Not-to-be-missed QLD Food Festival cuisine - Image: Pexels to Pixabay CC0 Creative Commons
Foodies rejoice! Queensland is celebrating! From
'Woop-Woop' to
'Timbuktu', a variety of divinely delicious local food and wine festivals have been lined up for 2019 and to ensure you don't miss out on what's happening, where and when, here is a quick guide to the top
Queensland Food Festivals.
🍇 South Burnett Wine & Food in the Park Festival
When: Saturday 9 March | 12.00noon to 8.00pm
Where: Kingaroy Memorial Park, William Street, Kingaroy, QLD 4610
Tickets: Pay at event $20 for over 18's and FREE for under 18's
Image: South Burnett Wine & Food in the Park Festival FB
Kingaroy is peanut country! Approximately a three-hour drive north of Brisbane, Kingaroy is the focal town for the picturesque region of
South Burnett. Surrounded by lush farmlands and low rolling hills, Kingaroy boasts a growing gourmet food scene, with chefs utilising local produce on menus, at many of the award-winning restaurants and cafe's around the town.
Using Kingaroy as a 'kick-off' point, visitors can explore one of Australia's newest boutique wine regions, with a low-humidity climate very similar to the famous Hunter Valley. The first vines in this region were planted in 1995 and visitors can now enjoy taste-testing at four different cellar doors - plus an additional five in the
Moffatdale region, near Murgon.
Image: South Burnett Wine and Food in the Park FB
The 20th
South Burnett Wine & Food in the Park Festival is a fun, community event, promising a fabulous line-up of live entertainment, wine sampling from the region's leading wineries and a diverse selection of food stalls. A fabulous day out, not to be missed.
🥒 Feast of the Senses
When: 28 to 31 March
Where: Innisfail, QLD 4860
Tickets: Please see flyer image below for pricing
Feast of the Senses' four-day festival is North Queensland's premier tropical food experience and the Cassowary Coast's major festival, centred around the town of
Innisfail, about 90kms south of Cairns.
The
Feast of the Senses festival shows off Tropical North QLD's impressive variety of rare and exotic fruits, whilst also showcasing a fabulous range of meat, seafoods, herbs, spices and wine. In 2019 the
Feast of the Senses is undergoing a re-birth, to remind festival-goers what the festival is really all about, promising to be a tantalisingly tasty experience.
If you are keen on being a stallholder,
please click here for an application form.
🍷 Noosa Food & Wine Festival
When: 16 to 20 May
Where: Noosa, Sunshine Coast, QLD 4567
Tickets: Are on sale here now
Image: Noosa Food & Wine Festival FB
Noosa Food & Wine Festival is five fabulous days of foodie heaven. No matter if you are looking for beachfront brunches; dinners with celebrity chefs; live cooking demonstrations or a party under the stars, the 2019
Noosa Food & Wine Festival has ensured that there is something for everybody.
Bird's eye view of the Noosa Food and Wine Festival - Image: Noosa Food and Wine Festival FB
Noosa Food & Wine Festival is an annual celebration of excellent food, fantastic wine, live music and entertainment, in one of Australia's most-loved destinations …
Noosa. To help visitors with planning, please click here for the
2019 Programme; the
line-up; and the
venues.
🍇 Grazing the Granite Belt
When: Saturday 18 May and Sunday 19 May
Where: Stanthorpe, QLD 4380
Tickets: $125 which includes 4 x food vouchers; 4 x wine vouchers; 1 x breakfast with the winemakers ticket plus the hop-on, hop-off bus on Saturday
Two days of lazy grazing in Southern Queensland Country - how awesome does that sound! Spend Saturday, 18 May, on the hop-on, hop-off bus, visiting participating venues to the
Grazing the Granite Belt, whilst enjoying their offerings of wine as well as exquisite meals prepared with local ingredients by food artisans.
On Sunday, get spoilt with a
Breakfast with the Winemakers, before going off adventuring on your own. Two days of fabulous fun at
Grazing the Granite Belt … for only $125.
