Feast your eyes on the south: Taste Great Southern returns in March 2026 with who’s who of Aussie chefs

Taste Great Southern returns from March 5 to 8 next year, inviting visitors back down south for a feast of place, produce and people.

The festival will scatter more than 20 events across a region known as much for its brooding coastlines as its cool-climate wines and restless creativity.

There will be long lunches beside fields of ancient granite, dinners that flirt with smoke and sea spray, and chefs who treat the bush, the beach and the cellar as a single, generous larder.

Leading the charge is chef Jo Barrett, whose food feels grown from the soil and ocean rather than just borrowing from them.

She’ll join Evan Hayter of Margaret River’s de’sendent; Paul “Yoda” Iskov, whose roaming restaurant Fervor tells stories of Country and connection; Corey Rozario of Dahl Daddys; and a supporting cast that reads like a love letter to Australia’s food scene — Will Meyrick, Amy Hamilton, Paul Bentley, and Melissa Palinkas, alongside sommeliers Cyndal Petty and Emma Farrelly.

Festival director Erin Molloy said the 2026 program was about “showcasing the incredible breadth of world-class wine, premium produce, iconic locations and vibrant people and culture” in the Great Southern.

“We’re looking forward to sharing this special part of the world with visitors,” she said.

“Our passionate team of chefs and sommeliers are eager to create sublime culinary experiences and superb wines that surprise and delight visitors and locals alike.”

Tourism Minister Reece Whitby said the event celebrates everything that makes the region so extraordinary.

“This event continues to create vibrancy and excitement in the region, supporting the local economy and businesses, while highlighting the many offerings of the Great Southern,” he said.

The festival isn’t confined to white linen or glassware either.

Pick between high-end canapes and sparkling overlooking the Southern Ocean and hiking the Porongurups and then refuelling with a gourmet lunch.

There’ll be barefoot bowls and zero-waste banquets, yoga and ocean plunges at dawn, market stalls groaning with cheese, honey and craft beer, and hop-on, hop-off wine adventures through Denmark’s vineyards.

Every event gestures to the same ethos: that eating well here is inseparable from the place itself — the sweep of coastline, the honest hands that farm and fish, and the icy breeze that whispers across every glass of wine.

Tickets are available at tastegreatsouthern.com.au