4 February 2012

2012 Major Festival Sponsors   2012 Entry Fees Entry to Wine & Food In The Park 2012 is $15 if you're over 18 and completely free if you're under 18 (over-18s get a special wrist band that allows them to make bar purchases). This means a family of 4 or more can attend for just $30. What a bargain!!! Find out more about us on: South Burnett Wine South Burnett Tourism SouthBurnett.com.au South Burnett Biz

It's On Again So.... Bring A Friend! The 14th annual South Burnett Wine & Food In The Park Festival will be held at Memorial Park in Kingaroy right in the heart of Queensland's newest wine region from 10:00am to 9:00pm on Saturday 10th March 2012. This year the Festival is more exciting than ever with a h-u-g-e line-up of live entertainment all through the day and late into the night. At this year's Wine & Food In The Park you can: sample great wines from the South Burnett's leading multi award winning wineries learn all about our regional foods and wines at the PCA South Burnett Regional Cuisine Showcase be entertained by 10 non-stop hours of live music from some of Australia's top music acts be amused by incredible street entertainers or Dine out at our exclusive Sample The South Burnett silver service dinner led by Peter Scudamore-Smith, Master of Wine (50 tickets only), or... try any of the wide variety of foods available on-site. Our site will tell you everything you need to know about who's exhibiting at this year's Festival. You can also obtain this year's complete entertainment schedule. And if you're visiting the South Burnett for the weekend, find out how to get here and how to make your stay as carefree and enjoyable as possible too. Click here to find out more.... PS: Never been to Wine & Food In The Park before? Then turn your sound up, kick back and watch this video to get some idea of just what a great day out it really is! (and a big thankyou to Darren Scott from Channel C for this) Latest Festival News Every Day's A Good Day... But Saturday Is Going To Be Great! 11th March 2011: Queensland has had a pretty rough start to 2011. Torrential rains. Terrible floods. Cyclone Yasi. And we know a lot of people have been doing it tough. But after two months of dreary down times it's about time for an upbeat break, isn't it? So if you feel you could do with getting a little sunshine back into your life, then we think Wine & Food In The Park is the best way to do it. And it's not expensive either! People love Wine & Food In The Park because it's a no-hassle, no-stress way to get out under the trees in the open air for a day with family and friends where you can kick back and relax doing what Australians do best. Aussies everywhere love good wine, good food, good entertainment and good company and Wine & Food In The Park offers all of these in abundance. Even better, you don't have to do anything - this is a Festival that lets you do what you want and do it when you want to. The latest weather forecast says that tomorrow is going to be a near-perfect Wine & Food In The Park day in Kingaroy. It'll be cloudy (yes! no blazing sun!) and a very pleasant 26 degrees - a really wonderful way to experience a South Burnett autumn. Like the amazing Rob Black says (see video) every day's a good day - but if you want a really great day on Saturday and you live in Brisbane or on the Coast, take a two-hour drive north-west to our beautiful part of the world and blow those 2011 blues away! Master Chef Returns To Judge Next Generation Of South Burnett Chefs 11th March 2011: Steve Gudzinski (pictured) - the only man to ever win the PCA Regional Cuisine Cook-Offs three times - will be returning to Wine & Food In The Park tomorrow to judge the next generation of South Burnett chefs. Steve will be one of three judges in this year's Cook-Offs (along with Tim Le Budd from Kingaroy Kitchen and David Costelllo from the Courier-Mail). The PCA Cook-Offs are taking a bright new twist this year by inviting six up-and-coming potential future chefs (whose ages range from 8 to 12) to strut their stuff on stage for great prizes in a Junior Master Chef competition. All six contestants were selected after exhaustive rounds of pre-cook offs so they'll each be dishing up something pretty special! The competition's concept has been enthusiastically supported by Tarong Energy, Harvey Norman, Big W, Flamingo Wish, Crane Wines, Taste South Burnett, The Southern Qld Institute of TAFE and Ford On Food, all of whom have come aboard the PCA Cook-Offs this year to encourage the region's young culinary talent. The Cook-Offs will be held in the PCA Tent near the Giant Food Court between 10:00am and 3:30pm and will be emceed by popular local chef Jason Ford. Admission is 100% free and guests are welcome to come and go as they please. The ultimate winners will be announced at the end of the afternoon cooking session. Food! Glorious Food! (So Bring Your Appetite With You) 11th March 2011: As most Festival fans already know, Wine & Food In The Park isn't just about wine - it's about food too. And it always pays to bring a big appetite with you. This year you'll find several great South Burnett food producers in the Giant Wine Tent alongside the wineries and our Festival Merchandise Stand (where you can buy CDs from the artists performing at this year's festival along with fresh water, T-shirts and caps; single-bottle wine coolers, flashing wine glasses and lots of other useful stuff). They include Taste South Burnett (who'll be offering free liqueur and fudge