Love food & wine? Then you’re no doubt planning to attend a few foodie festivals around the country this year. With so many to choose from, we bring you the gourmet guide to Australia’s best food & wine festivals:
Queensland
The Sunshine State has a range of events to enjoy the sunshine with a wine in hand. The Granite Belt wine region hosts Elevated Taste (5-6 April) a weekend of grazing the Granite Belt and enjoying award winning wines, gourmet local produce and entertainment. We wouldn’t miss the annual Noosa International Food & Wine Festival (15-18 May), always blessed with sunny winter weather this festival has a friendly, relaxed vibe as you sample many a fine wine, gourmet lunch from local restaurants, entertainment & cooking demonstrations and panel discussions with celebrity chefs plus a host of offsite events during the weekend. Further north, Port Douglas Carnivale (16-25 May) provides two weeks of events, many suitable for families and the ever popular longest lunch.
New South Wales
Hunter Valley and Orange wine growing regions are passionate about their food & wine. Long-time favourite the Lovedale Long Lunch (17-18 May) is a progressive lunch featuring several wineries linked with a local restaurant to provide food, wine & live entertainment. Orange, which has a vibrant food & wine culture has a number of events throughout the year including the hugely popular F.O.O.D Week (4-13 April). There are also some other regional events such as UnWined in Griffith in June and the Good Food Month in Sydney in October.
Victoria
Melbournians know their food and there is year-round food and wine activity in Victoria, starting with the Yarra Valley Grape Grazing returning (14-16 Feb) after being shelved after the devastating 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. The highlight of the year, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (28 Feb-16 Mar) with leading chefs and winemakers from around the globe involved, tickets are already selling fast. Another great event is the Mornington Peninsula Winter Wine Weekend (7-9 June) and there’s a gourmet event just about every other month too!
South Australia
The key South Australian food festival, Tasting Australia (27 April – 4 May) returns in 2014 with food icon Maggie Beer joining as Patron of the event. However there are still plenty of events on the calendar including Adelaide Hills Crush Festival (17-19 January), McLaren Vale Harvest Festival (18 January), Barossa Vintage Festival (late Mar-early April), Clare Gourmet Weekend (18-19 May), McLaren Vale Sea & Vine Festival (June), Adelaide Food & Wine Festival (4-13 Apr 14), Barossa Gourmet Weekend (15-17 August) and its clear that South Australia is a state awash with gourmet extravaganzas.
Western Australia
Only in its third year, Gourmet Escape (21-23 November) is proving it has the chops to pull a rather large foodie crowd to Margaret River. Pulling culinary stars such as Heston Blumenthal has helped to cement this event into the calendar as a must see event. Accommodation books out early, so book well in advance for Gourmet Escape.
Tasmania
The Tasmanian food and wine year kicks off with the Festivale in Launceston (7-9 February) with an alfresco food, wine and entertainment experience in Launceston’s City Park. Taste of the Huon (9/10 March) now in its 22nd year, celebrates the fine food, wine and local produce of the Huon Valley and Channel region – held at Ranelagh, just 30 minutes south of Hobart. There are many more regional events throughout the year and ends with Taste Festival (Dec/Jan) showcasing the very best cool-climate wines and local produce and coinciding with the finish of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on the Hobart waterfront.
So with all these festivals, gather your foodie friends and plan your weekend getaway. Browse our collection of boutique hotels and holiday houses to cater to group getaways or contact us at info@alluxia.com
Image: Barossa
