KENTVILLE – Devour! has kicked off this year with a first – its first food event of the festival in Kentville.
Devour! The Food Film Fest managing director Lia Rinaldo was on hand at the opening Sip and Savour Event, held in three parts of the historic Calkin Building on Cornwallis Street. She said despite a slow start to ticket sales, the event sold out and was even slightly overcapacity.
“It’s a good news story. I don’t know what we expected, but this has been huge. We’ve already surpassed last year’s box office sales, and did that probably four days before the festival started,” she said.
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Rinaldo said the move to kick things off in Kentville was to remind people the festival was never intended to be considered a Wolfville-centric event, and that the event’s tasting tours were its first attempt at really getting its goers throughout the county.
She also said figuring out how to accomplish that was a challenge.
“We’d been in touch with Kentville councilors on how to pitch it, how to do it for three years. So to now see this be successful is a huge win for us,” she said.
Kentville Mayor Sandra Snow said the town is “absolutely thrilled” with the event’s success in its inaugural year.
“We talk about creating an environment, and I think that that’s what we’ve done – created an environment in Kentville where we can have these events,” said Snow.
“To be the first event of Devour, from a food perspective, we’re absolutely thrilled.”
Chef Mike Schroeder, a former contestant on MasterChef Canada, cooked and prepped food for guests at the event.
He said it felt “pretty cool” to take part in Devour after seeing his own idols Jacques Pepin and Anthony Bourdain in years past.
He also said it’s a refreshing change to have such an event hosted in Kentville.
“It’s always been in Wolfville, but I think people are seeing Kentville as a breath of fresh air, and the turnout definitely shows it,” he said.
