If your year has been as busy as ours and December has suddenly reminded you that Christmas is looming, our annual Christmas Fare at Hyde Park barracks is bound to bring joy, with lots of entertaining and gift giving solutions. 

“All the stallholders value tradition and the handmade and many use techniques that have been handed down by previous generations, choosing to work using traditional methods that may be painstaking and slow but which offer their own rewards.” Barbara Sweeney, Director, Food & Words, and the Talking Cookbook

An enchanted evening

“It’s the space. It’s right in the city and is so full of history. On this one night, we all come together for a moment and it feels so good. The Fare is when it starts to feel like Christmas for me and it’s a beautiful thing.” Annie Baxter-Lindsay, Baxter & Bird

The Christmas Fare is a great way to meet up with friends and family in the heart of the city, for a festive forage through the stalls, and enjoy some delicious eat-now fare and refreshing Young Henry’s brews. I’ll be on hand with samples of traditional plum pudding and to sign copies of our book Eat your history for discerning cooks. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to take a FREE tour Hyde Park Barracks museum .

This year we welcome back many of our favourite artisan producers and food specialists, and we happily greet a few new friends into the fold. Signature specialties from Baxter and Bird, Brooklyn Boy bagels, Chur Burger Food Truck and Miss Lilly’s pies will help silence a rumbling tum, or La Calle Latin street food for gluten free and vegan options.

Santa’s pantry

What better way to fill your Christmas stockings with tea from T Totaler and Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar, handmade, small batch preserves from The Jam Bandits and Sydney’s own local branch of the CWA, Bilpin Bush Honey, Chunky Dave’s  all-Australian peanut butter. Sweet treats such as marshallow from Black Pantry, Los Lacayos Nougat, chocolate ‘bon bons’ from Esti Garcia and or superbly wrapped Cicada chocolates, Alfamores and Gumnut’s famous biscuits will be hard to part with if they’re on your gift list.

Entertaining with ease

Whether you’re a turkey and ham traditionalist, planning a seafood spread or opting for a casual BBQ, chutney, pickles, dressings, sauces and seasonings abound from Cornersmith picklery, Currong Comestibles, Eat Me Chutney, Pukara Oils  and Olsson’s sea salt. SpiceVine and Ding the Recipe will tickle the spice lovers palate, while Steph’s Gourmet Foods and Pecora Dairy make mouthwatering cheese and charcuterie platters a pleasure to make and feast upon. And for those of you who’d rather not have a pudding on the boil for the requisite 6 hours, ready-made puddings will be available from Est Garcia.

A Maker’s Lane

For the first time we’ve partnered with Australian Design Centre, who are curating a Maker’s Lane, supporting local designers and makers of bespoke ceramics, textiles, homewares and jewellery.