tastings as well Kingaroy Cheese platters); Kingaroy Kitchen (who'll be displaying their terrific product range which covers everything from chutneys, jams and marmalades through to biscuits); Goomeri Cheeseworld who'll also be offering mouth-watering cheese platters; and Queensland Table Olives who'll have a fantastic range of olive products on hand. And outside in the Giant Food Court we'll have a wide range of fresh food offerings for morning and afternoon tea, lunch, dinner and casual snacking too - everything from Spanish paella and great vegetarian foods from the Hare Krishnas through to Indian and Thai curries, freshly-brewed coffees, authentic German sausages on fresh crusty rolls prepared by the terrific kids from Gumnut Place and much, much more. Festival favourites like The Peanut Van, Mammino's Gourmet Ice-Creams and the Kingaroy Rotary hamburger stand will also be on hand to round things out. So get ready for a big day of feasting (because that's what Wine & Food In The Park is all about too!) Book Quickly: Only 30 Tickets Left For Master Wine Tasting Class 10th March 2011: One brand new feature at this year's Wine & Food At The Park will be two Master Wine Tasting Classes led by renowned expert Peter Scudamore-Smith. But be quick if you want tickets! Peter (pictured) and Sheree Strauss from Kingaroy Caterers will be running the two hour-long classes inside the PCA Cook-Off Tent at 4:30pm and 6:30pm on Festival day. For just $15, guests will be led through a sampling of 7 different South Burnett reds and whites (as well as receiving a complimentary glass of Barambah Wine on entry). And each of the wines will be expertly matched to finger foods made up from South Burnett ingredients - an experience that's never been available anywhere in the region before. Peter Scudamore-Smith was one of Australia's first Masters Of Wine and is still one of only 35 nation-wide. He's an "expert's expert" and if you love wines and want to know more about them, he can teach you more in an hour than most people could in a month. When we announced this class a few weeks ago we also mentioned that we'd only be releasing 80 tickets (two sessions of 40 people each) and pre-releasing them on the Net as a special bonus for Festival fans. Well, there are now only 30 left. So if you want tickets, you can order them quickly by phoning Sheree Strauss at Kingaroy Catering on (0417) 726-702 or by emailing her. You can pay by Visa, Mastercard or direct debit and pick them up at the door on Festival day. Tragedy Strikes Rhett & Tilly... But Motorcycle Stuntmen Come To The Rescue! 10th March 2011: We've had a last-minute change to our children's entertainment line-up at this year's Festival. The Rhett & Tilly Show - who delighted everyone in 2010 with their whimsical antics - had to cancel with us this week after a member of the troupe suffered an accident while they were perfoming at the Adelaide Arts Festival. We were sincerely sorry to hear this and we hope they'll be back with us at a future Wine & Food In The Park. However we've now booked the International Mini Bike Stunt Team (IMBST) to replace them. And we hope you'll all be delighted with our choice! The IMBST's members have performed all over the world including Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Greece, Ireland, China and the Netherlands. Their unique combination of fire-eating, chainsaw juggling, bizarre mini-bike motorcycle stunts and hilarious comedy routines has made them a hit wherever they've been seen. The IMBST were also stand-out performers on the recent Australia's Got Talent TV series and their terrific shows are just as much fun for adults as they are for children. The IMBST will be running several shows throughout the day at this year's Wine & Food In The Park and we think they're as much of a "can''t miss" act as Rhett & Tilly. They're also brand new for the South Burnett and nothing like them has ever been seen in the region before. So look out for them! Come See The South Burnett's Top Stage Band In Action 23rd February 2011: Wine & Food In The Park isn't just about bringing new things to the South Burnett. We use it to show off the best things about the South Burnett too! And one home-grown product we're always been very proud to showcase is the Kingaroy State High School Stage Band. This incredibly talented young musicians - led by KSHS teacher Matt Phillips - dazzle audiences whenever and wherever they perform. They gave us stand-out performances at the 2009 and 2010 festivals. So we had absolutely no hesitation in asking them to come back in 2011 and treat us to their musical magic all over again! The KSHS Stage Band - along with Alvin Rostant & The Jahbutu Calypso Band - will be helping to kick off Wine & Food In The Park 2011. They'll be appearing on the main stage at 12:30pm, just in time for the start of the lunch session. And in a special last-minute addition to our entertainment line-up, we're very pleased to announce that this year the Kingaroy SHS Dixieland Ensemble will be joining our line-up of roving entertainers as well. So there's no need to wish you were in the land of cotton (where good times aren't forgotten) - they'll bring them to you! Two New Sponsors Help Make Our Festival Even Better 22nd February 2011: Wine & Food In The Park is a very expensive event to run and we'd have to charge a higher entry fee if we didn't have the support of our wonderful sponsors. So we're very pleased to announce that two more sponsors have come aboard to help