As if a three-hour set from The Cure and finally witnessing The Avalanches post-Wildflower wasn’t enough, this year’s Splendour in the Grass is promising its biggest food and lifestyle line-up to date. Following the success of having Mary’s up there last year (in the Gold Bar though), Secret Sounds have tapped into some of the most popular food vendors in the country to, in addition to all the regular food trucks and stalls, cater for the three-day festival. The likes of mega-popular Doughnut Time, pub food champ The Unicorn (from Sydney), and the forever-loved Bourke Street Bakery have jumped on board to bring all that delicious nosh up to North Byron Parklands next weekend, sitting in an area dubbed “The Very Small Suburb” along with a range of fashion and beauty pop ups.
Splendour’s fashion, food, and lifestyle mecca will be ever so valuable over in between sets from the likes of Ngaiire and Remi to The Strokes and Sigur Ros. Here’s why:
Unicorn Hotel
Straight Outta Sydney, the Unicorn Hotel is the current reigning champion of pub food in Sydney if the Time Out 2016 Pub Awards are anything to go by (and they usually are), dishing up classic Australian pub grub that has been designed by the teams behind Mary’s, Porteno and Young Henry’s. They’ll be setting up in their own special way at Splendour, providing a standing-room-only space for punters to wash down juicy lamb chops, gravy drenched steak, and chook-raffle roast chook with their signature drinks, which including “The Blood Sheila” and “South Side”. There’s probably a good chance that Young Henry’s will be swirling around there too.
Gelato Messina
Gelato Messina need no introduction to anyone who has had the pleasure of dipping into their award-winning flavours. They’ll be on-site with a “Mini Messina” store featuring three specially created flavours – The “Flaming Flume”, “The Stroke”, and the “Sticky Date Fingers” – along with two of their best sellers. Get ready for a flavour profile that includes burnt vanilla gelato with choc fudge, caramelised baked meringue, bacon crunch, duck fat caramel, salted peanuts, whiskey puree, and sticky date pudding.
Single Origin Roasters
Splendour have been stepping their coffee game up for years now but Single O have jumped on board to take it to the next level, using their beans which are sourced all over the East Coast to bring espressos, filter coffees, single origins, hot chocolates, teas, and more. It’ll be bloody cold all weekend so a visit here is a must.
Bourke Street Bakery
Sydney’s best known artisan bakery and café have kindly stepped up to the plate to bring Splendour their love-infused goods, from their iconic pastries to their essential lamb, harissa, pork, and fennel sausage rolls.
Doughnut Time
Doughnut Time have grown out of their origin of Brisbane to become one of the most recognisable and in-demand doughnut brands in the country. They’ll be making their Splendour debut with buckets of Nutella in tow, used to create their “Love At First Bite” doughnuts which will feature alongside “Melon Degeneres” and other treats.
Fountain of Youth Coconut Water
Berlin-born Coconut Water brand Fountain of Youth is finally hitting Australia, branching from its conception by the beloved Michelberger Hotel. Splendour have tapped the brand to make their national debut at Splendour in the Grass, so for fans of not feeling like crap by the end of the weekend bender it’s advisable to head along and enjoy all the nutrition this Coconut Water is said to bring.
Beauty
Aside from all the food and drink planned, there will be a bunch of beauty pop ups around the space, from the energetic Rimmel Room where there will be free makeovers, makeup tutorials, and phone charging bars, and Kiehl’s Rocks Skin Retreat, to Lifestyle Salon and Day Spa Sulis House of Lush – Aveda. The Splendour app can be used to book many of these treatments ahead of the festival.
Fashion
Those who actually have money after they buy a ticket/drinks/tent/things can spend their non-music-time perusing the many local fashion brands which Splendour support and welcome into the fold. The popular online boutique Moondust Merchants will making its grand return, fallenBROKENstreet will have a bus set-up with felt hats, knitted jumpers, and more, and brands Mr Simple and Afends will be selling their goods.
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Haven’t planned yet? The official Splendour playing times are out now and you can also check out our top non-headliner picks of the festival HERE.
Headline Image: Doughnut Time.
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