🇬🇷 Paniyiri Greek Festival
When: Saturday 18 May from 12noon and Sunday 19 May from 10.00am
Where: Musgrave Park and The Greek Club, Edmondstone Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101
Tickets: $12 Adults (13 ) | $5 All pensioners | Children FREE | Tickets will be available in March. Please click here to purchase tickets online or tickets can be purchased at the gate
When in Greece, do as the Greeks do! Image: Paniyiri Greek Festival FB
Paniyiri Greek Festival has grown over four decades to become Queensland's signature celebration of all things Greek as well as being the state's largest cultural festival. In 2019 festival-goers are expected to consume approximately 300,000 Honey Puffs; more than 100,000 Souvlakia; almost 12,000 Dolmades; 20,000 coffees and 1,600 kgs of grilled Halloumi cheese (my favourite!).
Paniyiri is a community initiative of the 25,000 strong Greek community of South East Queensland. Funds raised are channelled back into the community via the Greek Orthodox Community of St George in Brisbane. Having been established in 1920,
Paniyiri is Brisbane's oldest Greek community. The Greeks love to party - so if you're into tasting Greek delicacies (I am!), dancing and smashing plates, the
Paniyiri Greek Festival in May is your weekend to bookmark.
🥒 Hampton Festival
When: Sunday 19 May | 9.30am to 4.00pm
Where: Chapman Park, New England Highway, Hampton, QLD 4352
Tickets: $12 per person | Children 12 years and under FREE
Image: Hampton Food & Arts Festival FB
The
Hampton Festival is a dynamic celebration of local food production, regional artisans; live music, local wine and craft beers. Visitors to the
Hampton Festival can expect a unique and authentic high-country experience, highlighting the autumnal season, with its natural beauty and bounty of local produce.
Every year the
Hampton Festival puts on a fabulous array of activities, including chef demonstrations; the
Hampton Art Exhibition; multi-cultural restaurants; plus interactive art sessions and food and art focussed children's' activities. Please click the
Hampton Festival link here to view the Festival Programme and to see what other fantastic activities the organisers have up their sleeves.
🍷 Port Douglas Carnivale
When: Friday 24 May to Sunday 26 May
Where: Port Douglas, QLD 4877
Tickets: All events have different pricing, please follow the Port Douglas Carnivale link here to view and/or purchase tickets
The
Port Douglas Carnivale in Tropical North QLD is celebrating its 25th year in 2019. Originally this festival was held to commemorate the start of the sugar cane harvesting season, but over the years has transformed, and is now considered to be the official opening of the tourism high season in Far North QLD. The annual
Port Douglas Carnivale attracts tens of thousands of local, interstate and international guests to the idyllic paradise of
Port Douglas - all keen to enjoy the food, fun and sun.
The
Port Douglas Carnivale offers visitors and locals a three-day jam-packed programme that includes street art; market stalls; the famous 'longest lunch'; seafood extravaganza and fireworks.
🎃 Goomeri Pumpkin Festival
When: Sunday 26 May
Where: Corner Moore Street and Bonara Street, Goomeri QLD 4601
FREE entry to the Festival
A pumpkin-ly smashing time! Image: Goomeri Pumpkin Festival FB
The charming town of Goomeri is home to Australia's only
Pumpkin Festival, which is traditionally held on the last weekend in May and has as its star event, the very exciting 'Great Australian Pumpkin Roll'.
Goomeri promises a smashing, fun-filled day at the 23rd
Goomeri Pumpkin Festival, with quirky and novel pumpkin competitions; a street parade; all day live entertainment on stage; street markets and so much more. Treat yourself to a variety of pumpkin foods, including homemade pumpkin scones, pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread rolls, pumpkin and lamb sausages and the best ever pumpkin soup. Sounds like a pumpkin-ly smashing festival!
🍇 Gold Coast Food & Wine Festival
When: Friday 31 May to Sunday 2 June | 10.00am - 10.00pm
Where: Gold Coast, QLD 4212
Image: Gold Coast Food and Wine Festival FB
Another fabulous foodie reason to bookmark a weekend away! The
Gold Coast Food & Wine Festival is shining a spotlight on the Gold Coast's evolving food and wine culinary landscape. More than 15,000 food and wine lovers are expected to gather at more than thirty events across the Gold Coast, celebrating the glitz and glamour of this region, as a food destination.
