Ice Cream Festival 2021

I scream, you scream, we've all been screaming for ice cream — and, this February, once again, our prayers have been answered. The annual Ice Cream Festival is back, and this year it's taking place at three of Victoria's chocolateries and ice creameries: in the, along the Great Ocean Road and on the Mornington Peninsula.

You may want to prepare the smelling salts, because each venue will be trotting out 12 new flavours a day between Wednesday, February 10–Sunday, February 21. For 12 days. That's 144 unique flavours all up — including scoops like parmesan and olive oil, siracha pretzels, watermelon and feta, Turkish delight pavlova, charcoal cherry ripe, spiced negroni and yuzu whisky sour.

For $20 you can book into a tasting session that covers 12 of the day's flavours at once, or you can just rampage around the place like a deranged, hungry Pac-Man and try to taste 'em all at $4.80 a pop (or $6.80 for a double scoop). You can also go beyond ice cream, if you so please, and taste ice cream-topped pizzas, waffle ice cream sandwiches and giant OTT sundaes.

What's more, each of the venues — in Yarra Glen, Bellbrae and Flinders — each have lovely grounds for you to lay around in and enjoy. The view may well be lost on you as you slide into a sugar-induced happiness coma, but that's okay. They aren't inventing all those flavours for you to not try them.

The Ice Cream Festival will take place at three venues: Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery at 35 Old Healesville Road, Yarra Glen; Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery at 1200 Great Ocean Road, Bellbrae; and Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie and Ice creamery at 45 Cook Street, Flinders.