So left behind is this event that it is no longer run by the same organisation that ran it in previous years nor is it called "The Cake Bake & Sweet Show". It is now called the "Sweet Expo".
Still a full 2 day event running 9 am - 4.30 pm on both days however whether or not it will still be an annual event in multiple cities around Australia after this year's event is another story. Will I be disappointed this year????
On my way to the event on the train but I won't arrive until after 11 am. TBC...........
Even arriving a little after 11 am the line to enter the Sweet Expo was around the corner with many people still to purchase a ticket at the entrance.
First thing I do is grab 3 chocolates which were free from mHAWKr (one of which tasted very off and I hope I don't get sick from it - it tasted like mould or blue cheese). I then registered my details - goodness knows for what as everyone else was doing it on the tablets provided.
I then pushed my way through the crowds around the Southee Complex to see what stalls and products were present. It's the same old stuff - Cake Decorating Solutions had a rather large stall but were calling themselves BakenCake or something like that instead of Cake Decorating Solutions - staff all wore their Cake Decorating Solutions logoed uniforms. There was the chocolate tea and the unicorn cheese and rainbow bagels and various chocolate stalls that were also present at the Chocolate Festival recently. The same sweet and savoury food trucks and stalls that were present at the Chocolate Festival as well. Then there was the cake decorating competition which was a lot smaller then the ones at previous Cake Bake snd Sweet Shows because there was no Loyale as a sponsor. However the display walls of themed celebrations was more prominent in the background behind the cake decorating competition display.
I stayed until about 3.30 pm and watched a few cake decorating demonstrations to pick up a few techniques and purchased something savoury to eat - a spicy chicken burrito for $14 as well as purchase some products including a packet of red chocit - pre coloured modelling chocolate from BakenCake for $8 . I purchased a rainbow coloured bagel without the unicorn cream cheese as it had sold out yet again before 3 pm for $5 and a Sweet Magazine show bag for $10. The Sweet Magazine website had gone into complete meltdown so I could not even plan my day let alone try to subscribe to the magazine all day online therefore in the end the Sweet Magazine stand was selling its showbags for $10 each cash only instead of giving them away free with each online magazine subscription. I thought they would run out of showbags before the end of the day but there were still a few left by the time I purchased mine around 3pm. The mHawkr stall was giving the back issues of Sweet magazines away for free from around 2.30 pm and most people managed to get 2 of the 4 magazines being given away for free, some were lucky to grab all 4 free Sweet Magazines before the stall packed up way before the closing time of 4.30 pm - quite a few stalls closed way before closing time. I ducked out quickly to the ATM to get some cash to purchase a Sweet Magazine showbag as they only accepted cash because their system was down. Only able to get 2 of the 4 free Sweet Magazines from the mHawkr stand, I negotiated to get 2 other different Sweet Magazines from the Sweet Magazine stand as well as heaps of extra sample packets of cranberries and vanilla paste (which I use a lot of) as substitutes for what was in my showbag. Good thing I was able to negotiate and swap things I received in the show bag as I don't touch energy drinks and didn't want double ups of the 2 Sweet magazines I had already received for free. I had to ask for a handwritten tax invoice/receipt to be written out using my pen and on the back of an old bank receipt I had as they had no pen or paper or any facilities to print one out for me due to their system being down all day.
Photos attached .
Rating : 6/10 - too many people, wrong venue for event as there was no floor plan and demonstation areas and stalls looked like they had been haphazardly put together. Same stalls not much new. Sweet Magazine total website melt down - could not subscribe to magazine nor access what was on at the show hence I could not plan my day and what to see - I was just blindly walking around the event. Lack of seating I am sitting on thr part carpeted part cement floor blogging. Was it worth my $24 I paid for just general entry into the show? No.
Australian Patisserie Academy demonstrations and cake displays
Hightea seating area
The cake decorating competition display
The crowds of people inside the Southee complex
I left the Sweet Show around 3.30 pm and did not end up leaving earlier and going to the Mad About Modernism event on at the same time out at Rose Siedler House near Turramurra since there did not seem to be a shuttle bus running from the station and due to trackwork between Gordon and beyond. It would have taken me forever to get from Lidcombe to that event. There was a note that the house also had restricted access today due to the talks going on which tickets were all sold out for - even being a member would not have given me priority access. There is always next year or another open house event out there.
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