GourMay Mary Valley Food Festival announces 2025 program with a month of exceptional, authentic food experiences

GourMay Mary Valley Food Festival

One of Australia’s most authentic, boutique food festivals – the GourMay Mary Valley Food Festival – returns in May with a comprehensive program of food and drink events that will enable food lovers to experience the distinctive tastes and character of the verdant Mary Valley.

Mary Valley – just 45 minutes’ drive inland from Noosa and the Sunshine Coast – is well known for its fertile soils and microclimates, allowing farmers to grow a rich assortment of produce for restaurants, markets and consumers. With its rolling hills, heritage villages and attractions such as the Mary Valley Rattler steam train, it is also an ideal place for visitors to enjoy a short-break enjoying authentic food experiences.

Unlike most food festivals which only go for a weekend, GourMay Mary Valley runs for a month, which means that while diary clashes are likely, most people can find an event that fits their individual calendar.

Over the past two years many of the events in the varied program have been sold out, and this year’s calendar of events is likely to be similarly popular, with early bookings recommended.

Highlights in the 2025 program include: a Vintners lunch at Dingo Creek winery, Bushfood Long Lunch with Peter Wolfe, a sunset walk along the Mary Valley Rail Trail for a deluxe soup kitchen style dinner featuring local Mary Valley produce, a Seasonal Long Table Dinner with Matt Golinski at Kandanga Farm Store, wild macadamia discovery walks, open farm days, workshops, and Festival Day, which returns on Saturday 10 May with its market, competitions, and cooking demonstrations.

There are great food characters throughout the Mary Valley, and events like the Mary Valley Agricultural Tour will provide the opportunity for visitors to meet some of the innovative producers operating in the dairy, avocado and wild macadamia sectors.

There will also be film and arts events celebrating food, while instructional sessions will be offered throughout the month for people interested in enhancing their skills as producers, from hobbyists to experienced farmers.

But most of all, GourMay Mary Valley is a celebration of the region’s people, landscape and character. It’s a brilliant way of discovering villages like Amamoor, Imbil, and Kandanga that may have been settled originally during the 19th century gold rush but are now renowned for gold-class produce.

Bookings are now open for events and the full program can be viewed at https://www.gourmaymaryvalley.com.au/