Here are all the delicious things to eat at this year’s Newtown Festival

Nothing says spring in Sydney like a day out at the Newtown Festival, the annual celebration of live music, art, food, and pets – the only things that brings the local community closer than the queues for Cow and the Moon gelato.

But all that dog petting and free-form dancing makes for hungry work. Luckily, the rich concentration of great restaurants in the 2042 means that the food offering is a cut above your usual festival fare. Newtown Locals, a collective of local bars and restaurants, have banded together to put up a list of eats that are a headline act in their own right.

The theme they’re working with this year is the 'the Great Newtown Dream' – a grand old summer barbecue over hot coals. You can expect grilled chicken thighs and heart satay sticks by Mary’s and Vietnamese pork and lemongrass skewers from Salmon and Bear. Continental Deli & Bistro are giving classic sausage rolls the hipster treatment, filling them with Young Henrys Newtowner-cooked pork with a side of fermented red cabbage and Dijonnaise.

Of course, this is Newtown, so the vegos have just as many options. Rising Sun Workshop is grilling corn with wasabi mayo and furikake, and Bloodwood is serving up hot slices of smoked pumpkin pie. Meanwhile, Queen Chow is taking broccolini to the next level by topping it with whipped tofu, black garlic and puffed rice for a fiesta of umami. Sides come courtesy of the Stinking Bishops, who are deep frying chat potatoes and serving them with salsa verde, while Hartsyard are dishing up an uncharacteristically healthy-sounding bean salad.

There’ll also be cold brews from Fleetwood Macchiato, 212 Blu and Black Market Roasters to go with sweet treats from Saga, who are making a gloriously retro sounding pine-lime splice pavlova. Dessert innovation geniuses Black Star Pastry will be serving their famous strawberry watermelon cake in a 'smashed' soft serve form, as well as 'Newtownese fortune cookies'. We can only wonder what the fortunes will say – maybe 'Tomorrow, you will exit the station to find yourself wearing the same sweater as Danny Lim’s dog – he wore it better', or 'Make use of the world around you – by nabbing a shameless amount of free samples from Aesop'.

Best of all, proceeds go straight to the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, which provides community support services to the local community and in particular to disadvantaged groups such as the aged, people with disabilities, people who are at risk of homelessness, people with mental illness, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people on low incomes. So your arteries might not feel good about ordering another round of satay sticks, but your heart will.

The 39th annual Newtown Festival will be held at Camperdown Memorial Rest Park on Sunday November 12.

Heading for a drink after the festival? Drop into one of the best bars in Newtown.