Last year, 6000 people ate more than 30,000 slices of homemade salami and this year’s Melbourne Salami Festa is set to be even bigger, with a full weekend of porky pleasure ready to cure the hunger of the salami army.

It’s the fifth time the festival has been held, celebrating the garage-to-plate tradition of salami making. The two-day event will include a day-and-night market showcasing the best artisan salumi producers, plus demonstrations, workshops, music and entertainment.

The highlight is the People’s Choice Award, where the winner of best homemade salami, as voted by the eaters, takes home a 100kg free-range Berkshire pig.

Chef Rosa Mitchell joins the judging panel for the third time, which this year has grown to 10 to cope with the number of entries. Tony Nicolini (DOC group), Frank Camorra (MoVida), Adrian Richardson (La Luna) and Massimo Scalas from Salumi Australia are some of the other judges joining Mitchell.

“Salami making is such a lovely tradition and it’s great to see the competition getting bigger and better each year,” Mitchell says. “And it’s certainly a very competitive competition!”

It’s the clash of traditionalists with secret family recipes, handed down through the generations, against new-wave hipsters exploring this handcrafted art that makes the event so exciting, according to Mitchell.

Last year, a non-Italian team took out the top prize (controversial!) with its duck-and-pork salami winning the judges’ hearts – and stomachs.

Mitchell says the quality of salamis, judged on appearance, texture, aroma and taste, improves each year. She will also host demonstrations over the weekend, including how to make blood sausages, salamis, plus a kids’ cooking workshop. Food stalls will be operated by Bar Idda, DOC and Gelato Messina among others.

The Melbourne Salami Festa, Northcote Town Hall, October 8-9, tickets start from $10, melbournesalamifesta.com