Budburst is the annual celebration of the Macedon Ranges’ best family-owned and small-batch wineries, giving festival-goers the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in Australia’s coolest wine region.
Budburst kicks off on Friday, November 17 with an exciting program of local tastings and events. What will follow is a weekend of wine tastings, local food, art shows, sculptor walks and live music, happening from across Saturday and Sunday, featuring over 25 Macedon Ranges winemakers across 18 Budburst sites. It'll be a maze of fun, frivolity and lush lubations.
From 10am to 5pm, swirl and swill your fave drops at each winery and explore the region's foodie offerings that celebrate local produce. Various venues around the region will be offering Budburst specials across the weekend, including a bottomless brunch at Cleveland Winery in Lancefield; a winemaker’s dinner at Miss M’s Lounge in Kyneton; wine and cheese flights at Daylesford based Winespeake, plus more.
And if you want to kick on after your tastings and events, you're in luck. Popular drinking venues such as Farmer’s Arms in Daylesford, Animus Distillery and Piper Street Wine Company in Kyneton, Woodend Cellar & Bar and Trentham’s Cosmopolitan Hotel will be pouring Budburst wines all weekend long.
But what if you don't have a designated driver? While you can choose to explore. the quaint roads of the region at your own pace, there's also the option to jump on one of the five designated Budburst bus routes. Buses will move attendees between Budburst festival sites on both Saturday and Sunday, and the bus offers a programmed series of winery visits. The dedicated hop-on/hop-off routes cover Daylesford, Kyneton, Trentham and Lancefield.
Festival tickets start from $39 for one-day entry on Sunday, with a price of $49 for a one-day Saturday ticket and $69 for a two-day ticket. Each ticket covers entry, a Plumm crystal tasting glass to keep, festival passport and wine tastings at all participating wineries.
Designated drivers and kids (under 18yrs) get in for free.
To grab your ticket for the festival, head to the budburst website.