Rovaniemi hosts Smaku food fest on Nov 4-16

The Smaku food festival is coming to Rovaniemi in early November this year with a view to promote local cuisine to both locals and tourists.

Launched in 2016 in Porvoo, Smaku now extends to Rovaniemi where locally owned restaurants have joined the challenge.

The festival in Rovaniemi, the heart of Lapland, will be held from November 4 to November 16, where gourmets can try the various Smaku dishes at the participating restaurants and cafés for a reasonable price, said the organisers.

A number of local restaurants including Café & Bar 21, Roka Street Bistro, Roka Kitchen &Winebar, Choco Deli, Woodss, Restaurant Nabo, Arctic Restaurant & Plan B, Cafe & Bar Zoomit, and Restaurant Arctic Eye (Napapiiri) are taking part in the event.

“The aim is to make local restaurants known among the locals in Rovaniemi. It would be awesome if locals would find some new favourite restaurants to go to,” Smaku Events Oy Producer Laura Pulkkinen told the Daily Finland.

She said the prices are very low (at the range of €5 to €7) and hoped that people would go and get familiar with the local tastes.

“We also hope that tourists would take part in Smaku as they travel to Rovaniemi,” said Pulkkinen.

The pre-event will start on November 4.

Talking about the preparatory measures, Pulkkinen said it has been a pleasure to prepare this event together with restaurants and Visit Rovaniemi that she termed “so brave and professional entrepreneurs with such a great attitude!”

“We expect a successful event, warm experiences, and tasty, visual portions. We hope that both locals and tourists would find their way to Smaku!” she added.

The most important part of the event will be held from 1:00pm to 6:00pm on November 16 at the Science Centre Pilke, when all the participating restaurants and cafés will gather under the same roof to showcase their dishes.

Admission to the food festival is free and food tickets will be sold throughout the main event. The visitors will have the option to vote for his or her favourite dish during the festival.

The winner of Smaku’s Rovaniemen Makuaarre 2019 title will be declared at the end of the main event.

The guests who will take part in the event and caste votes will also have a chance to win gift vouchers to the participating restaurants! Voting instructions will be available on the website of Smaku at www.smakufestivals.com/smaku-tour-rovaniemi from November 4.

During the festival, each of the participating restaurants will create a Smaku-portion that follows their own food philosophy.