The Noosa International Food & Wine Festival just celebrated its 10-year birthday, and what a party it was! Australia’s premier food event pulled out all stops to mark the occasion, with an amazing line-up of local, national and international chefs, food personalities, winemakers and first class entertainment. Visitors to the festival were spoilt for choice, with a diverse selection of cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, lunches and dinners, food and wine tastings, lifestyle events, concerts and much more – all taking place in stunning locations.
With Mother Nature turning on her best, the crowds gathered and a good time was had by all, as can be seen by this selection of photos taken at the festival:
The gates are open!
The Asian Food Trail lunch is one of the most popular events of the festival and sells out almost immediately. Taking place at Garnisha Spice Farm at Boreen Point, our lunch was cooked by a stellar line up of chefs, including David Thompson, Martin Boetz, Christine Manfield and Poh Ling Yeow.
Poh Ling Yeow, David Thompson & Martin Boetz, preparing our banquet
Plating up the Drunken Chicken, one of the many dishes we enjoyed at the Asian Food Trail
One of the many lively panel discussions, this one was titled “Eat, Play Travel – must-do food destinations”
The culinary exhibition in the Grand Marquee included the finalists and winners of the delicious Produce Awards and offered tastes of a diverse selection of products. There were some beautiful cheeses on offer.
It also provided an opportunity to taste some lesser known foods, such as this Umi Budo, an edible seaweed
Other tastings included a vast selection of seafood and meats, including this beautiful Charcuterie
One of the highlights of the festival for me was a new event, the Seafood Feast on the Beach. Taking place on stunning Noosa Main Beach in the Barefoot Marquee, we were encouraged to take our shoes off as we arrived and let our toes enjoy the soft golden sand. I happily obliged!
We were treated to a phenominal selection of seafood dishes – check out the menu!
BBQ Glacier 51 Toothfish and Salsa Creosa – quite possibly the most beautiful fish I have ever eaten
Kinkawooka Mussels with Black Pepper & Tomato
Raw Mooloolaba Bincho Tuna & Yellow Fin Tuna, fresh Kolophon Capers, Preserved Lemon & Oil
Time for some wine tasting! There were some excellent wines represented at the festival including one of my favourites, Bay of Fires from Tasmania. Their Chardonnay is delicious!
The festival offered a fantastic line-up of entertainment, including Martini Club, Queen Bohemian Rhapsody tributeand Timomatic. This photo is taken from the Gala Opening Night – Edible Music. In a collaboration of food and music, the Queensland Virtuosi Orchestra, flautist Jane Rutter and soprano Taryn Fiebig were supported by ten of the world’s best chefs including Tetsuya Wakuda, Carlo Cracco and Andre Chiang cooking on stage.
Rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of the culinary world and enjoying first-class food and wine in beautiful Noosa – what more could a foodie ask for? Congratulations to Festival Director Jim Berardo and his Organising Committee for putting on yet another fabulous festival.
Great photos! I was lucky enough to be at the festival too, it was all good but the highlight for me was the cocktail party on the beach. Such a stunning location