The Herb and Chilli Festival will feature eating competitions, live music, a specialty ingredient marketplace, and much more.
Picture a world without pesto, without chimichurri, without spicy hot sauce. Not very pretty, is it? Chilli and herbs have a distinctly transformative power. They add personality to our cooking, turning lacklustre proteins, veggies and grains into piquant and irresistible dishes.
This March, for the eleventh year running, Melbournites will have the chance to celebrate these flavours in all of their zesty glory at the Herb and Chilli Festival. From growing them in the garden to plating them up, the festival explores all aspects of the zingy aromatics.
Herb and Chilli Festival
- The Melbourne Herb and Chilli Festival will happen on March 18 and 19
- With spicy eats, thirst-quenching beverages, cooking demos, eating competitions, a chilli cook-off, a market and a kid zone, there’s something for all
- Tickets for the weekender are on sale now
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
Taking place in the Yarra Valley, the event will have live music, plant sales, cooking demonstrations, a massive food court and so much more. Call up your auntie and put that family recipe to the test at the chilli cook-off, where pro judges will decide whose meat-and-spice delight will take the prize.
Fancy yourself a bit of a hot head? Prove it by signing up for the Stinger wing eating challenge, where contestants will sweat their way through plates of ultra-spicy wings. There will also be a chilli-eating race and a new Shot ‘n Holler competition, where punters will down a shot of tequila and a shot of hot sauce before screaming as loud as they can. What a way to let off some steam!
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If you want to eat food at a normal speed instead, peruse the 20-stall food court before picking up a drink and chilling out in the beer garden. Sip on a wide range of spirits, Yarra Valley wines, or even a chilli-flavoured beer while enjoying musical accompaniment by Steve Boyd’s Rum Reverie, Inka Marka and Garry and John. And, oh yeah: there will also be Mexican wrestling.
To finish off your day at the festival, get your hands on some ingredients from the plant shop or the marketplace, then take a seat at one of the live cooking demonstrations hosted by a local chef to learn how to use them.
Equal parts entertaining, educational and delicious, the Herb and Chilli Festival is not to be missed for local foodies. This year, they’re even running a Chilli Express bus to and from Lilydale Station, giving guests no excuse not to eat and drink to their heart’s content.
Tickets for the Herb and Chilli Festival taking place on March 18 and 19 are on sale now. To find out more and secure yours, head to their website here. chilli-eating
