Epic Meeniyan Garlic Festival is Back!

Written by David Hagger on 09 February 2018.

Head to Meeniyan if you love your garlic! The World Loves Melbourne is excited about the Meeniyan Garlic Festival, that amazed everyone last year in its quality and offering! Over three tonnes of freshly harvested Aussie garlic, Melbourne’s hottest chefs, garlic gurus, musicians and thousands of families and foodies will be on the road to Victoria’s only garlic festival in downtown Meeniyan on Saturday 17 February. Head there or get out of the way!

An easy drive 90 minutes south east of Melbourne through stunning landscapes on the way to the Prom, Meeniyan may be just a small town of 645 people, but last year they enticed over 7000 people to come join in the fun at this foodie heaven experience, the inaugural Meeniyan Garlic Festival… and they nailed it! Garlic festivals are big overseas and the Meeniyan Garlic Festival brings a high level of garlic attraction! (We are garlic addicts by the way).

Turn up and you can watch sizzling cooking sessions all day at the 1000 seat Festival Kitchen (with giant LCD screen so you don’t miss anything), led by exciting head chefs Alejandro Saravia of Peruvian restaurant Pastuso and Adam D’Sylva of Coda, both normally dazzling diners in Flinders Lane with their contemporary take on traditional fare. Talented local chefs will also work magic with local produce & garlic.

Live cruisy blues on the Festival Stage will keep you entertained while waiting for the next show, or you might be determined to explore the realms of garlic at the 100 plus stalls. Taste smoked garlic beer and ice cream, stock up on fresh garlic from Victorian growers and artisanal jams, sauces, honey, berries, breads, and award winning local wine and cheese for homebound pleasures. Skip breakfast to allow space to indulge in garlic inspired dishes from around the world: Spanish, Mexican, Thai, Peruvian, you name it. Or simply a garlic snag, chips or a garlic scone if you prefer.

Interested in growing garlic? The Garlic Institute in the Town Hall will run lectures all day. Australia’s garlic guru and Horticultural Editor of the Organic Gardening magazine, Penny Woodward, will teach you how to grow it in your back yard for both culinary use and to control pesky garden pests. Naturopaths and a farm consultant will advise how to gain and maintain optimum health for you, your pets and your livestock (Garlic’s medicinal qualities have been known for thousands of years). Learn about the 11 families of garlic and over 300 cultivars to find out what has the best flavour for you. Festival founder and commercial garlic grower David Jones will guide you through the trials and tribulations over seven years of converting that spare acre or two into a profitable commercial crop.

You’ll wish you were a kid again when you see what’s in store for them: Balloon soccer, billy cart races, garlic & spoon races, sack races, vege sculptures, storytelling and more. Add 30 stands of art and craft, plus historic cars and tractors and there’s something for everyone!

Under 16? They come in free and it’s just $10 pp for the rest of you. (Help us speed up the entry process by having the right cash). BYO hat sunscreen and your water bottle. We’ll happily refill it for free as often as you like to minimise our environmental impact. Or you might like to try a garlic milkshake made by local schoolkids on a pushbike!