Beautiful time to be o-live as WA celebrates fourth Olive Festival at Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day

WA’s annual Olive Festival will celebrate its fourth year at the Gidgegannup Field Day, with plans to again unite the industry with an olive oil competition, producer displays, tasting and much more.

An olive grove worth of information will be presented at the Olive Festival marquees, with farmers and enthusiasts giving talks and cooking demonstrations on how to best use olives throughout the day.

The Olive Festival is organised by the Swan Valley and Eastern Regions Slow Food Convivium and aims to encourage those with backyard olive trees to make use of their fruit.

The group also wants to show the public how olive oil can be used and enjoyed in a range of recipes.

Food will be available to buy from the Slow Food tent at the Olive Festival all day, including bruschetta with mushrooms, soup of the day and steak sandwiches — all finished with local olive oil.

WA Olive Festival organiser Vincenzo Velletri has about 160 olive trees at his property on Toodyay Road and uses the fruit to create homemade olive oil and pickled olives for his catering business Il Paiolo, as well as for his family and friends.

Mr Velletri is the Swan Valley and Easter Regions Slow Food Convivium leader and has been involved in the Slow Food Movement for more than 20 years after being introduced to it in 1996.

Founded in 1989, Slow Food is a global grassroots organisation that aims to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions.

Mr Velletri said the Swan Valley and Eastern Regions Slow Food Convivium had been working to promote good, clean and fair local producers by creating events such as this that connect them to consumers.

“Consumers play the most important role as their choices determine how food is cultivated and produced and directly impact communities around the world,” he said.

“Slow Food encourages everyone to reflect more on how our food choices shape the world around us and provides tools to help choose food that is good for those who eat it, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.”

Mr Velletri said the event would be targeted at those that had anywhere from one to 1000 olive trees.

About five olive oil producers will have stalls at the event, with taste tests of extra virgin olive oil, infused oils and preserved olives on offer — as well as the chance for festival-goers to talk to the producers that made them.

There is also a focus on incorporating Indigenous herbs into the various oils on offer, as well as how to combine bush tucker products with olive oil to get a great result.

A highlight of the event is the annual olive oil competition, which will be announced at the Field Day. Last year it was won by Jane and Jerome from SeaView Ridge Olive Grove for the second year in a row.

Entries are due by 11am on the day of the Field Day, with the winner announced at 2.30pm.

Mr Velletri said the competition aimed to give both seasoned producers and new entrants a chance to gain industry recognition.

“The judges of the Olive Oil Competition are experienced and trained professionals in the olive oil industry from Olive WA,” he said.

A special display will showcase the machinery and equipment needed to run an olive grove, and there will also be a food stall managed by Slow Food volunteers cooking up dishes made with olive oil for patrons to buy.

There will be cooking demonstrations throughout the day, as well as an exhibition of collectables, memorabilia and photos of WA’s vibrant olive oil industry, and some olive trees on display.

Among those with a strong belief that the Perth Hills are the perfect place to grow olives is Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day chair Penny Morgan.

She moved to Gidgegannup with her husband Jim 32 years ago and started an olive grove they named after their daughter Felicity.

These days, they grow 1400 olive trees to produce extra virgin olive oil they sell locally and online.

The Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day is on May 25.

To read the official program, pick up a copy of the May 15 edition of Countryman.