Looking to fill out your travel card? Local farming innovators in the Scenic Rim will flinging open their gates for epic dining, dancing, music and fun in this busy festival calendar commencing April till October this year.
So grab a cuppa and open the diary, here’s what you need to plan for…..
Scenic Rim Farm Gate Trails | 2 April and 26 August
Cuddle lambs, meet alpacas, savour boutique wines, beers or ice-creams as Scenic Rim producers fling open their farm-gate doors
The famed Scenic Rim Farm Gate Trails see farmers, growers, producers, winemakers, brewers, distillers and flavour-makers across the region open their gates for a day celebrating where food comes from. On Sunday April 2 there’s cuddles with lambs at Towri Sheep Cheeses, fresh produce straight from local paddocks, picnic selfies with alpacas, walks on Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, beer and ice cream tasting at the Scenic Rim Brewery, flower wandering at Elderflower Farm, tastings at vineyards, mushrooms, olives and fingerlimes just picked and more. Visitors leave with full stomachs and a love for the Scenic Rim region, its produce and its people. DOWNLOAD the map here
The Long Sunset | Saturday 29 April
Camp out to brilliant sunsets and awesome tunes!
Hear that? It’s the sound of Australia’s newest and most picturesque music festival – The Long Sunset – which happens on April 29 at Canungra’s Elysian Fields, headlined this year by the signature sunny styles of Lime Cordiale, with Winston Surfshirt, Brisbane’s own dream-pop powerhouse Hatchie, psychedelic banger factory Sycco, along with the energetic, pop-prodigy Tia Gostelow, and a host of other talented local musos. Come for the day, or stay a while, with camping available all weekend long. Tickets on sale now and more info here
Scenic Rim Eat Local Month | 1 June to 2 July
Paddock-to-plate gets festive, with demonstrations, celebrations, masterclasses and tastings at the farm gate all month long!
What do you do when a week in the Scenic Rim is not enough? You make it a month!
That’s right, Australia’s most authentic food and farming event will extend to a month-long celebration of paddock to plate experiences in June 2023. The full program for Scenic Rim Eat Local Month will be announced on April 20, however foodies and farm fans can expect an incredible line-up of on-farm celebrations, long lunches showcasing local produce, flavour-filled dinners, farm gate experiences, food walks, tastings, tours and talks, masterclasses, workshops for all ages and more, with the finale and signature event, the Winter Harvest Festival, on 1 July.
Mark these dates in your calendar – 1 June to 2 July 2023 – and visit www.eatlocalmonth.com.au to sign up.
Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular | 17 & 18 June
Clydesdales, old time trades, working dogs and whip-cracking championships
From tiny Shetland ponies to the towering Shire horses, all Clydesdales great and small will be celebrated over the weekend of June 17 and 18 for the hugely popular Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular! Now in its 11th year, the event is the richest Clydesdale Show in the Southern Hemisphere, where the grand champions of the breed are judged and the heritage of the breed, which is listed as ‘vulnerable’. The full schedule of Clydesdale competition takes place in the main arena, while rare trades are showcased including harness making, blacksmithing, wheelwrights, horse-drawn demonstrations & driving displays, whip plaiting and more. Additional highlights include the Queensland Whip Cracking Championships, World Billy Boiling Championships, wood chopping, working dog displays, Friesian Horse Troupe performances, artisan coopering & bush poetry. Tickets and information here
Kalbar Country Days | 20 and 21 October
Locals set up hay bale sculptures ahead of the Tamborine Mountain Scarecrow fest!
It’s the big country weekend with the famous Hay Bale Trail featuring incredible sculptures all over the area. Locals spend weeks creating their hay bale artworks, look out for Mick-hay and Min-hay Mouse, Slink-hay, the Kalbar J-hay-l (a jail of hay bales), and even the Queen (RIP) and her corgis are saluted, as Her Maj-hay-sty, of course. There’s hay puns galore. And then, there’s the carrot throwing competitions! Fun fact – did you know the Scenic Rim is the carrot growing capital of Australia, with over 600 million carrots grown annually here.
** PS – the next weekend is the Tamborine Mountain Scarecrow Festival!
All information including where to stay, at visitscenicrim.com.au