It’s Adelaide's first major food and drink festival of the year, so make it a good one!

We’ve taken the packed program of this year’s Cellar Door Fest, Adelaide’s favourite food and drink festival, and grouped it into juicy mouthfuls of goodness – offering a little inside knowledge as to what you should see and do.

Start the weekend with Friday knock offs

Friday at Cellar Door Fest sets the scene for the weekend ahead, providing the ultimate venue for Friday knock offs with colleagues and friends. And the best part, the strictly limited Friday Night Knock Offs ticket takes the effort out of deciding what that first drink will be. This ticket includes entry for two plus a bottle of biodynamic wine from McLaren Vale’s Hedonist Wines to enjoy at the festival or take home. The decision is yours.

Need a sociable snack or something substantial? The Eatery returns to fuel your tasting journey, featuring some of Adelaide’s hottest food trucks. Wrap your taste buds around delicious eats from Uz Gözleme, Cheesy Street, Simply Flammekueche, Taco Cartel and Paella Bar.

This year, you can also pre-order cheese platters for two when purchasing your tickets online.

DJ Ruby Chew is also back to soundtrack your tasting journey. Arrive early to a super chilled vibe, stay late for the dance-inducing beats.

Malissa Fedele is fresh from MasterChef Australia

Feed your inner foodie

Fresh from the latest season of MasterChef Australia, and a degree-qualified clinical nutritionist, Malissa Fedele is the host for this year’s Meet the Maker stage – a popular festival favourite.

It’s one of the two main stages at Cellar Door Fest and will be hosting free cooking demonstrations across the festival’s Saturday and Sunday sessions.

Knowing what it’s like to be interviewed while cooking under pressure – “it’s stressful, but also an adrenalin rush and fun” – