A round up of Tasmanian festivals this summer that have a focus on food and beverages.

The Taste of Tasmania December 28th – January 3rd Hobart Waterfront

Tasmania’s biggest food and wine festival with close to 70 different stall holders offering up a taste of our best. There is also a huge range of entertainment with buskers and live bands popping up throughout the event while the lawns host a kids paradise of fun and games. Entry is free with some exceptions and it runs from 11pm-11am each day except for NYE.

Esk Beerfest January 13th-14th Launceston Esplanade

The Esk Beerfest is now in its 7th year and features over 300 beers and ciders from throughout the world as well as food stalls, beer masterclasses, live music and comedy.

Hobart Beerfest January 27th-28th PW1 Hobart

Brought to us by the same team as the popular Esk Beerfest with the same huge range of beverages and food stalls but for the first time on the Hobart waterfront. Entertainment includes popular acts The Beautiful Girls and Kid Kenobi.

Chinese Lunar New Year Festival – January 29th Parliament House Lawns

Celebrating the beginning of Year of the Rooster this is a fantastic chance to sample and feast from the numerous food stalls featuring dishes from various parts of China while being entertained by traditional song and dance including the spectacular Dragon Dance.

Festivale February 10th-12th Launceston City Park

Set in beautiful Launceston parklands, giving the event a feel of a giant family picnic, Festivale has run since 1988 combining excellent food and wine from the region with some great entertainment from throughout the world. It’s a fantastic showcase of what’s available in the north of the state and well worth travelling to experience. It does have an entry fee but this gives admission to some great acts and enables stallholders to keep prices down. The festival also features master classes and guest chef Simon Bryant.

Australian Wooden Boat Festival February 10th-13th Hobart Waterfront

Described as one of the worlds most anticipated nautical events the Australian Wooden Boat Festival has grown to showcase a fleet of over 500 boats. Amongst the beautiful and historic vessels there’s a huge selection of food vendors at this family friendly weekend. While seafood is always popular here you can find a wide range of other dishes and the Waterside Tavern is a great escape featuring a large range of Tasmanian beers, ciders and other beverages.

Festa Italia (Italian Festival) February 19th North Hobart

Federal Street becomes a celebration of all things Italian in this long running and popular festival. Food stalls, bars and entertainment feature as well as special guests and demonstrations. Entry is free and it runs from 11pm-5pm

Koonya Garlic Festival February 25th Koonya

Perhaps the best little festival in Tasmania! Cooking classes with Sally Wise, Paul Foreman and D C Lim, a brilliant array of multicultural food stalls and plenty of garlic in all its forms to take home. There’s also family friendly entertainment and kids enter for free. Cost for adults is just $5 and the event runs from 10am-3:30pm.

Taste the Harvest March 12th Devonport Foreshore

Featuring the diverse produce found on the North West Coast, Taste the Harvest is a family friendly festival held at Roundhouse Park in Devonport. For full details check their website closer to the event.

Taste of the Huon March 12th-13th Ranelagh

Entering its 25th year this festival keeps getting better and better. As the name suggests it has a focus on the excellent produce of the Huon with dozens of stallholders presenting it in different ways. There’s plenty of activities for the kids, who enter free, friendly alpacas and entertainment this year features Shannon Noll.

Moonah Taste of the World March 26th Benjafield Park

Another great little festival! Featuring a lot of vendors you won’t find at any other such events it’s a fantastic celebration of multiculturalism with stalls of different food from around the world. Plenty of new tastes to experience here from Ethiopian curries to French crepes and entry is free.

If there’s any we’ve missed then please let us know! Yippee Pie Yay on Facebook, go on, give us a like