For more than 15 years, Farm Folk City Folk - a group dedicated to local, sustainable food systems - has hosted its fundraiser, Feast of Fields.

The event is a gastronomic dream, with four hours of wandering amongst more than 60 booths filled with the best local food and drink, all set up in the grassy field of this year's host, Maple Ridge's own Golden Ears Cheesecrafters.

As described by event organizers, "Feast of Fields is like a 40-course meal, all under the blue skies."

A perfect venue for celebrating local food, Cheesecrafters supports locally produced products with the vast majority of what they sell coming from within B.C.

As one of the vendors at Feast of Fields, the Davison family, owners of Cheesecrafters, will feature the cheeses they make from Jersey milk from a relative's nearby farm. Everything from havarti and cheddar to gouda and blue cheese is all made on site.

If visitors to Feast of Fields get tired of eating, drinking, and wandering around in the sunshine, they can always head into the Cheesecrafters shop to check out some of the giftware or upcoming cooking classes.

But with all that food and drink on hand, plus music from Lower Mainland indie/rock/ folk bands Headwater and Carmanah, it's unlikely anyone will get bored at the event being held 1 to 5 p.m. on Sept. 9.

"Come and see where local food comes from," said Dana Reinhardt, organizer of the Metro Vancouver Feast of Fields.

Before you think that Reinhardt's idea of local food is raw carrots or a handful of blueberries, keep in mind this isn't that kind of celebration. Feast of Fields has guests exploring flavours with a white linen napkin in one hand and a wine glass in the other. It's a mixture of the best locally sourced food and inspired gourmet creation.

Some of the participating vendors include YEW at the Four Seasons Hotel, Seasonal 56, and The Next Course at the Listel Hotel, which will be serving its kale, chard, salmon, and beet rolls.

Mission Springs Brewing Company will also be on hand to give visitors a taste of some of its regional crafted beers.

"We want to be more active as a local brewery," said Mark Simpson of Mission Springs.

As part of that desire to be more involved locally, Simpson noted that an iconic local haunt will be undergoing an upgrade.

The Billy Miner Pub at Port Haney will have a late September opening to celebrate its new pizza oven, coffee shop, and facelift.

Other locals, such as Hopcott Premium Meats and Big Feast Bistro, will also be part of the Feast of Fields event.

While there will be alcoholic beverages avail-able from B.C. suppliers like Pemberton Distillery, Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse, and Blasted Church, a number of non-alcoholic juices, teas, coffees, and sodas from local sources will also fill spots on the list of things to try.

If you want to know more about how your food is made, where it comes from, how local can taste great, and find out more about the connection between farmers, chefs, and food sustainability, Feast of Fields may be your preferred way to spend an afternoon.

At $85, tickets always sell quickly and may be sold out by press time, but visit feastoffields.com to find out more.

editorial@mrtimes.com