Bringing together the best local chefs, street food, restaurants, wineries, breweries and distilleries across the three day weekend, the
Gold Coast Food & Wine Festival is promising picnics, workshops, demonstrations and signature food events and is definitely a festival not to be missed!
🍷 Relish Food & Wine Festival, Fraser Coast
When: Saturday 1 June | 10.00am to 5.00pm
Where: Mary River Parklands, Maryborough, QLD 4650
Tickets: Pre-purchased online here $10 or $15 at the gate
Image: Fraser Coast Events > Relish Food & Wine festival FB
Maryborough's quaint heritage streetscapes and spectacular riverside parks form the backdrop for the
Relish Food & Wine Festival's celebration of local delicacies, including tempting Hervey Bay scallops and Fraser Island prawns.
Visitors to the Fraser Coast's
Relish Food & Wine Festival can look forward to heaps of tantalising highlights including a celebrity chef; live cooking demonstrations; gourmet food stalls; and even a historic steam engine ride. Take a trip down memory lane whilst visiting the Gin Joint in the basement of the heritage listed Bond Store, amongst the very old rum barrels that date back to the 1860's - how awesome is that!
If you're interested in becoming a stallholder at Relish Food & Wine Festival, please follow the link here.
🚜 Scenic Rim Eat Local Week
When: Saturday 29 June to Sunday 7 July
Where: Scenic Rim
Tickets: Prices vary from event to event, ranging from $10 to $300
Image: Scenic Rim Eat Local Week FB
The
Scenic Rim is a region built on the back of agricultural production, spanning many generations. The
Scenic Rim Eat Local Week celebrates nine whole days of the food, the farmers and the spectacular beauty of the Scenic Rim, through a programme of festivals, farm gate events and culinary experiences.
Eat Local Week has something for food lovers of all ages, from
FREE and low-cost activities for families and children, through to exclusive dining experiences, hosted by some of Queensland's finest chefs. Children will love watching the camels being milked and will be able to feed the sheep, goats, pigs and chickens.
Children will have plenty to keep themselves busy at Scenic Rim Eat Local Week - Image: Scenic Rim Eat Local Week FB
The
Scenic Rim Eat Local Week festival of food and farming runs during the first week of the QLD June/July school holidays at various locations around the Scenic Rim region. The
Scenic Rim Eat Local Week festival is a fabulous excuse to book a week's family holiday away during the winter school holidays and support local farmers in this stunning region. The Scenic Rim is only an hour away from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
To make sure you don't miss out on any important info or programme events i.e. the
Winter Harvest Festival on Saturday 6 July, in the lead up to the
Scenic Rim Eat Local Week, please make sure you follow the
Eat Local Week website here.
🍺 Regional Flavours
When: Saturday 20 July to Sunday 21 July
Where: South Bank, Brisbane QLD 4101
FREE Entry
Held in Brisbane's very appealing, ever popular,
South Bank Parklands,
Regional Flavours festival features
FREE entertainment from celebrity chefs; totally delicious food; beer and wine; live music and plenty of children's activities.
Foodie lovers, take note!
Regional Flavours is also home to a thriving producer market with more than eighty stalls from across the state. Work your way through exceptional wine; rich desserts; crisp fruit and vegetables; jams and sauces to leave home for and creamy cheeses, that will have you asking for more.
For featured events, stallholder applications (which are already open) and 2019's programme,
please click here to keep on top of happenings as they unfold.
🐟 The Curated Plate - Culinary Festival
When: Thursday 8 August to Sunday 11 August
Where: Sunshine Coast
First time ever on the Sunshine Coast, The Curated Plate Festival - Image: The Curated Plate FB
The Curated Plate is a brand new four-day-destination culinary festival launching on the Sunshine Coast in 2019. This
'regionally cultivated, expertly plated' festival will bring together the region's finest produce and
producers with the best chefs in the Australian and international culinary scene.
The programme for
The Curated Plate - Culinary Festival is only going to be released in March 2019 - please keep a look-out here via
The Curated Plate facebook page.
🎣 Hervey Bay Seafood Festival
When: Sunday 11 August
Where: Fishermen's Park, Urangan Boat Harbour, Hervey Bay, QLD 4655