The Good Life Show
I first heard about the Good Life Show show last year and really wanted to go but we had other commitments at the time. This year the stars aligned and I was able to attend as part of the media who covered the event. My only regret about attending the event was that I did not attend more than one day – there is that much to see, taste and do.
I have been playing with the idea of a more plant based life for many years. I try eat a few meat free meals each week but recently my menopausal research has led me to want to focus more on increase my plant based meals, this show was the perfect place to get inspiration for that.
The show is held twice a year in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It was held at the Kyalami International Convention Centre, which is such a great venue. The event runs over 3 days – Friday to Sunday. There are classes you can watch for free and Master Classes you can join in for a fee.
We got there as they were opening on Saturday, so it was still pretty quiet, which was perfect. It gave us a great opportunity to really engage with the brands. This is one of my favourite parts of niche shows like this, people are so willing to share their knowledge and product information. Everyone we spoke to was a local brand which I absolutely love!
We watched one of the cooking classes with Chef Zana – she made an amazing Thai dish that we have made 3 times already. We were also lucky enough to join a Master Class with Chef Emma. We learnt how to make dumplings, broth and sampled some Beyond Meat meatballs. We had so much fun.
Some of My Highlights
The first stand we saw was the Hinds stand – they had some Kombucha, a smoothie and ginger beer to taste – ALL of it was so amazing. The recipes are here – check out the Ginger and Cinnamon kombucha, the Homemade Ginger Beer and the Paprika Smoothie on page 2. All soo delicious and healthy.
Then Romano’s Food have a range of pestos/sauces. They have a cashew nut salsa that is out of this world amazing. I single handedly finished our jar. I wish now we had bought more. I will be ordering more soon.
Balance Marine Collagen. Kiara has been using collagen for a while now to help with her skin so I have been deep diving into collagen but had not heard of marine collagen until the show. They also have a range of teen products I am keen to try for Jack and Emma.
We also got some guacomole from Avolands which was delicious and affordable – I think we worked it out to R10 an avo. You can freeze it so you can keep it for when avos are ridiculously expensive.
I had the most delicious coffee from Jacksons Real Food Market.
We were treated too 2 amazing cocktails – David had a mocktail and mine had alcohol in, both were sooo good.
Next year I will definitely plan a bit better so that we can attend more Master Classes and watch more of the classes.
If you are considering a more plant based life or are already vegan/vegetarian, then I would definitely put the 2025 dates in your calendar. The Cape Town dates have been set 30 May – 1 June. The Joburg dates should be shared on The Good Life Instagram page.
