You can tell what time of year it is in Melbourne not by the weather, but by which all-encompassing cultural event you’re choosing to attend.

For four days in November, some of us descend on the cultural conference known as “The Races”, where we completely ignore the actual horses and down glasses of champagne and scoff chicken sandwiches. Then for two weeks in January, the entire city suddenly develops a profound interest in tennis. But come March, our cultural and social interests align when Melbourne Food & Wine Festival kicks off. While we’re famous for our sporting events, it’s our food and restaurant culture that showcases what really makes us special.

Few could have predicted the scale and ambition of MFWF, 31 years after it launched. “It came to be in 1993, when our founder Peter Clemenger decided a food and wine festival – designed to get Melbourne out of the doldrums following a failed 1996 Olympic bid – would be a good idea,” explains Anthea Loucas Bosha, CEO of Food & Drink Victoria, which runs the festival. “It has grown from 12 events to the epic 400-plus event program we are delivering this week.”

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Loucas Bosha has served as the custodian of the festival since 2018, and her excitement is palpable. But what are the challenges facing the festival in 2024? “Most recently, cost-of-living pressures and late-purchasing behaviour following Covid-19,” she says. “But we have seen incredible uptake in this year’s program so far as we move into launch.”

The festival strives to appeal to new generations, and few have more on their plate than content manager Frank Sweet. “The most important thing for me personally is that anyone who’s interested in getting involved feels included, invited and empowered to eat adventurously,” he says. “I feel like one of Melbourne’s best and most consistent qualities is its deliciousness and diversity across all price points; you don’t have to be loaded to eat something unforgettable here.”

But it wouldn’t be MFWF without a few blow-out international show-stoppers. “If you want to spend a bomb on something crazy, there’s a good chance it will be, to quote ex-MFWF creative director and sausage celebrity Matt Preston, disgustingly good,” adds Sweet.

Over three decades the festival has featured an array of international culinary talent, from Nigella Lawson to Anthony Bourdain. Remember when David Chang and Mario Carbone cooked at Movida, or when Rene Redzepi brought Noma to Southbank with an event at Rockpool? For Loucas Bosha, it’s still the festival’s signature events that stand out. “I’d have to call out all of our World’s Longest Lunches, celebrating pioneering Melbourne talents such as Alla Wolf-Tasker in 2023 and Ben Shewry in 2022, who decided to high-five all 1800 diners at the lunch.”

The 2024 program showcasing a new wave of talent with the World’s Longest Brunch. “This year is headlined by our city’s leading young Indian food talents – Helly Raichura, Harry Mangat and Mischa Tropp – tapping into a movement celebrating this new expression of Indian food,” says Loucas Bosha.

Sweet agrees: “Regional Indian dining seems to have emerged as an unofficial theme this year. For a country that’s just become the world’s most populous … that is a very, very good thing.”

What are some more top picks in the 2024 program? Loucas Bosha nominates several offerings at Fed Square, such as baking and pastry event Baker’s Dozen, an American-style diner called Dan’s Diner (where all the chefs are literally called Dan), and local celebrities designing their perfect snag in Celebrity Sausage. Sweet is excited about the more chaotic collaborations that only the festival can facilitate. “Armenian-Cantonese, Lao-Filipino, Japanese-Peruvian, Cherokee-Torres Strait Islander,” he lists. “That’s just this year.”

2024 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival runs from March 15–14. Visit melbournefoodandwine.com.au.

Jay Clough is the creator of the industry newsletter Bureau of Eating and Drinking.

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