Melbourne Food & Wine Festival spreads its wings

The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival has expanded its offering with a 10-day regional program offering eating and drinking right across the state of Victoria.

The festival kicks off with The Village Feast, a two-day (November 19-20) festival in the Gippsland village of Thorpdale that will feature an opening night collaboration dinner taking the team from wine-bar favourite Embla to winery restaurant Hogget; a campfire degustation from Farmer’s Daughters chef Alejandro Saravia, plus his deli, serving an all Gippsland deli menu; pop-up food outlets from chefs including interstate talent such as Danielle Alvarez and Analiese Gregory.

There will also be a celebration of Gippsland milk with That’s Amore and Gippsland Jersey; cakes by Mali Bakes; pub favourites at Art Deco watering hole The Travellers Rest Hotel; and entertainment including Mia Wray, Grace Cummings and Dorsal Fins on the main stage curated by Always Live, a new state-wide celebration of contemporary live music supported by Visit Victoria.

Early bird tickets are $32 for adults with free entry for children aged 12 and under.

“We’re thrilled to be back in regional Victoria as we continue to celebrate 30 years of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival,” says Anthea Loucas Bosha, CEO of Food + Drink Victoria, the not-for-profit parent company behind Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

“This program highlights the extraordinary food and drink experiences that make Victoria the best place in the world to eat and drink [a huge, contentious and very parochial statement] from our two-day takeover of Thorpdale for the Village Feast, a series of one-off dining events in Ballarat, and taking our popular Crawl and Bite tours to Victoria’s High Country.”




Other events that are part of Melbourne Food & Wine Festival’s dedicated regional program include:

· Victoria’s High Country Crawl and Bite, taking intimate groups of food lovers between a handful of great venues at a time, stopping for a bite, drink or taste at each in villages including Beechworth, Bright and Rutherglen.

· Ballarat Unlocked, with the region’s best chefs at some of the city's historic buildings in a Festival dining series.

· Signature Escapes, a series of itineraries put together in concert with producers, restaurateurs and hoteliers to showcase the best of the regions.

Tickets go on sale from Friday at mfwf.com.au.