Fremantle Sardine Festival
Fremantle Sardine Festival
Location: Fremantle, WA. Date: January
Originally started by a local sardine proprietor as a way to get people to try his favourite fish, the Fremantle Sardine Festival is a summertime international food and wine festival held on the Esplanade's grassy areas. Fremantle has a strong ethnic base, its many large groups of different nationalities that give the place a strong cultural atmosphere are celebrated here. There's plenty of entertainment, and of course the main attraction, the opportunity to taste freshly caught sardines from the waters off Fremantle. All proceeds go to charity.
La Dolce Italia
Location: Lygon Street, Carlton, Vic. Date: February
This one-day festival, formerly known as the Lygon Street Fiesta, celebrates Italian food and culture with music, street theatre, food stalls, entertainment, and traditional events such as dancing, waiters' race and greasy pole competition. It is organised by the Carlton Traders' Association as an adjunct to the Italian Arts Festival.
Also in February
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
Location: Melbourne, Vic. Date: March
An entirely non-profit annual event showcasing produce, talent, and lifestyle of Melbourne. The Festival encompasses more than 120 events over a 10-day period. The most popular event is the World's Longest Lunch, a sit-down alfresco meal attended by over 1000 diners and stretching over 500 metres of tables.
Also in March
- Taste Great Southern - Albany, WA
- Mandurah Crab Fest - Mandurah, WA
- Harvey Harvest Festival - Harvey, WA
- Perth Chilli Festival - Roleystone, Perth, WA
- Wagga Wagga Food and Wine Festival - Wagga Wagga, NSW
- La Festa Italian Festival - Griffith, NSW
- Morpeth Honey Festival - Morpeth, NSW
- Southern Open Vineyards - Hobart, Tas
- Southern Open Vineyards - Launceston, Tas
- A Taste of the Huon - Huonville, Tas
- Taste the Harvest - Devonport, Tas
- Adelaide Hills Wine Festival - Adelaide Hills, SA
- Tastes of Rutherglen - Rutherglen, Vic
- Apple and Grape Festival - Stanthorpe, Qld
Tasting Australia
Location: Adelaide, SA. Date: April/May (even numbered years)
A major event on Australia's food festival calendar, held every two years in the city that first introduced Australia to good food and wine. The festival showcases the very best that our nation has to offer in food, wine, beer and produce. A coming together of everybody who's anybody in the food and wine business, the festival includes the Food, Beer and Wine Writers Festival and the World Food Media Awards.
Also in April
A Taste of Slow Australia
Location: Victoria. Date: Apr/May (even numbered years)
A celebration of everything that isn't fast food (hence the name), it's a biennial event held across Victoria. A Taste of Slow celebrates local, seasonal produce and the restoration of time-honoured food production and preparation methods, informs people about the ethical implications of food choice, and encourages the sharing of food at convivial tables.
Noosa Food and Wine Festival
Location: Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Qld. Date: Apr/May
Australia's leading regional food and wine festival (formerly Celebration of Australian Food & Wine Noosa Style) is a three day tribute to Australian Food & Wine. An influential line-up of leading chefs, iconic winemakers, leading food and wine media, restaurateurs and serious foodies converge on Noosa to taste, talk, debate, dine and indulge.
Clare Gourmet Gourmet Weekend
Location: Clare, SA. Date: May
A weekend celebration of the food and wines of the Clare Valley and surrounding regions. The Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend was the first of its kind in Australia and this pioneering group of local winemakers continue their innovative approach to food and wine over the two day event.
Also in May
Sydney Italian Festival
Location: Leichhardt, NSW: Date: May/June
Sydney gets into the Mediterranean swing during its annual Italian Festival, a three-week celebration that coincides with Italy's National Day on 2 June. The festival covers all aspects of Italian life are, from art exhibitions and concerts to parties and fashion shows, but for many, the food is a major feature.
Hunter Valley Harvest Festival
Location: Hunter Valley, NSW: Date: May/June
The grape picking, the checking and accessing crops and the crushing and bottling is in full swing during this festival. Visitors and locals mix and mingle and enjoy all the planned activities happening throughout the region from wine tastings to tours of the wineries. Not only is there wine but also arts, olives, chocolate and beer (there is a brewery in the middle of the wine country). The activities are frequent and diverse including the renowned Lovedale Long Lunch.
Moreton Bay Seafood Festival
Location: Cleveland, Qld. Date: June (Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend).
Presenting a variety of top quality seafood to sample as well as non-seafood dishes, tasty delicacies and desserts. There are also displays from local food and wine producers, restaurants and culinary demonstrations. Aquaculture activities include mud crab tying, oyster shucking, mud crab racing, prawn peeling and prawn eating competitions to watch or participate in.
