the corner of King William Street and War Memorial Drive, within the site for the first stage of the Tour Down Under. More than 30 vendors featuring a range of savory and sweet treats will be taking part in the first Fork on the Road for 2014, in this very scenic location on the banks of the River Torrens. The location was perfect for both relaxing and also taking in the both the People’s Choice Cancer run and Tour Down Under later in the day. The atmosphere was great with big crowds in attendance enjoying the great food, music and vibe.
Whitmore Square – DocWeek – February 20 2014
Wow this was a hot Fork on the Road, at one of our favourite locations the gorgeous Whitmore Square for dinner between 4pm and 10pm. With the temperature nearing 40C during the day, it was rather phenomenal to see a couple of thousand people show up for dinner. With DJ Modus playing tunes during daylight and the crowd loving the drinks from 3 Dark Horses and Swell Brewing there was a great atmosphere. This Fork featured a great partnership with the DocWeek event, which involved an outdoor movie screen set-up and playing the award documentary ‘Red Obsession’. In addition the kids craft table, face-paint and water squirters proved to be a massive hit with the junior Forkers. All in all the location, the food, the drinks, the kids activities and the outdoor movie proved to be a great combination.
Light Square – Fork Disco – 4 April 2014
Our return to Light Square proved to be a massive night, the weather was great and the last Friday of daylight savings was a great combination. With DJ Ocky and Faint One playing the tunes and extra awesome large range of drinks from McLaren Vale it was a great night. The kids disco proved to be a massive hit with hundreds of kids dancing up a storm and the premiere appearance of Dig-A-Dino was a an even bigger hit. All up more great food and drink in a massively under-rated Light Square that we are very proud to activate (still get asked by people which one if Light Square).
Tasting Australia – Victoria Square – 27 April 2014
This was a largest attendance at a Fork for Season 2, we know it was over 5,000 and when combined with the number within Tasting Australia area of the square, some speculate it was even 10,000. It was certainly a privilege to make it back to the place where it all started with Fork in November 2012, and such a different space since the renovation. We were the first event to use the closed roadway in-between the renovated northern section and in progress southern section. Our spectacular food trucks, were extra busy and it was a great chance to showcase the local produce they use all the time. The craft table and Dig-A-Dino were a big hit with the kids and The Timbers rocked up a storm with their tunes.
Fork on the Port – 10 May 2014
Our last (maybe not) Fork for Season 2 was held in Port Adelaide at the redeveloped Harts Mill precinct. This is the furthest we have travelled it was great to be involved with renewal of space that has been important to the local community for a long time. After the day before was filled with torrential rain, it didn’t look good, but somehow the weather turned and was a lovely autumn day on the water. The new playground and the broad range of kids activities brought the families along in droves. Loads of great food truck food was consumed and the wine from 3 Dark Horses was finished off and the evening was capped with the brilliant IlluminArt light show.
Conclusion
So the second season of Fork on the Road is coming to a close, and was a big success with 9 Forks held. It was certainly a bucket load of fun to put them on for you. Big thanks to all the food and drink vendors involved and most importantly thanks to everyone who came along.
See you soon for Season 3 (fingers crossed).
