Ten days of food, wine, culture and community are spread across Tropical North Queensland – from Cairns to Port Douglas, Innisfail, Mareeba and Yungaburra in July and August. Degustation dinners, a grand food and wine day, Gala Ball and the Mareeba Sausage and Salami Festival sit alongside events honouring the migrants (like my nonno) who shaped the region’s farming history. Hard to overstate how much the region loves its Italian heritage. cairnsitalianfestival.com.au

This is ‘la dolce vita’, the Norton Street edition. Over two days in June, Leichhardt’s Italian heartland throws open its doors for this free street festival built around food, drink and live music. Aperol spritzes at Capriccio and Aperitivo – famous for its cloud-like canotto pizzas – plus freshly made cannolis at Moretti and La Botte D’Oro’s nonna making fresh pasta while pizza slices are served straight from the window. There will also be jazz, swing and blues at The Royal Hotel; and DJs spinning vinyl outdoors at Crosstalk Records. littleitalysydney.com

Cosy up to one of South Australia’s finest boutique wine regions this winter, in July, as the Adelaide Hills throws a three-day celebration of its increasingly renowned cool-climate reds. Headlined by delicious.’ own Matt Preston, expect roaring fires, afternoon tastings in the winter sun, long lunches, cellar door takeovers and much more, all a short drive (or taxi ride) out of the Adelaide city centre. southaustralia.com

Get a season pass to Winter Feast to guarantee priority access to drinking and dining rituals that go down on the banks of the Derwent during the solstice in June. All up, 75 stalls will be serving experimental game, wood-fired meats and exotic produce at the bacchanalian banquet. In 2026, Michelin-starred Floriano Pellegrino of Bros’ in Puglia joins forces with Roberto Mele of MAMA Hobart Artisanal Bakery. Unable to attend in person, Floriano’s partner Isabella Potì has sent a mould of her lips that diners have to kiss to taste the limoncello foam inside. darkmofo.net.au

North West Tasmania’s premium produce gets its moment across five days in mid-May in Stanley, Tasmania. The festival is anchored by a long-table feast at Highfield House with chef Massimo Mele and whisky tastings that celebrate the region’s craft spirits scene. Hands-on workshops, a Street Feast with live music, local producer meet-and-greets and a free community harvest market on the Sunday round out a festival grounded firmly in place. foragefestival.com.au

Set between two World Heritage-listed icons – the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest – Taste Port Douglas brings together top Australian and international chefs, passionate producers and hospitality leaders for an intimate celebration of flavour and place each August. Masterclasses, long lunches amid a grove of palms overlooking the ocean and restaurant takeovers around Port Douglas make this four-day festival as much about the destination as the food. tasteportdouglas.com.au

Every summer, Adelaide’s Convention Centre fills with the best of the state’s wine, spirits and produce for three days of tasting and discovery. More than 130 wineries, distilleries and producers make the trip – from Barossa heavyweights to Limestone Coast newcomers and small-batch distillers barely a year old. The Wine Discovery Stage at the Adelaide festival offers free guided pours across the weekend. Note the winter edit of the festival is slated for July. cellardoorfestival.com

This is not a festival in the traditional sense, but it’s Maggie Beer babes so you bet we’re going to include it. Hosted at luxury vineyard retreat The Louise from May 22-24 in 2026, the three-day program puts Maggie Beer at the centre of a celebration of Barossa food and wine – farmers’ markets, a cooking demonstration at the Maggie Beer Farm Shop, long lunches, a four-course welcome dinner at Appellation and set menu by executive chef Sam Cooper built around that morning’s market haul. thelouise.com.au

Four days, 19 restaurants, three programs and one very good reason to extend your stay in Noosa to eat, drink, stay and play for its duration. Each June, the festival pulls a roster of Australia’s best-known chefs to the Main Stage for live cooking battles, while the free Olsson’s Salt Culinary Stage puts talent like Alessandro Pavoni, Louis Tikaram and Ben Cooper to work on local produce. The Restaurant Series spans iconic waterfront venues, hinterland hideaways and the exclusivity of Makepeace Island. noosafoodandwine.com.au

Now in its 35th year, Orange F.O.O.D Week is Australia’s longest-running regional food and wine festival, delivering eight signature experiences and around 100 satellite events across 10 days during harvest season in March. Farm visits, vineyard treks, a renowned night market and a four-kilometre walk to join the dots between the region’s best cellar doors give this cool-climate town the showcase it deserves. orangefoodweek.com.au

Few Australian festivals can claim a setting quite like this. WA’s Great Southern region has rugged coastline, ancient karri forest, rolling hills stitched with vines that stretch from Albany to Denmark against a dramatic backdrop of the bony-ridged Porongurup Range. Now in its 22nd year, Taste Great Southern has a packed program over four days in March with long-table lunches, wine hops, produce markets and at least one event that involves hiking to your meal. Worth the drive from Perth. tastegreatsouthern.com.au

What started as a bet between two friends – one Calabrian, one Abruzzian – about who makes the best salami has become one of Australia’s most joyful food events: the Griffith Salami Festival. Salamis arrive from across the country to be judged for the competition, which falls on the last day of A Taste of Italy Griffith, held in August each year. Winners are announced over a long lunch with live folk music at the festival hub in Pioneer Park. This is for food lovers who are passionate about Italian culture. atasteofitalygriffith.com.au

A smart way to road map a visit to Tasmanian is to ensure it coincides with a food festival. Tasmania’s status as a destination for foodies is well known. And this annual community celebration at Koonya Hall in February leans all the way in. Cooking demonstrations, hands-on workshops, live music and stalls from local amateur and commercial growers and artisans make for a genuinely charming summer’s day in Tassie. Niche? Absolutely. Worth the detour from Hobart? Without question. koonyagarlicfestival.org

The MFWF program in March each year features more than 200 events, from the ever-spectacular World’s Longest Lunch in Kings Domain – all 500-odd metres of it – to innovative dinners, global chef pop-ups, street food parties, rooftop tastings and lively producer showcases. The scale is staggering: 10 days of experiences and events around the state headlining some of the biggest names in Australian and international cooking. The benchmark for the best food and wine festivals around Australia. melbournefoodandwine.com.au

The Curated Plate, held in late July and August, is one of Australia’s best food and wine festivals for sheer ambition. It includes 30-plus events curated by culinary director Peter Kuruvita using the Sunshine Coast’s farms and coastline as a canvas. Expect Sri Lankan feasts in garden settings, fire-driven lunches in the hinterland, treetop breakfasts, bee-keeping workshops, coastal degustation dinners and a tuna-cutting demonstration at Walker’s Seafood. Mooloolaba seafood and hinterland produce anchor every event. thecuratedplate.com.au