Despite early rain, more than 20,000 people from all over Sydney turned out for a fantastic day of food and fun at Bankstown City Council's annual food festival Bankstown Bites.

The mix of cooking demonstrations, live performances, international food stalls, creative workshops and kids activities ensured a great day was had by all who attended.

Our ever popular Discovery Food Tours dominated the day once again, with each of the 21 tours fully booked. These visitors were taken on a guided journey through a number of food businesses in and around the Bankstown CBD. Those missing out on a tour were able to pick up a free Food Lovers Guide to Bankstown which lists over 120 cafes and eateries in the CBD area.

Celebrity Chef, Miguel Maestre of El Toro Loco entertained his audiences by whipping up a feast of delights on stage and giving them a taste of his famous Paella and Chocolate con Churros.

This year’s event also featured the launch of Taste- Bankstown On a Plate. This book was compiled from the recipes of contestants, judges and advisors from the Bankstown Pressure Cooks competition, two of whom took to the stage to demonstrate their dishes.

Other festival highlights included the environmentally sustainable Backyard Bites display, clowns, face painting, food carving demonstrations belly dancers, puppet shows, and Vietnamese rice paper roll making workshops.

Bankstown Council’s annual food festival, Bankstown Bites once again proved it is one of Sydney’s most authentic and diverse food festivals.

Bankstown Bites was proudly bought to you by Bankstown City Council, and we would like to thank the sponsors Torch Newspaper, Bankstown Sports, Bankstown RSL Club, Oriental Merchants, Revesby Workers Club, Canterbury- Bankstown Express and all the community groups that performed or assisted on the day. Special thanks to our fantastic volunteers.