KNYSNA NEWS - Naturally, there'll be oysters at this year's Flavours of Knysna – the Knysna Oyster Festival's annual cooking competition – but they won't be the subject of the competition itself. Instead, that honour will go to the versatile canapé when local chefs come out to play on Wednesday 26 June.

"The idea is to highlight the many talents of the chefs by allowing them to cast their nets more widely than they could when we limited entries to oysters alone," 

said event organiser Picca de Bruin. "Now they can make any kind of canapés they like and the guests will judge them, and vote on them, accordingly."

Local is lekker
Music for the evening will be provided by Knysna's stalwart DJ, Alan Sass – remember Al's Dance Club? – while the oysters will be supplied by the home of the Knysna Oyster, 34 South. Drinks at the cash bar will come from local breweries and Knysna's own gin distillery, and gifts in the guests' goodie bags will be locally sourced wherever possible.

De Bruin is keen to encourage new and emerging event organisers to work with local businesses, rather than hoping only for large corporate sponsorships. "It's important for the Knysna Oyster Festival to have strong, popular, midweek events, which shore up confidence in the festival, and which inevitably become important showcases when you're out looking for sponsorships in the future," she said.

"Producing an event without major corporate sponsorship is a major challenge, but you have to understand that every little bit helps, and that many small local businesses would be happy to come on board, if only you asked them to. This is how we're doing it this year – with no naming sponsor, but with the generous help of many, many local contributors.

"It's a two-way street, of course – local business supports us, and we support local business. And that's what the Knysna Oyster Festival should always be all about."

Tickets
The Flavours of Knysna canapé cooking competition will take place upstairs in Knysna Mall on Wednesday 26 June at 18:00. Tickets at R220 per person (cash only) are on sale at the tourism information office at 40 Main Street.

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