Winter Harvest Festival
Sat 27 June 2026
The ultimate farm gate event for families and food lovers alike, this signature Eat Local Month celebration proudly showcases the best of the Scenic Rim’s culinary offerings in one delicious day.
Meet local farmers, indulge your taste buds with the season’s harvest, and enjoy live cooking demos from top Queensland chefs. Don’t forget to sample local beer, wine, and spirits, and stock up on fresh produce as you explore 50+ market stalls.
Pack your eskies and bring the whole family for a day filled with fun, food, and country hospitality.
Winter Harvest Festival is the ultimate farm gate event for families and food lovers alike.
As the signature event of Eat Local Month, this authentic food festival proudly showcases the best of the Scenic Rim’s culinary offerings. It’s an invitation to literally eat and drink your way around the region, connect with local producers, and watch cooking demonstrations led by top Queensland chefs – all in one flavour-filled day!
Get ready to indulge your taste buds in the flavours of this season’s harvest, sample local beer, wine, and spirits, and stock up on fresh produce as you stroll through 50+ market stalls.
Pack your empty eskies, gather the kids, and bring your friends for a day full of country hospitality and unforgettable experiences.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday 27 June
Venue: George Street, Kalbar
Times: 9am – 3pm
Plan your Festival Experience
Support local farmers, enjoy on-site glamping and join convenient coach tours from multiple locations. Discover all the ways to make your Winter Harvest Festival experience even better!
Festival Fundraiser Bag
Support our farmers and purchase a Winter
Harvest Festival hemp or cooler bag when you book your festival tickets. $2 from every sale goes to Farm Angels who provide practical, financial, mental health and wellbeing support to farming families when they need it most.
Both market and cooler bags available!
On-site Glamping
Make a weekend of it with cozy, fully-equipped bell tents at Kalbar Showgrounds, just a short walk from the festival. Sleeping up to five guests, each tent includes plush bedding, a power outlet, and various other creature comforts. Limited sites available—book now!
Group Bus Transfers
Get social and leave the car at home!
Book a tour to Winter Harvest Festival from Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Hervey Bay, or Fraser Coast.
Visit our Visiting Coach Groups page for details.
Demonstrations, Workshops & Presentations
The Homestead Kitchen, proudly presented by Moffatt Fresh Produce, returns with an exciting program of live cooking demonstrations. Join Scenic Rim Food Ambassadors Javier Codina, Josue Lopez, Jake Nicolson and Caz Osborne as they share their expert tips, techniques, and passion for cooking with the region’s freshest seasonal produce.
Beyond the vibrant kitchen action, immerse yourself in a series of interactive workshops led by our local producers and flavour markers, from edible flower cookie decorating and gourmet pairings to native botanical liqueur tastings. For some extra fun, bring your boots and head over to the Cow Bar for an all-ages line dancing workshop!
Throughout the day, don’t miss the chance to meet our farmers and artisans and hear their stories live at the 612 ABC Radio Brisbane Producers Stage. Enjoy authentic conversations with some of the region’s hero farms and producers, alongside live music performances throughout the day.
Demonstration Program
With MC Caz Osborne, Scenic Rim Cooking Classes
Auslan Interpretation Provided
👨🍳 9:30am – Kids in the Kitchen with Javier Codina
Javier gets kids cooking with fresh Scenic Rim produce – simple, seasonal recipes that build confidence in the kitchen and a lifelong connection to local food.
🍂 10:45am – Seasonal Canapes for Effortless Entertaining with Josue Lopez
Josue shares how to turn fresh, local ingredients into simple, flavour-packed cocktail-style canapés. Learn practical tips for creating impressive bites that are perfect for effortless entertaining.
🥩 12:00pm – The Whole Beast and the Best of the Season with Jake Nicolson
Jake demonstrates whole beast cookery using Scenic Rim beef and seasonal produce; showing how every cut honours the producer, reduces waste and delivers exceptional flavour alongside vibrant vegetable dishes celebrating the best of what the region is growing right now.
🥣 1:15pm – Comfort Cooking with Scenic Rim Poultry and Caz Osborne
Caz Osborne joins Rob Joyce from Heritage Poultry to share simple, flavour-filled ways to cook with quality Scenic Rim chicken. From crispy roast dinner to nourishing broths and comforting seasonal dishes, discover practical kitchen tips, rustic recipes and honest conversations that celebrate thoughtful home cooking and local produce.
Workshop Program
Add on a workshop when you purchase your Winter Harvest Festival ticket:
💐10am – Edible Flower Cookie Decorating Workshop with Elderflower Farm
Flowers you can eat, cookies you can’t resist. Join Rachel Watkins from Elderflower Farm in Kalbar for a hands-on, creative workshop combining beautiful edible blooms and delicious take-home treats.
🕺11:30am & 1pm – Harvest Hootenanny – A Line Dancing Workshop
Think you’ve got two left feet? Think again! With Gilly’s Line Dancing, this high-energy, all-ages workshop will have everyone learning the steps, finding their rhythm and having a blast—no experience needed.
