Top 10 Aussie food and wine festivals you’ve never heard of

Adventurous epicureans can plot their itineraries around awesome Aussie food and wine festivals that happen year-round.

1. Full Moon Festival, Byron Bay, NSW

It’s not that Byron Bay’s Full Moon festival is underground exactly. It’s that 2022 will be the first time the Aussie food and wine festival is being held in the Northern Rivers town. Full Moon, curated by Luna Wine Store ’s co-owners and sommeliers Russ Berry, James Audas and Tom Sheer is aimed at educating consumers about natural wines that have been produced with little intervention.

Wine tasting at Full Moon Natural Wine Festival Byron Bay — The inaugural Full Moon festival in Byron Bay will focus on natural wines. (Image: Kitty Gould)

Ticketholders attending the May 14 event, to be held in Byron Bay’s magical Secret Garden venue, will enjoy a two-hour tasting session for $65 with all profits going to the Koori Mail’s Rebuild Fund to help those impacted by the devastating floods in the Northern Rivers.

Cape Byron Lighthouse at dusk — Ticket profits will go towards helping those impacted by the recent Northern Rivers floods. (Image: Destination NSW)

2. Babinda Harvest Festival, Qld

Blink and you’ll miss Babinda on the way to Cairns or Townsville. But the pocket-sized village is definitely worth a detour, especially during the annual Babinda Harvest Festival . The festival, which sprouted in Tropical North Queensland 59 years ago, is now the most anticipated day of the calendar year. The down-home country festival takes place in October, and offers exciting activities for the whole family including tractor-pull rides, live entertainment and fireworks. The population in Babinda is very multicultural, so expect to enjoy some of the best homemade cannoli outside Italy.

3. The Curated Plate, Sunshine Coast, Qld

After launching on the Sunshine Coast in 2019, The Curated Plate is back in 2022 in a new, more intimate format based around the Sunny Coast’s premium local produce. The 10-day festival is designed to celebrate the region’s restaurants, chefs, farms and artisan producers at events dotted around the stunning coastline and sprawling hinterland.

Spanner Crabs in Mooloolaba for Curated Plate, Sunshine Coast — The Curated Plate shines the spotlight on the Sunshine Coast’s premium local produce. (Image: Tourism Events Queensland)

Expect everything from bespoke dinners, to cooking demonstrations, and a pop-up marketplace showcasing local producers such as Walker Seafoods and Hinterland Feijoas as well as Brouhaha Brewery and CAVU Distilling. The event, to be held from July 29 to August 7, is known for its roster of celebrity chefs. Check the website for the full program.

A meal at The Curated Plate Sunshine Coast — Expect everything from bespoke dinners to cooking demonstrations and a pop-up marketplace. (Image: Tourism Events Queensland)

4. Taste of Kakadu, NT

The aim of the Taste of Kakadu festival is to provide visitors with insights into the culture and unique food history of Indigenous Australians while learning a little something about the Northern Territory along the way.

A demonstration at Taste of Kakadu — Taste of Kakadu offers insights into the culture and unique food history of Indigenous Australians. (Image: Tourism NT)

Set within the World-heritage listed Kakadu National Park, the hosts of the cultural food festival rekindled knowledge passed down over 65,000 years ago to curate the bush food festival that is attracting new audiences from the city. The three-day weekend, from 27–29 May, celebrates Kakadu’s cuisine, culture and country. Although the 2022 program is yet to be finalised, expect hands-on workshops, cooking demonstrations, bush tucker guided tours, and culinary cruises around Yellow Water/Ngurrungurrudjba.

Enjoying samples from Taste of Kakadu in Northern Territory — Sample bush tucker at Taste of Kakadu. (Image: Tourism NT)

5. Mango Madness Festival, Darwin, NT

There are few fruits as appealing on a sultry day in the Top End than a juicy mango. Tastings, talks and cooking workshops are an integral part of the Mango Madness Festival dedicated to the fleshy, oval tropical fruit that is eaten ripe, used green for pickles and chutneys or blended into a smoothie. The Mango Madness Festival is now in its third year and has become an annual family event. Highlights of the festival include the search for Darwin’s best mango drink, cooking workshops as well as the obligatory mango-eating competition. The festival is held annually in October or November. Check the website for details.

