Long lunches into late nights at heritage mill festival
One of the Barossa Valley’s most recognisable breweries will be the base camp for a new festival promising to turn the Barossa’s long lunches into late nights this Spring.
Tanunda’s Old Mill Brewery – originally built in 1848 as a flour mill – will play host to a new festival concept called the Barossa Sessions this spring.
The Old Mill will be the home base for two weekends of live music, food and wine that has been dubbed an affordable festival by its organiser Scotty Rogasch.
Currently, the Old Mill operates as a brewery featuring craft Rehn Bier, modern beer brand Forage Brew Co, wine by Forage Supply Co and restaurant Sally Can Wait.
Rogasch is behind Forage Brew and Forage Supply Co, which is known for its cult-favourite Baby Face wine blend, which combines the lively flavours of Grenache, Carignan and Montepulciano. Forage Supply Co also has a social enterprise arm that builds community gardens and provides clothing and food to people experiencing homelessness.
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Rogasch said the Barossa Sessions model would encourage people to explore multiple venues and events in the region, rather than committing to a single high-priced festival ticket.
“We want people to come to the Barossa for the music, then discover everything else while they’re here,” Rogasch said.
“You might start with an acoustic set over lunch, find another gig down the road in the afternoon and finish somewhere completely different that night.
“It’s not about one stage or one headline act. The Barossa becomes the festival.”
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As well as bringing together brewers and winemakers in the historic spot, the Old Mill’s Sally Can Wait is led by head chef Kane Boase, whose portfolio boasts top SA restaurants like Fino, Botanic and 2KW.
Sally Can Wait’s menu includes southern-style barbecue, modern pub classics and lighter, plant-based plates to share, plus about 60 per cent of it is gluten-free or vegan.
Along with the Old Mill, Whistler Wines would also participate in the festival, with an event called Groove in the Gums, set between their winery’s scenic trees.
Whistler Wines is a fourth-generation family winery which began in SA’s Riverland region. It gained acclaim in the 2000s for its white wine, the 2000 Estate Semillon and its 2006 Estate Shiraz – listed as one of the world’s top ten.
Owner Sam Pfeiffer said the festival that would liven the winery with music, should feel “relaxed, spontaneous and genuinely fun”.
“There are some incredible spaces across the Barossa that completely change when you add live music, a crowd and a spring afternoon,” Pfeiffer said.
“Barossa Sessions gives people a reason to move around, discover somewhere they might not have visited before and experience the region in a different way.”
The Barossa Sessions full program is expected to be released in the coming month, with its website currently taking expressions of interest from musicians that want to get involved.
It will run across two weekends, September 25–27 and the long weekend of October 2-5.
The new festival is supported by the South Australian Tourism Commission, through its regional event fund.
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