4 Unmissable Food Festivals To Dig Into In Launceston, Tasmania’s UNESCO City Of Gastronomy

Springtime in Launnie means two things—tree-lined streets bursting with blossoms and NORTH Festival, a celebration of food and drink producers from across northern Tasmania. This year, they’re celebrating the CBD after dark with NORTH By Night. Think twilight tastings, meet-the-maker moments and curated menus showcasing the region’s finest ingredients. You’re invited to squeeze in up to 11 meals, 10 cocktails and seven taps showcasing over 50 northern producers across four days.

PS: The 2025 program has landed, and tickets are available now. We suggest you snap yours up pronto.

Best described as a feast for the senses, Festivale is a three-day event held on the first weekend of February. Combining Tassie’s finest treats and tipples with local produce stalls and masterclasses galore, the event also boasts a program packed with live music, comedy and roving entertainment. That means you can eat, drink, cook up a storm and dance like nobody’s watching all weekend long. Don’t sleep on the Chefs in Action marquee, where you’ll find celebrity chefs and local culinary stars flexing their skills in the kitchen. Notepads at the ready, inspiration for your summer shopping list is about to hit hard.

PS: The 2026 music line-up is a vibe. Think British India, Grinspoon, Thelma Plum, Jessica Mauboy and Boy & Bear, and yep, tickets are selling fast.

Do you love wine? What about wineries that sit side-by-side with rolling hillsides, fruit-filled orchards and premium pastures, where you can sit and sample some of the world’s best cool climate wines? If the answer’s yes, it’s high time you visited the Tamar Valley, and autumn is the perfect time of year to do it.

It’s harvest season—meaning now’s your chance to sample at the cellar door before the grapes are picked. So make Launnie your basecamp and explore the region’s Wine Route that stretches from Relbia in the south, to Pipers River in the north east and Beaconsfield in the north west. Yellow and blue signs are dotted along the roadside to guide you to cellar doors across the 170km Tamar Valley road trip. No car? No worries. Sit tight in Launnie, where no restaurant would be without a wine menu featuring local tipples.

PS: One for the diary! If you’d also love to discover how food is made along the state’s farming heritage, AgFest kicks off in autumn and attracts over 55,000 visitors every year.

Winter is coming, and in Launnie that means cosy bars with wood-burning fires and a local spirit in hand. The cool season also brings AgriCULTURED to town, where farmers, producers, artists, makers and everyday eaters gather to discover how and why Launceston grows the food it does. These are the people who know what it takes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, and it begins with what we eat. By hosting bold conversations over shared meals, AgriCULTURED strives to support sustainable agriculture, reduce food waste and embrace a circular economy. This one will pack a punch with food lovers, agricultural enthusiasts and climate activists alike.

PS: Winter also happens to be the perfect time of year for whisky, which is why Tasmanian Whisky Week needs to be on your radar. Held at various venues across the state, the event invites you to join Tassie’s top distillers for a dram (or two) in 2026. Keep an eye on the website for events held in Launnie.

It will come as no surprise that Launceston is home to an ever-growing range of cafes and restaurants, pubs and bars, breweries and distilleries, where you’re invited to discover some of the region’s best food and drink all year round. You should also know there’s an award-winning Harvest Market held weekly, as well as the World Street Eats market every month.