Rootstock Festival 2014

Overview

Lovers of wine, food, music and art should check out Rootstock Festival, a two-day extravaganza of wine tasting, coffee brewing, live music and culinary creation soon to arrive at Carriageworks. For a glorious 48 hours you can make your own cheese with Kristen Allan, take a beer-brewing lesson from Young Henrys or, if it appeals, listen to a special talk entitled 'The Semantics of Australian Wine and the rite of Communal Laughter'. If that gets too heavy, you can always wander off to sample some of the 200 wines on offer.

Nightbirds might enjoy the two foodie festivals set up for Saturday and Sunday evening. An impressive lineup of chefs, including Kylie Kwong (Billy Kwong) and Louis Tikaram (Longrain), will be set up at stalls, cooking dishes they’ve designed to complement their favourite wines. Which will also be on offer, naturally. With DJs, live music and a sake bar thrown in for good measure, it sounds like a fine way to make merry.

Ticket prices range from just $15 for a coffee-brewing class up to a $110 for a package that gets you into the wine festival and two masterclasses. Tight budget? Entry to the sustainable produce market on Sunday from 10am-4pm is free — although you may be tempted to buy an organic loaf or two.