Overview
Fancy prancing through fields laced with the charm of provincial France? Well, forget about booking a flight — it's just casual summer weekendery when So Frenchy So Chic is in town.
The ever-popular one-day French festival is doing the can-can back to Sydney's Bicentennial Park and Melbourne's Werribee Park Mansion in January 2023, and celebrating its 12th anniversary in the process. If you haven't been before, expect an entire afternoon of French-inspired niceties, including (but not limited to) gourmet picnic hampers, très bon tartlets and terrines, and supremely good wine — all set to a blissed-out French soundtrack.
So Frenchy hinges on an eclectic lineup of artists, both taking cues from the classic sonic stylings of France and showcasing top-notch French talent. Heading the 2023 bill you'll catch the 60s-accented pop sounds of Pi Ja Ma, award-winning singer-songwriter Timothée Régnier aka Rover and French festival favourite Kalika, as well as the fiery tunes and huge stage presence of globally-renowned artist Suzane.
Suzane
As always, the wine and food will be flowing just as easily as that chilled soundtrack, headlined by an abundance of bubbly courtesy of Champagne Lanson, one of France's oldest champagne houses. In Sydney, Rosebery French eatery Frenchies is packaging up luxe charcuterie hampers, and you can also tuck into fine French fare from Bellevue Cottage. In Melbourne, Frederic Bistro, Milk The Cow and L'Hôtel Gitan are doing the honours to ensure your day's picnicking is top-quality stuff.
If you're more of a mix-and-match kind of picnicker, you'll also find a huge array of food stalls slinging all the chic essentials — think, oysters, lobster rolls, croque monsieurs, cassoulet, madeleines, crème brûlée, crêpes and cheese upon cheese. And of course, there'll be plenty of French beer, cocktails, and rosé, red and white wines, too.
By Tekni
If you're quick, you can snap up one of the limited Premiere Pique-Nique group tickets for crews of 10 — coming it at $205, they include a full picnic set-up, with two cheese hampers, two charcuterie hampers and two bottles of champagne.
Early bird tickets are now on sale for $79.40 a pop. If you've got kids, you'll be happy to know that the whole thing is very family-friendly, with children's tickets starting from $10 (free for kids under three).
By Liz Sunshine
SO FRENCHY SO CHIC 2023 AUSTRALIAN DATES:
Sunday, January 15 — Werribee Park Mansion, Melbourne
Saturday, January 21 — Bicentennial Park, Glebe
So Frenchy So Chic hits Sydney and Melbourne in January 2023. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the event's website.
Images: Liz Sunshine and Tekni.