6. RedFest Strawberry Festival, Cleveland, Qld

Aaah strawberries. We love to eat them fresh, dipped in chocolate, fattened up in a flute of fizz or sprinkled with lemon juice and icing sugar on crepes. But you can forget all the niceties surrounding this sweet, soft, seed-studded red fruit when you start going for gold and smooshing as many strawberries in your pie hole as you can during the Strawberry Eating Competition at RedFest . The community-focused food event, held 2-4 September, will be held in Cleveland on the western shores of Moreton Bay, Queensland, and will include live music performances, fair rides, fresh produce and cooking displays.

Fresh picked strawberries RedFest Cleveland Queensland — Strawberries in the spotlight at RedFest.

7. Kingaroy Baconfest, Qld

You will be giving thanks to the bacon gods for this Southern Queensland festival devoted to the cured meat, of which there is a bounty of at the 19-21 August event. Tell your vegan mate a porky pie about where you’re going for the day so you can enjoy pigging out on everything from bacon ice cream to bacon fries. The Kingaroy BaconFest will also include a smoke-off competition, Wine & Swine night, and bacon-themed fashion pageant. Enter the Rasher Run cycling event so you can counter the calories at the event, which includes a Wine Garden and Bacon Community Artisan Market selling everything from bacon-themed aprons to bacon jam and Don’t go Bacon my Heart tea-towels that nod to the farming community in the South Burnett region of Queensland.

8. Thorpdale Potato Festival, West Gippsland, Vic

A lot of under-the-radar food and wine festivals around Australia were created to lure people into the regions. And the bonus of visiting the Thorpdale Potatoe Festival in the West Gippsland region of Victoria is that it is used not only as a platform to sell a crop like potatoes but as a way of promoting the area, in this case, the Thorpdale district in the beautiful foothills of the Strzlecki Ranges. West Gippsland has a proud history of growing potatoes in its rich, red volcanic soil. Mark March 2023 in your calendar and start training like an Olympian for challenges such as potato picking, packing, and stacking as well as mash-potato eating and sack racing to celebrate the return of the festival, which has been on pause for the past two years.

Festivities at the Thorpdale Potato Festival — Packing it in at the Potato Festival in Thorpdale, West Gippsland.

9. Meeniyan Garlic Festival, South Gippsland, Vic

Expect the festivities at the annual Meeniyan Garlic Festival in South Gippsland to be deliciously pungent with 120 different stallholders selling everything from garlic-laced beer and ice cream to garlic gin and garlic jam. Chefs and a group of about 20 artisan growers traditionally descend on the Meeniyan Recreation Reserve during the annual festival, held during the month of February or March, when the strong-smelling bulb is at its best. Co-creator of Meeniyan Garlic Festival and deputy chair of the Australian Garlic Industry Association, David Jones, says the garlic festival puts the region known as Prom Country – which nods to Wilsons Promontory National Park – on the map.

Meeniyan Garlic Festival is an Aussie food festival in South Gippsland — The focus is firmly on all things garlic at Meeniyan Garlic Festival in South Gippsland.

10. Taste Great Southern, WA

WA’s Truffle Kerfuffle is well and truly on the radar of food-focused travellers from around the globe. But the Taste Great Southern festival will also appeal to epicureans who will appreciate the region’s status as one of Western Australia’s premier food bowls. While the region is most celebrated for its forests full of towering karris and jarrah trees, the small pocket of WA is also on the map for its farm-gate tourism.

