Paper Daisy restaurant. Photo / Supplied
True foodies know it’s never just about the meal, which is why this Aussie festival serves up delicious dishes, culture and community in equal measure, writes Kerry Heaney.
Some food festivals lure you in with big promises, then hand you a flimsy plate of something lukewarm. Savour The Tweed is not that festival. Held over five days from October 22 to 26, it’s a thoughtfully curated festival that features more than 30 immersive events that feel less like a performance and more like a shared table among friends. Here, every bite comes with a delicious backstory, which I discovered firsthand during an intimate preview of the festival.
Savour The Tweed invites you into the misty paddocks, sun-drenched orchards, creative kitchens and beachside bars of The Tweed, a lush pocket of Northern New South Wales tucked between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. This fertile region is framed by beaches, rivers and ancient volcanic valleys, with the striking peak of Wollumbin/Mt Warning rising at its heart. Here, laid-back coastal towns like Kingscliff, Cabarita Beach, and Pottsville are woven together by a shared love of good food, community spirit and the kind of natural beauty that makes everything taste just a little bit better.
My festival preview begins gently, as all good things do, with a guided morning meander and edible introduction to the Murwillumbah Farmers Market. Sinking my teeth into a creamy Portuguese tart, I wander past dozens of stalls selling everything from gooey croissants and fat vanilla slices to fresh sourdough and homemade pickles, the air infused with the sound of coffee grinders and the enticing aroma of hot smoked salmon. What makes this market shine is its sense of rhythm and insight into a much-loved slice of local life that you can taste for yourself on Savour The Tweed’s bookable Tweed Taste Trail tour.
I proceed to taste a platter of events guests can book online during the festival.
At mid-morning I’m at Raven Place Farm, meeting regenerative farmer Rachael Sanderson and learning about edible gardens and fungi-rich bush regeneration spaces. I’m warned not to feed her free-range chooks even though they are experts at looking hungry. Inside the kitchen, farm owner Michelle Kuramochi reveals the secrets behind perfect handmade gyoza, fermented condiments and the Japanese food that you’ll taste at their Harvest & Handmade event.
At Farm & Co in Cudgen, every dish is connected to the soil it sprang from, made with heart and served with serious taste. I wander through the 21 hectares of organic fields, lose myself in the sunflowers and say hello to the resident pig. For Savour The Tweed, acclaimed chef Martin Boetz (of Brisbane’s Shortgrain and The Cooks Shed fame) will transform the farm’s organic produce into a Thai feast packed with punchy, fragrant and unapologetically bold flavours. It will be served inside the open-air restaurant next to the fields where you’ll sit at long tables to enjoy a family-style feast.
The next stop is The Natural Wine Shop & Bar, a coffee shop that moonlights as a bar from 11am until late. Tucked away in the tiny hinterland town of Burringbar, stepping into this cosy, speakeasy-style gem inside feels like entering a friend’s intimate lounge with warm lighting, low chatter and shelves lined with bottles that all have a story. As I sip rare varietals and graze on locally inspired tastes, owner Bron Harrison brings the experience to life with her extensive knowledge of natural wine and passion for connecting people. During Savour The Tweed, Bron is teaming up with Italian chef Daniela Maiorano for The Natural World: Terroir & Taste, an experience that pairs antipasti with engaging conversations as rich and entertaining as the pours.
A mecca for pasta lovers, Murwillumbah’s Pasta’bah store produces fresh pasta made with pasture-raised eggs from the owner’s regenerative agriculture farm mixed with Australian semolina and extruded through bronze pasta dies. You can taste the difference in every mouthful of this handmade product. The Pasture to Plate: An Artisan Pasta Evening is set to be a dusk-lit dream at their Woodland Valley Farm, where you’ll roll fresh pasta beside the farmer, sip Prosecco and watch the sun dip behind the valley hills. You’ll meet the hens that lay the eggs, then taste the results in a two-course dinner that finishes with a zabaglione so lush, you’ll want to lick the bowl.
Just around the corner in Murwillumbah, cheesemaker Kat Harvey has created cheese heaven with an extensive range of local and imported fromage in her shop. Do try her cheese and Christmas cake pairing – it really works. Her signature toasties have a devoted following, but don’t miss the handmade pottery raclette pans, which turn melted cheese into an art form. You’ll see these in action at Cheese, Clay & Culture where Kat combines three of her favourite things, teaming up with a local potter and a brewer for an immersive session that pairs beer with cheese, live pottery demos and handmade tasting plates you’ll get to take home.
I then make my way to Tropical Fruit World, a thriving working farm and agri-tourism haven that will transform its secret orchard to host a nighttime Fire & Forage feast. Deep within the macadamia grove, long communal tables will be set beneath leafy boughs, ready to host a banquet of wild game, local seafood and flame-charred vegetables cooked over a roaring open pit. For now, my treat is a vibrant tasting platter bursting with tropical curiosities — black sapote, tamarillo, custard apple, mangosteen, calamansi, Davidson plum and carambola. Each bite is a reminder of the farm’s extraordinary bounty.
Between these festival previews, I find the perfect place to unwind at Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach. With breezy, beachfront charm and effortlessly stylish interiors, it feels like checking into a dream holiday that’s equal parts coastal cool and laid-back luxury. For Savour The Tweed attendees, there’s an added treat: a complimentary culinary masterclass with chef Andrew Milford at the hotel’s award-winning restaurant, Paper Daisy. It’s the ideal way to deepen your foodie experience, all while soaking in those salty sea breezes and poolside serenity.
If big, bustling food festivals aren’t really your thing, Savour The Tweed might just be. It’s a relaxed, thoughtful way to explore the region, one bite, sip and conversation at a time. With every event, you’ll get a taste of The Tweed’s rich local flavour, meet the people behind the produce and enjoy a few slow, meaningful moments along the way. It’s not about spectacle, it’s about enjoying good food in good company, with just the right amount of surprise.
TWEED, NSW, AUSTRALIA
GETTING THERE
Just a 15-minute drive south of Gold Coast Airport, The Tweed is where the Gold Coast’s buzz melts into New South Wales’ laid-back charm.
DETAILS
Stay in laid-back luxury at Halcyon House — beachfront, boutique, effortlessly chic, with a wellness centre for the ultimate unwind. halcyonhouse.com.au
savourthetweed.com.au
The writer travelled as a guest of Savour the Tweed and The Tweed Tourism Company.