Araluen's Avocado Festival, 24 & 25 Nov

I visited the VERY FIRST and Perth’s only Avocado Festival at Araluen Botanic Park today! There’s lots of unique avocado food combinations created especially for this event from sauces and beers to ice pops and soap. I was pleasantly surprised with the foods I tried, everything was so creamy and smooth.

It’s on all weekend, so be sure to head to the Perth hills tomorrow for a Sunday Drive and check it out. Whether you love to eat the healthy and versatile fruit, use avocado oil in beauty products or learn how to grow the fruit trees in your own backyard, this festival is avo-solutely for you!

The two day event is held at the blooming lovely Araluen Botanic Park, in the amazing Perth Hills, just 35km from Perth’s CBD. Here’s what I discovered today at the Araluen Avocado Festival:

Avocado Packed Food

There’s a variety of food trucks and stalls that will please both sweet and savoury lovers. Tuck into treats like avocado pizza, frozen avocado yogurt pops and of course some green guacamole.

Canary Foods, who serve up cuisine from the Canary Islands, topped a tasty chicken, chorizo and lamb paella with their delicious avocado and coriander dressing.

I loved the Avocado Ice cream from SubZero Gelato.

Avo-licious Drinks

I found a whole host of unique green drinks;

Avo and greens juice by the Farmers Wife, who is always found at the Kalamunda markets.

Thorny Devil (From Mandurah) are serving up their range of beers, including a special guacamole beer, with very subtle coriander and avocado flavours.

A smooth avocado Margarita cocktail by Crafted, the guys behind Lucky Chan’s and The Dutch Trading Co.

Live Demos

On the stage, I watched Perthonalities giving talks and holding cooking demos, there’s a Smashed Avo competition too!

ABC TV’s Verity James and Chef Vince Garreffa from Mondo Butchers cooked up a storm, while gardening guru Sue McDougall gave advice on growing both avocado and chili plants.

Avo Products

There’s so much you can do with the versatile avocado. There is lots of stalls to browse, packed with avocado health and beauty products, soaps, preserves, the latest avocado tools and gadgets (so you don’t stab yourself trying to remove the stone!).

Take home an avo tree! There’s a huge range of avocado and chilli plants, including hard-to-find varieties, which are available to purchase and grow yourself. And plenty of experts on hand to give you tips.

Entertainment

At the amphitheatre, you can “Guac ‘n’ Roll” to the excellent live music! Throw down a picnic rug and enjoy your food with some cool tunes and good vibes. There’s plenty to entertain the kids too, with an animal farm on Saturday and Storytelling on Sunday.