Forget the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy some farm-friendly atmosphere at the Cape Dairy Experience from 2-3 November at Sandringham.

Experience a complete journey of milk: Meet the 2012 Absa Dairy Queen (SA’s best bred cow), cook with dairy, taste a variety of dairy-related products and enjoy the thrill of a real agricultural show where more than 500 world class animals brag about their breeding.

Dairy in the kitchen
Dairy forms an integral part of a healthy diet - whether you’re the low fat or full cream type - dairy has an option that will suit your preference. During five hourly sessions in the Woolworths Dairy Pantry foodies and artisan producers will share the ins and outs of creating and cooking with a variety of dairy products: churn butter the old fashioned way, make yoghurt and cottage cheese, and learn from food blogger, Nina Timm and Puglia Cheese how to make and use authentic Italian mozzarella. Huguenot Chocolate, the boutique chocolaterie in Franschhoek, will seduce you with an interactive demo and tasting session, while well known RSG Huiskok, Errieda du Toit, and Cara Brink will cook up a storm using Simonsberg products.

Fabulous farm fun for the kids
Expose kids to the intricacies of a Youth Show where they will have the chance to lead a goat or cow around the show ring.  Bring them to see experienced Youth Show participants compete in the Cape Holstein Youth Show Championships on Friday at 16:00, after which they can try it for themselves on Saturday during two training sessions for beginners.  Ice cream enthusiasts are challenged to eat as much as they can during the ice cream eating competition at 12:30 on Saturday. Enjoy the Dogsense dog jumping performances for the rest of the afternoon or milk mock cows, make roosterkoek and expose of extra energy on the various jumping castles in the MPO Kids Area.

Agriculture at its best
The Cape Dairy Experience is officially the largest South African event dedicated solely to dairy by the industry for the industry with some 300 goats taking part in the SA Milk Goat National Championships.  An additional 200 cows (Ayrshire, Holstein and Jerseys) will be converging at Sandringham from as far as KwaZulu-Natal, the Southern Cape and the Free State to take part in the various breed and inter breed championships, culminating in the announcement of this year’s Absa Dairy Queen.

Highlights such as demonstrations of bale handling and straw milling on Friday and the announcement of the Master Dairyman of the Year complete the experience.

Tickets are available at the gates at R50 for adults, while children 18 years and younger enter free of charge.  Opening times are Friday 10:00 to 17:00 and Saturday from 09:00 to 21:00.

Visit www.capedairy.co.za for the full programme and directions to Sandringham, or contact Mariana Rabie at tel 021 975 4440 or send an email to [email protected].