The 20 best food and drink festivals in Australia in 2025

December 27, 2024 – January 6, 2025

It seems everyone’s talking about Tasmania these days. One way to get amongst the best of the Apple Isle is by attending the much-lauded (and free!) Taste of Summer festival, which takes over Hobart waterfront each year. More than 100,000 visitors eat, drink and dance their way around the event, which is the oldest and largest food and drink festival in all of Oz. Along with fine dining events, cooking demos and masterclasses, there are also more than 100 market stalls showcasing 100 per cent Tasmanian delicacies like seafood, mushrooms, cheese, cool-climate wines and craft beers.

March 8-9, 2025

Bring on the beer, barbecues and bangers at this half-food, half-music festival, which is hitting the Limestone Coast in 2025. You can boot scoot to your heart's content with headline performances by Australia’s greatest punk and rock bands, including ARIA-charting alt-rock legends The Butterfly Effect and pop-punk indie rock band Slowly, Slowly. Dancing and singing are thirsty work, so refresh yourself with one of the hundreds of beers on offer, paired with flame-cooked bites and slow-cooked brisket.

March 21–30, 2025

Need a good excuse for a culinary road trip? Mark your calendar for this ten-day celebration of all things food and drink, which causes a stir in Melbourne and regional Victoria every March. Featuring a star-studded line-up of international chefs and local food heroes, the 2025 iteration will offer a smorgasbord of 200 events, including the festival’s signature World’s Longest Lunch hosted by Curtis Stone, World's Longest Brunch hosted by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, a Global Dining Series featuring exciting international chefs, regional action, and even a rooftop chocolate garden at the MCG. 

March 28 - April 6, 2025

With its country charm, cool climate and boutique winemakers, Orange has risen through the ranks to claim its place as a go-to wine destination. Time your trip to coincide with one of the region’s popular events, Orange F.O.O.D Week. which is also Australia’s longest-running regional food festival. More than 10,000 meals are enjoyed and 6,000 bottles of wine are popped across 100 events each year, including at the Sampson Street Long Lunch, four-kilometre forage to the most well-known Orange vineyards and F.O.O.D Week Night market.

April 1–30, 2025

The idyllic coastal city of Newcastle comes alive in April each year for this epic month-long food and drink festival, with events and shenanigans happening every day of the week. From cheese and wine pairings to live gigs and schmick dinners held in secret locations, the line-up features events for food and wine lovers at all price points (and hunger levels). Last year, more than 80 local businesses were involved with Newcastle Food Month – including favourites Humbug, Flotilla, Customs House Hotel, Jana, Harrison’s, Arno Deli and Elementa – with organisers Louise and Gus Maher keen for it to one day be Australia’s biggest food festival.

April 11-13

North West Tasmania’s famous self-drive food and drink trail is serving up a brand-new long weekend feast in 2025. It’s basically like a treasure hunt for your taste buds, with 30 farm gates offering up samples of the state’s finest cheese, chocolate, seafood, confectionery, wine, beer, spirits, cider and more. While the trail is self-guided, you can join fellow foodies at the Friday night Gala Dinner, or take part in producer-led tastings, tours and workshops fit for the whole family.

TBC: April, 2025

If you’re a foodie with a passion for the deep blue, then add Shore Leave to your travel bucket list. Taking place in Geraldton, this ultimate seafood festival celebrates all things ocean and adventure, with more than 30 events hosted across five jam-packed days. From the iconic Abrolhos Island long table lunch and Mid-West Paddock to Plate culinary experience, to tours, markets and music, there’s almost too much to see, eat and do.

May 1–4, 2025

Peppered over WA’s Great Southern region, this premier regional foodie festival fuses incredible flavours, fine wines and otherworldly landscapes. Dive into more than 30 culinary experiences from 20 world-class chefs, spread across 11 glorious days, with everything from lavish long lunches and gourmet degustations to premium pairing events and bustling community markets.

May 2–11, 2025

Prepare your palates for the country’s longest-running eating and drinking festival, which returns to South Australia every May. This ultimate gastronomic paradise spotlights the nation’s favourite culinary stars and local producers across 150 events in all 12 regions. From full-day degustations to regional pop-ups and hands-on cooking classes, this festival will be one your taste buds won't forget.

May 16–25, 2025

Get to know one of the best vineyards in one of South Australia’s wine capitals at this boozy festival celebrating all things vinous. Running for more than 40 years, this is the oldest food and wine festival in Australia and is split across three stages. Taste the fanciest drops over the ‘Festival Weekend’ with gourmet wine lunches, meet the maker tasting sessions and cellar door degustations; partake in wine masterclasses, art classes and paddock-to-plate experiences during the ‘Breathe It In’ midweek program, and send it off in style on the final ‘Land of the Long Lunch’ weekend.

May 16–26, 2025

Located on the banks of the Ord River, Kununurra is the launch pad of a cultural experience distinct to WA’s precious Kimberley region. The annual Ord Valley Muster is the biggest festival in the region and celebrates the North West’s vast and dramatic landscapes with culinary, creative and cultural events. Rally the squad and adventure on down for comedy in the park, dinner under the stars, the top-end mustering rodeo, a yoga boat ride and more.