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Darwin Seafood Festival
Location: Darwin, NT. Date: June
Serious seafood lovers will enjoy the Darwin Seafood Festival. A single-day event held annually on Darwin's Fisherman's Wharf, the festival plays hosts to a plethora of fishy events, with a Top End feel. As well as the usual prawns, crabs and fish, there's the opportunity to savour pearl meat, barramundi and even crocodile.
Also in June
Queensland Masterclass
Location: Brisbane, Qld. Date: July
Since 1995 the Hilton Brisbane Masterclass has brought together a fabulous line-up of chefs and winemakers from around the world – Antonio Carluccio, Gordon Ramsay, Michel Richard, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Michel Roux and many more. This pool of talent shares their expertise on everything from baking the perfect pastry to matching wine to Thai cuisine. If you want to improve your culinary skills, this weekend event is the place to be.
Chocolate Winterfest
Chocolate Winterfest
Location: LaTrobe, Tas. Date: July
A wickedly delicious festival celebrating all things chocolate. From chocolate chess to chocolate fountains and a gourmet chocolate dinner, this gathers is a tasty series of indulgent events that give one a reason (should we need one?) to head for Tassie in the middle of winter.
Aroma Coffee Festival
Location: The Rocks, Sydney. Date: July
The largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, the Rocks Aroma Coffee Festival is hosted by The Rocks Markets. A must for any coffee lover, it features displays and demonstrations from small roasters and larger coffee houses, you can smell, sample and slurp some of the world's best coffee in the pleasant surrounds of Sydney's historic Rocks precinct.
Also in July
Fireside Festival
Location: Canberra ACT. Date: August
Canberra can get pretty cold in winter, so to counteract the effects of the weather, some of the region's finest restaurants have come together to create this unique experience. Festival hosts offer the chance to sample cool climate wines and seasonally inspired dinners by the warmth of an open fire.
Also in August
Feast of the Olive
Location: Hunter Valley, NSW. Date: September
The Hunter Valley, famous for its table wines, has recently emerged as one of Australia's great olive-growing regions. The format is simple: a number of retail outlets that specialise in olives open their doors and invite visitors to sample their produce. In addition, there are demonstrations of picking, processing, and pressing olives as well as tasting local olives, tapenades and oils.
Asian Food Festival
Location: Melbourne, Vic. Date: September
Melbourne dining comes alive with hot and spicy, sweet and sour and all those Asian flavours in this month-long Food Festival. Asian restaurants across Melbourne as well as Australia's premier Asian dining street "Chinatown" offering all styles of cuisine, including Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, Thai, Japanese and Vietnamese.
Also in September
Sydney international Food Festival
Location: Sydney, NSW. Date: October
This festival incorporates over 400 different food related events across the month of October at various locations around Sydney. These included the Sydney Morning Herald Growers Market, the World Chef Showcase and the Week of Tastes.
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Jazz In The Vines
Jazz In The Vines
Location: Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, NSW. Date: late Saturday in October
This popular event held in the heart of the Hunter Valley brings together some of Australia's top jazz musicians. Many guests dress up for one of the friendliest music/gourmet festivals around that is infused with great food and wine.
Also in October
- Spring in the Valley - Swan Valley, Perth, WA
- Orange Wine Week - Orange, NSW
- Murrumbateman Moving Feast - Murrumbateman, ACT
- Oliebollen Dutch Festival - Kingston, Tas
- Great Tasmanian Oyster Riot - Barilla Bay, near Hobart, Tas
- Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations - Penola, SA
- Riverland Renaissance Wine and Food Festival - Berri, SA
- Heathcote Wine and Food Festival - Heathcote, Vic
- Bendigo Heritage Uncorked - Bendigo, Vic
- Mildura Jazz, Food and Wine Festival - Mildura, Vic
- Good Food and Wine Show - Adelaide, SA
Mildura Jazz, Food and Wine Festival
Location: Mildura, Vic. Date: Oct/Nov
A well established event that has attracted many locals and visitors to the Mildura district over the past thirty years. The Festival presents four days of round the clock jazz entertainment in popular clubs, bars and cafes, restaurants, churches, as well as street side and riverside venues. All events showcase regional food and wine.
Also in November
The Taste of Tasmania
Location: Princes Wharf, Sullivan's Cove, Hobart, Tas. Date: Dec/Jan
The Taste of Tasmania is a key event in Hobart’s Summer Festival. More than 250,000 people pass through the gates over the seven days, making this the largest showcase of food and wine in Tasmania. It offers free admission, live performances and a New Year’s Eve fireworks display. This food festival is popular with the locals but, coinciding as it does with the end of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, a variety of international accents and languages can be heard in the crowd.
Also in December
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