... a special part of Sensational Elora - a festival of the senses
October 3-12, 2009

What is Empty Bowls?

The Empty Bowls Project is an exciting partnership between local potters, community groups and soup-making chefs all in aid of the Centre Wellington Food Bank.

If you’ve never experienced an Empty Bowls event before, here’s a brief overview of the concept. Empty Bowls events provide a means to raise both money and awareness about poverty and hunger in our communities. Potters are the driving force behind these events, volunteering their time and energy to create soup bowls, which are then exchanged for money in support of local charities. The Elora and surrounding communities have no shortage of potters, so where better to host such an event!

As part of Sensational Elora, area residents and visitors alike will have two ways to buy a bowl and taste superb soups from area chefs and restaurants.

1) Throughout the days of the festival you’ll find bowls to buy at Stÿll gallery, and the Elora General Store. When you buy a bowl at either of these two retailers you will receive a voucher for a bowl of soup which you can redeem at any of our participating area restaurants.

2) Buy a ticket for our big “Sensational Soup Off Event” on Thanksgiving Monday, organized by the Centre Wellington Rotary and Slow Food Elora. When you come to the soup off you will choose a bowl at that time, from a fabulous selection of handcrafted bowls, which are set aside specifically for this event. You will then have an opportunity to taste numerous delicious soups made by amateur and professional chefs. You and all those in attendance, will vote on the best soup! At the end of the event your bowl is rinsed for you, and the Empty Bowl is yours to take home.

This fundraising project is the perfect fit for the season of Thanksgiving. At a time when so many of us will have an abundance of family, celebration and food, there are many in our communities who at times need a little help. The Empty Bowls project is one opportunity to share what we have with others.

Where will all the bowls come from?

1) Over the summer months area potters will work diligently in thier studios to create bowls for the project. All their time and talent is donated to the cause. With many potters participating, there will be a great range of colours and styles of hand crafted pottery bowls to choose from in October.

2) July 4th and 5th Night & Day Studio will host a "throwing bee", to create bowls for the project. These bowls will be fired in the historic Salt Glazed method later in the summer. The public is welcome to visit the studio over the weekend to see how bowls are made!

Our goal is to collectively make a minimum of 500 bowls for the 2009 project!

If you are a potter and wish to become involved in the project contact us and/or download our project outline.

Here's who is helping out, thus far in 2009:

Elsa Mann - Mount Forest
Paul Kaye - Mount Forest
Jinni Hartmann - Waterloo
Jan Bentley - Kitchener
Monique Lippert - Elmira
Barb Murphy - Waterloo County
Ruth Swanson-Ayton
Jane Neff - Elora
Dorothy Collins-Belwood

Wanda Densmore-Elmira
Staci Barron- Elora
Dale Mark - Burlington
Richard Mund - Neustadt
Sheilah Fournier - Kitchener
Pam Starrat/Shirley Al/Jo Lomas-The Studio - Elora
Lorraine Eidlitz-Muskoka
Tim Smith-Wiarton
Tracy McEwen-Guelph

Special thanks in advance to our material sponsors...

Not to be left out, the glass blowing community has also been included in the project and will be donating hand blown glasses. These glasses and goblets will to be sold to patrons during the festival’s opening gala. Patrons will use these hand crafted glasses to sample unique wines, donated courtesy of the Opimion Society.wine

100% of the sale of these glasses, 100% of the pottery soup bowls and 100% of the ticket sales from the Soup Off will be donated to the Centre Wellington Food Bank! The Centre Wellington Food Bank assists residents of Centre Wellington and whenever possible provides support to surrounding food banks in Arthur, Mount Forest, and Harriston, which in turn supports residents in those communities.

 

Join us on Thanksgiving Monday?

What a fabulous finish for our inaugural festival! Bissell Park will be a buzz of activity on Thanksgiving Monday. Starting at 10 a.m. come to the park and meet all the potters and glassblowers who have participated in the project. They will have their wares set out for the day and available to purchase. Admission is free. Show runs until 5pm.

At 1p.m. the Centre Wellington Rotary Club and Slow Food Elora will kick off the long awaited Sensational Soup Off (advance tickets required for this event). Local and visiting chefs will prepare soups of the season and compete for the illustrious title of “Best Soup Chef” with soups being served in Empty Bowls.

What a sensational combination of events for you to enjoy!

Now all you have to do is plan to attend! Bring the whole family and make it a new Thanksgiving tradition to spend the day in Sensational Elora.