MELBOURNE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival started as a spark of an idea in 1993 with a modest program of 12 events dreamt up by Peter Clemenger. Twenty years later, the Festival has grown to host over 200 events annually with a core team of 18 staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers working behind the scenes during peak season. This is fitting for Melbourne, Australia's "Foodie Capital".

Beyond the buzz of the Festival in March, there are hundreds of other food and wine events taking place year-round across Victoria, showcasing the very things that make Melbourne - and our surrounding regions - a gastronomic playground: An abundance of fresh seasonal produce, bustling food markets, innovative chefs and their award-winning restaurants, expert winemakers, the warmest hospitality and passionate artisan producers.

On the day that I attended, there were Italian cooking classes and an Urban Coffee Garden. This had coffee bushes in pots balanced on a castle made of wooden pallets and of course, lots and lots of coffee being made and consumed by the gallon. Melbourne really has the best coffee in the nation!

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.