TASTES OF CENTRAL GEELONG

With so much to treat yourself to, the annual Tastes of Central Geelong Festival returns for 11 days this March and April, with a mouthwatering and monumental-sized program celebrating all things local and delicious in the region.

Gifting locals and tourists alike an excuse to taste everything under the sun from Thursday, March 23 through to Sunday, April 2, this year’s festival is all about enticing food lovers to make their way into Central Geelong and head into participating restaurants and bars, old and new, who will be hosting a range of brilliant events and experiences. It’s all about staying local, eating local and drinking local by exploring new places and discovering the very best of what the city has to offer.

This year, like all its previous years, there are plenty of plates full of activity at the Tastes of Central Geelong festival, so to help you navigate your way through this culinary celebration we’ve listed a few unmissable events and a few of our own personal favourites that we think are an absolute must through the multi-day feast.

Afternoon Tea with Adrian Richardson

One event that we are excited about (and is sure to be one of the biggest treats of the entire festival) is the annual Afternoon Tea event, this year featuring award-winning Australian chef and television presenter Adrian Richardson. Known for being the Bad Chef in Good Chef Bad Chef and appearing with chefs Manu Feildel, Gary Mehigan and Miguel Maestre in Boys Weekend, alongside many other TV appearances, Adrian is behind the successful and bustling La Luna in North Carlton and Bouvier in Brunswick and dedicated to serving up clean, fresh and innovative food.

As part of the event, sweet treats and bubbles will be available and attendees are encouraged to indulge while host and GT Editor, Sarah Bieske interviews Adrian about his life in the culinary spotlight, alongside a live cooking demonstration of three dishes from the chef himself.

When: Sat 25 Mar | 1pm – 3.30pm

Where: The Pier Geelong, Cunningham Pier Cost: $55-65

Central Geelong Bake Off

Alright, mixing bowls and wooden spoons at the ready! Are you ready to be crowned Central Geelong’s Best Amateur Baker?

Tastes of Central Geelong are on a quest to find Geelong’s best home baker. Simply enter your signature sweet treat for the chance to be crowned Central Geelong’s Bake Off Champion, take home great prizes and earn bragging rights for life.

With exciting categories including two ‘kid’s categories’, cupcakes and biscuits, and ‘delicious slices’ (including raw and vegan), keen bakers are encouraged to dive into a world of culinary creativity and present treats to get the judges’ taste buds tingling. For the more creative bakers, take things to the next level with Barwon Water’s ‘water’ category where you can showcase the versatility of water as either the hero ingredient or method in creating your sweet treats. The more creative the better.

Registrations are now open, and all you need to do to enter is submit your name, number, email and which category you’ll be applying to. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

When: Sat 25th Mar | 10am

Where: Westfield Geelong