us continue to improve the festival this year: Tarong Energy and Go Green Generation. Tarong Energy are supporting the South Burnett's up-and-coming chefs in the PCA Junior Cook-Offs and the Sample The South Burnett wine and food tasting masterclass that will follow it by providing a state-of-the-art sound system that will help dissipate any background noise from the festival for guests attending either (or both) of these wonderful events. And Go Green Generation have made it possible for us to run some absolutely wonderful children's entertainment at WAFITP 2011, including something that's never been seen anywhere in the South Burnett before (and we'll have more to say about this in a few days). Both of these sponsors are involved in the power industry. Tarong Energy are one of the largest power generating companies in Queenland and Go Green Generation are the largest solar power installers in the South Burnett. So we'd like to say a sincere "Thank you!" to both of them for helping this year's Festival power up to new heights. Got Kids? We've Got You Covered... 21st February 2011: If you have young children and wonder if you can make it to WAFITP, we'd like to say a quick word to you: YES!!! Wine & Food In The Park is a family festival and we understand the pressures that modern family life brings. So we make it easy for parents to bring along their children. And we do our best to ensure that everyone in the family has a really great day out. For starters, we don't charge anything for under-18s. So it doesn't matter if you have one child or a dozen. We only charge parents. Your children can come to Wine & Food In The Park absolutely free. Then we always make sure that we have lots of entertainment for children on hand. Like the big range of amusement and carnival rides that will be running all day and evening out on the oval behind the Giant Wine Tent. Or the brilliant children's entertainers we always ask along every year (like The Rhett and Tilly Show who'll be running special programmes for children throughout the day). This children's programme lets parents have some quality "adult time" by themselves at the Festival while their youngsters are being inexpensively and safely amused in the grounds. Wine & Food In The Park is also - as much as possible - a glass-free festival. And our security staff keep a watchful eye over the safety of all our guests at all times too. So if you're a parent who'd really like a break without breaking the bank, come to Memorial Park on Saturday 12th March and treat yourself and your family to a really top day out. Like Rob Black (see video above) who'll be appearing at WAFITP this year, we understand family life. And we're happy to do our bit to help! Yes! Those Amazing Flashing Wine Glasses Are Back For 2011! 20th February 2011: As dedicated festival fans already know, Wine & Food In The Park is largely about enjoying the finer things of life. But we like to enjoy the fun things too! And something we all had a lot of fun with last year were the Flashing Wine Glasses we introduced on the festival's Merchandise Stand. These plastic glasses flash their way through all the colours of the rainbow. And while that's not really much use during the day when the sun is shining, they're a lot of fun when the sun goes down and our evening party mood kicks in. The Flashing Wine Glasses are one of several useful and fun things you can buy at this year's stand along with bottled water; bucket hats and T-shirts; and single bottle wine coolers. Our Merchandise Stand also carries CDs for our visiting artists. So if you like any of the bands at this year's festival and want to take home one of their CDs as a keepsake, this is the place to go for it too. The Merchandise Stand is located inside the Giant Wine Tent and you can see a full list of this year's poducts and prices by clicking here Come And Enjoy Free Wine Tastings In The Giant Wine Tent 18th February 2011: One of the great features of WAFITP is our Giant Wine Tent. And another is that between 10:00am and 6:00pm you can sample wines from all the region's leading wineries absolutely free. In many parts of Australia wineries charge fees if you want to sample their wines. But at WAFITP (and in the South Burnett as a whole) we don't follow that practice. After all, how can you know if you'll like particular wine or not unless you try it first? All the wines available for tasting in the Giant Wine Tent are also available for purchase. This allows you to take a bottle or two back to your seat in the park to enjoy with friends and family. But if you want to buy in bulk (ie a case or more) you can do that too. And you can either pick up your purchase when you leave the festival or arrange with the winery to pick it up from them in coming days or have them ship it to you. And after tastings conclude at 6:00pm, bottle sales and case orders will still be available right through until around 8:30pm. PS: The Giant Wine Tent also usually also has special offers from many of the participating wineries on Festival day. After all, WAFITP is our annual showcase of South Burnertt wines and everyone's out to impress. So make sure you visit all your favourite wineries to see what they have on offer! << Previous 1 2 Next >>

Home Page  •  Who's There  •  What's On •  Getting Here  •  Tourist Info  •  Photo Gallery  •  Our Sponsors  •  Contact Us

Copyright 1998-2012 SouthBurnett.com.au  •  Privacy Policy & Disclaimer  •  Email Us  •  Bookmark Us  •  Print Page  •  Top of page