The 2012 Pesto Festo was the 5th Anniversary of this white tablecloth farm-to-table event hosted by Slow Food Knoxville.  This year the festival celebrating the simple tastes of various pestos was at Riverplains Farm in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee on Saturday, June 30th from 5pm until 10pm.

The record breaking heat didn’t stop the fun and the event was at capacity. We had live bluegrass music, kids activities, a pesto contest and pesto tasting and a farm tour before dinner was served at 6:30pm. The menu featured Italian inspired cuisine with a decidedly Southern flair.

We would like to thank Three Rivers Market for graciously providing the shade tent this year.

Three Rivers Market Knoxville's Community Co-op

We would like to thank our other generous sponsors, as we couldn’t have done it without them. They include Hot Mama Soup, VGs Bakery, Tomato Head, Cruze Farm, Old City Java, UT Student Organic Farm, Red Barn Gardens, Neubert Springs Farm, Mountain Meadows Farm, Rushy Springs Farm, Sprout Estate Springs Vineyard, Avanti Savoia, Zavel’s, Market Square Farmers Market, UT Farmers Market, Hines Valley Organic Farm, Spring Creek Farm, JEM Farm, Aisle Nine, Mini Adventure Series, Magpies, A Place of the Heart, Watson & Company, The French Market, Savory and Sweet Truck, Shuck Raw Bar & Ale, Central Flats and Taps, The Plaid Apron, SOCM, Wayne and Nancy Self, Saw Works Brewing Company, The Shrimp Dock, Brenda Beaty, Birke Baehr, Jodie Manross, Dave Thomasson, and Gracious Gatherings.