The 15th Annual Asheville Bread Fair takes place this Saturday, April 13 at New Belgium Brewery from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The fair is free and open to the public!
This festival, which includes the public fair as well as several workshops and lectures, is an opportunity for bread enthusiasts and professional bakers to break bread together, improve their baking skills, share ideas, and network within the artisan bread community.
This year marks fifteen years since this festival’s inception, and to celebrate the occasion the festival is aiming to make the festival more representative of the people working in the industry.
This year’s headliner is Sarah Owens, author of James Beard award-winning book, Sourdough.
Other presenters include Tara Jensen Green, owner of Smoke Signals Bakery and author of A Baker’s Year; Sharon Burns-Leader, Bread Alone Bakery; Maia Sudam, OWL Bakery; Kailey Laird, of Rhubarb + Rhu Bakery; Amy Halloran, author of The New Bread Basket; Dr. Erin McKenney, PhD, Dunn Lab, Sourdough Project, NCSU; Jennifer Lapidus of Carolina Ground Flour Mill; Peter Reinhart, chef at Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte campus, and prolific bread book author; Lionel Vatinet, La Farm Bakery, author of “A Passion for Bread;” Harry Peemoeller instructor at Johnson and Wales; Tas Jansen, millwright, and more…
In the spirit of camaraderie and a nod to the shared history between baker and brewer, New Belgium Brewery will again host the bread fair, taking place Saturday April 13 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Local and regional artisan bakeries will sample and sell their breads and pastries; local and regional mills will sell flour; and there will be a rich assortment of baking and culinary books available for sale.
In addition to the bread fair on Saturday, April 13, there will be several hands-on workshops and lectures by the featured guest artisan bakers that will take place from 10:00 am to 3:45 pm at various locations in and around Asheville.
Pre-festival activities begin Friday, April 12 with a tour of the Bread Wheat Trial plots led by USDA-ARS lead public wheat breeder, Dr. David Marshall. Dr. Marshall will provide an overview of the bread wheat trials planted, and will discuss varieties of hard wheat that grow well in NC and their quality components.
For more information and to register for workshops please visit www.ashevillebreadfestival.com or email either [email protected] or [email protected] with AABF in the subject line.