Grampians Grape Escape — one of the longest-running food and wine festivals in Australia — is always a great excuse to escape the city for the weekend. And this year, it needs you more than ever. Local businesses in the Grampians have been struggling to recover following recent bushfires, with visitor numbers taking a hit over what was an uncertain summer. Grape Escape is an excellent chance for you to show the western Victorian region some much-needed love — while, of course, sipping your way through delicious wines, feasting on sensational local produce and catching some cracking live music. More than 30 wineries are joining the party, from the well-known Mount Langi Ghiran to boutique labels like Clayfield and Black & Ginger. Plus, regional produce will be well represented by Grampians Olive Co, toasties by Tim Bones of Ballarat, Schulz Organics Dairy and loads of others. You can even get in on the action at a pickling workshop with Grampians Vinegar and The Pickle Project, or catch a cooking demonstration from MasterChef Australia alumni Justine Schofield and Dani Venn. Live music will soundtrack your drops and bites throughout all three days. Listen out for catchy original tunes from singer-songwriter Bel Kil, who grew up on a farm in the Northern Grampians, the dextrous guitar playing and powerful voice of Warrnambool's Flynn Gurry, and party-starting blues-roots rock by Smoke Stack Rhino from the Yarra Valley.
