The long-awaited Food for Thought Fest 2025 was inaugurated in a festive mood at the Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The four-day festival that is set to continue until November 16 was launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and marked the onset of an extensive food, culture and creativity festival that unites the food, culture, and creativity of one nation and the world.
The festival began with the singing of the patriotic song titled Vande Mataram to give the festival a spirited start. Chief Minister Patel, in his first speech, reprimanded the move, stating that it was a display of the culinary and cultural diversity in Gujarat. Food bridges the hearts and cultures. This festival not only glorifies flavours but also helps us become a stronger state based on our time-honoured and innovative tradition, he said.
The festival is organized by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in partnership with the South Asian Association of Gastronomy (SAAG) to bring to focus the changing food culture in India, as well as to encourage food tourism. The event will have three pavilions, the main ones, i.e. Luxury, Spiritual and Coffee, each with a distinct gastronomic experience.
The Luxury Pavilion shares the ideas of fine dining and gourmet dishes that are created by famous chefs, whereas the Spiritual Pavilion is dedicated to the sacred and traditional dishes, including the recognized Mahaprasad in Puri. Live roasting, brewing sessions, and coffee art demonstrations are all receiving special attention in the Coffee Pavilion.
Involvement of international countries has brought the world touch to the event, as has been seen in Spain, Nepal, and the Netherlands. There are also interactive areas, live cooking shows, workshops, and food sustainability, innovation, and heritage panel discussions where visitors can be informed. Among the star chefs this year will be celebrity chefs, like Ranveer Brar and Suvir Saran.
The Sabarmati Riverfront, which is brightly decorated, has transformed into the social centre of Ahmedabad this week, full of food vendors. The festival is projected to receive thousands of visitors, whether in the form of food lovers, families, professional chefs or hospitality students.
The organizers of AMC explained that the event will be an effort to establish Ahmedabad as a destination of culinary and cultural tourism, as well as to popularize the spirit of entrepreneurship and food artisanship in the region.
The Food for Thought Fest 2025 is going to be a satisfying experience not only to the stomach but also to the mind; it is going to be a feast in the true sense of the word.