TBC May, 2025

When this Byron Bay foodie festival first popped up in 2022, it took what was already one of the regional foodie capitals of NSW to whole new heights – transforming the region into a buzzing hub with supper clubs, art installations and wellness classes. In 2024, the ten-day ode to the region’s counterculture featured an opening party at The Farm Byron Bay, Arabian-themed cabaret shows, a long seafood lunch at the iconic Raes on Wategos, an ode to autumnal produce at the acclaimed farm-to-table eatery Harvest, a free live-music event at beachside pizzeria and bar Treehouse, and a tropical-themed closing party at North Byron Hotel.

May 23 – June 14, 2025

Every year, Sydney becomes a sparkly city on steroids as the Southern Hemisphere's largest multi-platform festival lights up the sky for 23 nights in winter. While Vivid initially began as a light show, over the last few years it’s transformed into so much more, with the introduction of Vivid Food. In 2024, there were three parts to Vivid Food: Vivid Residence, Vivid Chef Series and Vivid Fire Kitchen, with the 2025 food program set to tie into the theme ‘dream’.

May 23–25, 2025

Kakadu – home to the world’s oldest living culture – hosts the ultimate Indigenous bush foods and culture festival, which has been 65,000 years in the making. In 2024, the star of the show was Bowali Under the Stars – a four-course dinner prepared by renowned bush-food chefs Paul Iskov of Fervor and Ben Tyler of Kakadu Kitchen, using seasonal ingredients foraged locally in Kakadu National Park. Festivalgoers also had the opportunity to learn from traditional owners at other events, including ranger-guided bush tucker walks, ‘croc and canapé’ cruises, and ground oven feasts.

May 29 – June 1, 2025

Experience the best of this jewel of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast at Noosa’s annual eating and drinking festival. It’s been a firm Noosa favourite for more than 20 years, bringing some of Australia’s favourite celebrity chefs to the beachside town, including Adriano Zumbo, Gary Mehigan and Khanh Ong. Five local restaurants collaborated for the 2024 signature Long Lunch, which stretches end-to-end along Noosa Junction’s Arcadia Street. Beer and cider fans aren't forgotten with plenty of brewers demonstrating their crafts, plus sundowner sessions at The Beach Garden pop-up, produce markets and interactive masterclasses. The Festival Village buzzes day and night with live entertainment, so don’t forget your dancing shoes.

June 1–30, 2025

From the small country village of Beechmont to the secluded hinterlands of Tamborine Mountain, this month-long food fiesta hosts more than 120 delicious events. It’s backed by some of the biggest names in the local hospo scene, who will cook up stellar paddock-to-plate experiences, including long lunches, guest chef degustations, food tours, and growers’ markets. Get in quick if you want to attend the famous Kalfresh Carrot Day in Australia’s carrot-growing capital. The carrot ice cream from Moffatt’s Fresh Produce is a must-try.

TBC June, 2025

Celebrate winter's most delicious harvest at this three-day festival held in the heart of Australian truffle country in Manimup, a 3.5-hour drive south of Perth. Truffles are of course at the centre of all weekend activities, including candlelit long table lunches laden with freshly harvested shavings of ‘black gold’, intimate fireside cooking masterclasses, truffle dog demonstrations and truffle hunts in orchards. However, the festival also celebrates 50 other kinds of the region's most prized produce with an undercover marketplace, free cooking demonstrations and wine tastings.

July 25 – August 3, 2025

The Sunshine Coast is good for more than just glittering beaches and tropical rainforests. It’s the stage for one of Queensland’s premier culinary festivals, The Curated Plate, which dishes up 90 food and drink events over ten days. The main courses for last year’s program were the Sunny Coast Breweries and Distilleries Festivals by Gabs on the banks of the Maroochy River; the ever-popular Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival; and a special Chefs in Conversation discussion hosted by celebrity cook Hayden Quinn.

TBC August, 2025

Four days of feasting by the beach with some of Australia’s leading celebrity chefs? Sounds like our type of holiday. For almost a decade, Taste Port Douglas has brought its foodie festivities from Port Douglas to Cairns with masterclasses, long seaside luncheons, cocktail soirees and tropical parties, all backdropped by the reefs and the rainforests of tropical Far North Queensland. The hottest ticket in town is always for ‘A Night of Fire’, which takes place under the flickering candlelights at Flames of the Forest, Australia’s only rainforest dining experience.

October 1-31, 2025

TBC November, 2025

Set amidst the rolling vineyards of WA’s coastal wine region, Pair’d is a ‘wine first’ event uncorked its inaugural year in 2024. The four-day festival showcases the South West’s world-class wines, paired with incredible culinary, music and cultural experiences. Vinophiles sipped wine in the sun at a long Nature’s Table lunch, sampled the region’s top wines at the Grand Tasting, and brushed shoulders with Michelin-star chefs in a world-first Wine Dinner Series.