Alfresco Bites is a chance for people to catch up with family and friends, while enjoying good food and music.
Organiser of Alfresco Bites, Taryn ‘Taz’ Lyford has a passion for Cambridge and a clear idea of what she would like to bring to the town, but she needs a bit of help to continue that dream.
Alfresco Bites, a Friday night festival of food which has been running over warmer months since 2015, has recently been postponed until Taz can get some more backing from the community. What lies behind her passion for Alfresco Bites is what the event can bring to people in the town – the chance to sit down with family and friends with some good food and music and enjoy a community event. Maybe even talk to people they don’t know. “It’s about creating connections within the community that will boost it and make it a better place to live, work and play,” Taz explained. It’s clearly a time-consuming exercise, and she said that one of the most challenging elements to running the weekly outdoor market has been the fickle weather. With some markets cancelled on the back of dire weather forecasts, it’s hard to take when you cancel the event because of predicted torrential downpours and thunder storms which never arrive. But that’s just the way it goes, she laughed.
A powerhouse of ideas, Taz is also the driving force behind the Twilight Christmas Market as well as the Bloom Creative Market, which will be held on February 25 at the Leamington Domain. Another way she can get people out and about having fun and meeting others in the community. Not one to rest on her laurels, Taz also organised the outdoor screening of Goodbye Pork Pie last April on an inflatable movie screen at the Cambridge Raceway, and is aiming for another car-themed movie showing in March.
With a “life’s too short” philosophy, Taz is hopeful that volunteers from the community will share her vision and step up to ensure that Alfresco Bites can continue.
Whether it’s a community group that can supply buskers to the Friday night festivals, someone to sponsor radio ads or provide waste management services, Taz is open to help from wherever she can find it. If you are keen to help ensure the continuation of Alfresco Bites, you can contact Taz at events@blackfox.nz or phone 07 823 3306 for a chat.