🧀 12:30pm – Pickles, Pairings & Your Perfect Bite Workshop with The Drunken Farmhand
Explore the art of the perfect bite in this guided tasting of local pickles, cheeses and salami. Learn how flavours balance, then build your own mini grazing box to enjoy or take away.
🥃 2pm – Australian Botanical Liqueur and Spirit Tasting Experience with Tamborine Mountain Distillery
Discover native Australian botanicals in this guided tasting journey from ingredient to bottle. Learn how native flavours are distilled into distinctive liqueurs and spirits to create their own uniquq flavour profiles.
ABC Producers Stage Program
🎤 9am – Music by Ross Weber
🍯 10:45am – The Sweetest Local Story with Loretta Ryan and joined by:
- Matthew Brown, Farming on 15 Degrees
- Katrina Utting, Iron Hills Meadery
- Helen Roebig, Vanbery Jam Co
🎤 10:15am – Music by Ross Weber
🐪 10:45am – The Local Food Chain with Loretta Ryan and joined by:
- Rob Joyce, Heritage Poultry
- Kane Lutter, The Butcher Co
- Jared Pennell, Arthur Clives Bakery
🎤 11:15am – Music by Ross Weber
🥕 11:45am – Grown from the Ground Up with Craig Zonca and joined by:
- Lisa Wood & Fred Mancy, Wilde Foods
- Ambre Whatley, Eden Seeds
- Lauren Trenker, Laursam Farmstead
🎤 12:15pm – Music by Paper Lane Band (Trio)
🥃 1:00pm – It Starts on the Farm with Craig Zonca and joined by:
- Steve Moffatt, Moffatt’s Fresh Produce
- Kay Tommerup, Tommerups Dairy Farm
- Tara Macdonald-Parker, Farm Angels
🎤 2pm – Music by Paper Lane Band (Trio)
🎤 3pm – Music by Paper Lane Band (Trio)
Market Stalls
Fill up your eskies as you explore over 50 market stalls offering fresh seasonal produce, local wines, beers and spirits, cheeses, meats, and more. Alongside these culinary delights, you’ll find a variety of handcrafted goods and local creations, all crafted by our region’s skilled artisans.
Kids Activities
Designed specifically for the youngest festivalgoers, the festival offers a range of fun and educational activities for children from creative crafts and sensory play to line dancing and meeting friendly farm animals.
Little adventurers can play, learn, and explore the magic of the harvest season through hands-on experiences at every turn.
Sprouts Play Patch
Sprouts Play Patch is a vibrant, hands-on area bursting with fun, farm-themed activities. Packed with interactive agricultural and food-inspired experiences that are both educational and entertaining:
- Hungry Caterpillar Playdough – Squish, roll and create your very own hungry caterpillar as it munches its way through leaves and tasty treats.
- Carrot Lacing – Little hands will love lacing colourful string through this bright carrot card.
- Paint your Own Rock– Create a peice of art resembling your favourite fruit or vegetable – bright strawberry, leafy broccoli, rosy tomato. Yours to take home and treasure.
- Flower Planting Sensory Table – Scoop, dig, pour and arrange to your heart’s content – plant flowers, hide treasure and explore with spades, scoops and pots.
Line Dancing Workshops
Grab your boots and join Gilly’s Line Dancing for a high-energy, all-ages line dancing workshop that’ll have the whole family moving and grooving in no time. With no experience needed, you’ll learn the steps, find your rhythm, and have an absolute blast doing it. It’s true country fun for everyone, and the perfect warm-up for a big day of live music and good times at the Winter Harvest Festival and into the Harvest Hoedown.
Other Family-Friendly Activities
Families can enjoy a variety of fun activities across the festival grounds, including:
- Allclass Kubota Tractor Play Area – life-size tractors and machinery to explore, along with pedal powered equipment
- Heritage Farm Animal Nursery – cuddle baby goats, lambs, chickens, piglets, ducklings and more!
- 9am & 12pm – Moffatt Fresh Vegetables Carrot Tossing
- 11am – Junior Tractor Pull Competition – details below
- Plus face painting and more!
Live Music, Food and Drink
Picture a perfect day out celebrating our region’s flavours with a range of delicious ready-to-eat options, including BBQ’d local beef and corn, aromatic Indian Dosa, wood-fired pizza with seasonal toppings and chicken and duck bánh mi’s, complemented by local wines, beers, and spirits.
Live music performances by Ross Weber and The Paper Lane Band will provide the perfect soundtrack to a day of delicious discovery and celebration of local food and drink.
Tractor Pull Competition
Watch local teams take on a 10-tonne tractor in a fierce competition to win cash prizes for their community groups.
Catch the showdown between the farmer and Defence teams as they battle to reclaim the title from last year’s champs, joint team Moffatt Fresh Produce & The Butcher Co.
Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts
This event will honour the pioneers of local food preparation and preservation in the Scenic Rim, celebrating the women who grew and preserved food for their families long before era of refrigeration and supermarkets.
Attendees will learn about traditional methods of bottling, pickling, and preserving, and explore a range of locally made jams, marmalades, and relishes. It’s a day to connect with the region’s culinary history and stock up on homemade goods to take home.
Stay tuned for more info on the demonstration program and displays coming soon!