Adelaide Festival Ngarku'adlu - Let's Eat

One of the accidental 'themes' of the 2021 Adelaide Festival is renewal, restoration and reconnection - moving on from the bushfires that scorched our land at the beginning of 2020, to months of isolation during COVID now we can plan to reconnect with our friends and family, our community, and the land we share.

Ngarku'adlu is a Kaurna invitation to come together to eat. On the final Festival weekend there are two opportunities - a casual picnic perfect for family groups or friends, the other a fine dining event for a really special night out. Interwoven with stories and knowledge shared by cultural leaders, diners at both events will experience the contemporary flavours inspired by our diverse landscapes, unique plants and animals, and the culture and traditions of Kaurna, Adnyamathanha , Ngarrindjeri, and Narungga nations spanning tens of thousands of years.

Menus for both events will be specially curated and prepared by Australia's finest First Nations chefs, including Clayton Donovan, Australia's only Indigenous hatted chef and the star of ABC television's Wild Kitchen. He will be joined by South Australia's own Warndu, an Indigenous-owned Australian Native Food business with a mission to inspire curiosity into the bush tucker industry and to regenerate culture, community, tradition, health and our soils.

Diners will learn about traditional Aboriginal cooking techniques, and how contemporary adaptation of locally sourced native foods can form a bigger part of everyone's household pantry.

Topaz McAuliffe Managing Director of 15 Times Better and a member of the Indigenous Advisory Reference Group says:

"The more exposure we can provide about the incredible flavours and nutritional benefits that Australia's Native foods offer, the closer we get to seeing Satlbush as a pantry staple in all Australian households. This event has been curated and led by Aboriginal businesses, with a focus on supporting Aboriginal suppliers within the Native food industry. This will be a very special two-day event. Through the prism of food and the opportunity to re-connect, we invite families, friends and loved ones to join us for a food event with meaning."

Picnic
Two picnics (lunch and dinner) on March 13 and 14 will be held on the Barr-Smith Lawns at Adelaide University. Families will be welcomed to Kaurna land by First Nations leaders, and given a box of picnic treats (curated by Clayton Donovan, Warndu and team) to enjoy while learning about traditional Aboriginal cooking techniques, places where bush food is sourced, picked, foraged, hunted and cooked. Everything is laid on with special activities for kids courtesy of the SA Museum.

Fine dining dinner
A fine dining feast - four courses with accompanying South Australian gin and wines hosted at the SA Museum - is a special treat for yourself or a special friend. It's a chance to awaken both taste buds to extraordinary new sensations, and minds to a whole new understanding of how spectacular Australian food can be - unencumbered by imported ingredients and imported knowledge.

Strictly available for only 240 diners, guests will experience the SA Museum at night, surrounded by its unique collection, with menus specially curated and prepared by Australia's finest First Nations chefs (including Clayton Donovan and Warndu) and suppliers, expert in Australian native foods.

Adelaide Festival is celebrating a special turning-point in memorable times, by turning to those who have nourished themselves from our oceans and lands with joy and respect for generations.

So let's eat! Ngarku'adlu!

Ngarku'adlu is a co-creation and collaboration with the Adelaide Festival, University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum in partnership with a First Nations Steering Committee of curators and cultural leaders.

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