Chef and plated meal at Taste Great Southern Aussie food and wine festival — The Taste Great Southern food and wine festival celebrates the region’s status as WA’s premier food bowl. (Image: Amazing Albany)

The Taste Great Southern festival, held from 5-15 May, will feature more than 20 chefs, long-table lunches, degustation dinners and markets designed to showcase fresh local produce ranging from oysters to avocadoes, truffles, marron and cheese.

From geothermal pools and luxury spa sanctuaries, Victoria’s mineral-rich waters and restorative landscapes offer total renewal.

I pass waving coastal spear-grass and coast saltbush as I follow the curving path through 15 hectares of thoughtfully curated gardens at the Mornington Peninsula’s Alba Thermal Springs & Spa . I hang my robe at the entrance and slip into the first sunken geothermal pool I find – feeling the tension from the 90-minute drive from Melbourne melt away as I watch steam dance across the surface in the late afternoon light. There are 31 pools, a mix of geothermal, cold plunge and botanical, that range in temperature and design, spread over six regions.

a woman relaxing at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa on the Mornington Peninsula — Alba Thermal Springs & Spa on the Mornington Peninsula. (Image: Visit Victoria)

I gravitate toward The Hemisphere, with its dry sauna, steam room, cold plunge and dreamy open-air pool called The Hide. But it’s Alba’s brand-new Sanctuary that really elevates the experience. The five luxurious stand-alone villas and two additional studio rooms opened in June 2025 and feature an indoor fireplace, oversized bathtub with views across the bay, a deck and extensive all-inclusive (minus the cocktails) mini-bar.

After dining at Alba’s Thyme restaurant, I return to my villa, content to fall asleep early listening to the fire crackle, feeling thoroughly restored. While Alba is one of the newest in the region, it’s certainly not the only place to enjoy a soothing soak. Here are others to book for a wellness weekend.

Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa

A woman bathes in the new Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa private bathing room with marble tiled walls — The marble private bathing room is one of five new designs. (Image: Supplied)

Nestled in the Daylesford region, Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa has been welcoming guests to its historic bathhouse for 130 years. With a $1.7 million renovation now complete (part of the 21st season of Channel 9’s The Block), find five new private bathing rooms, an apothecary experience where guests blend a custom body scrub and all-new spa treatment menu.

There are three bathing areas: Bathhouse for communal bathing for all ages, adults-only Sanctuary and a private bathing space for a personalised experience – try the skin-softening Mineral Milk Bath.

Lake House Daylesford

Inciting deep exhales, the spa at Alla Wolf-Tasker’s iconic Lake House has long been a beacon of wellness in the region. Tucked into the cottage gardens that wind down to the lake’s edge, the spa is beautifully and deliberately cloistered away from guests and diners visiting the celebrated on-site restaurant.

From Ayurvedic facials and hydrotherapy that makes use of Daylesford’s mineral waters, to cocooning thermal rituals and massage, treatments here promote tranquillity. While a day spa experience is delightful on its own, staying on the property adds a luxe layer to your corporeal renewal, especially if you’re in your own private spa villa.

Metung Hot Springs

Imagine immersing yourself in a barrel overflowing with geothermal water, all while taking in views of Gippsland Lakes. It’s one of several unique bathing experiences available at Metung Hot Springs .

There’s also a floating sauna and a Reflexology Walk constructed with carefully placed stones designed to stimulate the acupressure points in your feet as you walk. The 12-hectare site opened in 2022 with three bathing areas – Bathing Ridge, Lagoon Precinct and Hilltop Escarpment – and premium glamping tents that feature king-size beds and private bathing barrels.

Four more blissful day spas to visit

Lon Retreat & Spa is an award-winning, adults-only retreat on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs features sensory caves and cleansing waterfalls in Warrnambool.

Peninsula Hot Springs renews with 70 bathing and wellness experiences.

The Benev is an indulgent spa and luxury accommodation in Beechworth.

the Peninsula Hot Springs — Bathe in beautiful surroundings at Peninsula Hot Springs. (Image: Tourism Australia/Harry Pope/Two Palms)