By Barb Brouwer
Contributor
Soaring temperatures, cool vibes and food that plays second fiddle to nothing.
From perk-powered morning coffee to comforting late-night snacks, foodies will find their their preferred flavours at the 2022 ROOTSandBLUES Festival.
Located near the west gate, more than a dozen food vendors will serve from an eclectic, international menu.
Salmon Arm Folk Music Society office manager Cindy Diotte says 70 per cent of the 22 food vendors have been to the festival before, with the rest making their ROOTSandBLUES debut this year.
“Most of them were happy to be called back,” she said, noting some vendors that have attended the festival in the past lost their businesses during COVID.
On an international note, It’s All Greek to Me and Opah Greek Foods will be returning and Simply Siam will serve Asian specialties such as pad Thai, curry, Thai noodle salad and more.
The Samosa Lady features traditional samosas, butter chicken, pakoras, Indian tea and more.
Look for traditional Secwepemc fare such as bannock, flatbread and tacos at the Kekuli Café, or try smash burgers, chicken burgers and poutine at The Yukon Smash.
Comfort food in the form of grilled cheese fare will be available, including Killa-B’s Grilla Cheese, Ogopogo Mac & Cheese and The Local Pressed Bite, which will also offer homemade chilli and soups.
Located in the beer garden, Smoking Hot Donairs will have several different donairs that will pair well with beer.
Barn Stage fans will have easy access to food from It’s All Greek to Me and Smoothies. The Barn Stage Pub will be host to Lakeside Concessions, with their mini doughnuts and Big GZ with hamburgers, smokies, burgers, vegan hamburgers, deep-fried pickles and onion rings. Children are welcome to dine at both Barn Stage food vendors.
Fans of barbecue will be able to satisfy their taste buds at Salt Lick BBQ and Tasty Tacos and Taters will serve a wide variety of tacos, tortillas, seasoned chicken strips and nachos.
Festival-goers will have a number of thirst quenching options beginning with a variety of hot and cold specialty coffees at The Perking Spot. Lemon Heaven and Biderman’s Lemonade will fill the bill for lemonade lovers of all ages.
Read more: 30 years of ROOTSandBLUES: Volunteer reflects on festival’s humble beginnings
Read more: 30 years of ROOTSandBLUES: Festival goes outdoors for 2001
Always popular D Dutchman Dairy will have several flavours of their rich, tasty ice cream on hand and Ogopogo Mini Donuts promises it will be love at first bite with their maple bacon and apple pie doughnuts.
Also on the sweet treat trail, Beaver Tails offers piping-hot, hand-stretched, wholewheat pastries in endless flavour options.
Diotte said staff begins reaching out to possible food vendors and artisans in December.
She is equally proud of the calibre of vendors in the Artisan Market as she is of the quality of food available to festival-goers.
Many of the specialty items in the market located to the left of the main gate involve recycled materials and are not available in department stores. Influenced by African heritage, local Tangerine Green offers handcrafted jewelry and accessories made with reclaimed and up cycled materials.
Unique garments are available from Whistler’s House of Commune, Vancouver-based The Hawks Project, LoveMaking Designs from Revelstoke, Vernon’s Cosmic Flair, Vancouver’s Schu Clothing/DYEPRO and Untamed, a Fernie vendor that offers fun clothing.
Artist Bench Guitars designs, builds and airbrushes three-string “box and shovel” guitars.
Vendors offering a variety of items made from leather include Dropping Form Designs out of Kamloops, Salmon Arm’s Earth Horse Art, LG Creations from Enderby and Tappen’s Revive Leatherworks.
The Fable Book Mobile is an Indie bookstore on wheels that will cater to readers with a curated selection of new and used books featuring Canadian authors and artists.
“There is a lot of recycled stuff, which I like,” said Diotte, noting a vintage trailer photo booth will give attendees the opportunity to get a special festival memento. “The vendors come from all over B.C. and they don’t usually go to markets, just festivals, so it’s often a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
newsroom@saobserver.net
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