Festival21

Overview

These days, Melbourne has more food festivals than you can poke a celery stick at, but Festival21, which returns to Melbourne's Meat Market next February, puts a different spin on the concept of culinary celebration.

It's pulling together a lineup of inspiring guest experts from all walks of life, to explore the idea of creating change through food. Punters young and old will score a whole bunch of fresh food perspectives, with a program of free panels, talks, demonstrations and workshops.

Actor and documentarian Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) and CEO of global platform EAT Dr Sandro Demaio will be among those busting open myths surrounding diets and healthy eating for the What Should I Eat? session. Meanwhile, the solutions to food and plastic waste will be discussed in Can We Eat Our Way Out? with Greenpeace's David Ritter, Miranda Sharp from the Melbourne Farmers Markets and Tim Silverwood from non-profit Take 3 for the Sea.

The final session, dubbed The Food Chain, will explore the five key stages of food production through a mix of comedy, film, music and discussions, led by the likes of Joost Bakker, I Quit Sugar's Sarah Wilson and renowned cook and food writer Stephanie Alexander.

To keep you fuelled, there'll be eats from social enterprise Free To Feed and locally made drops from Noisy Ritual's pop-up wine bar.

Festival21 events are free, though you'll need to register in advance to claim a spot at individual sessions.

Early bird tickets have sold out. The final release will go on sale on December 1, 2018.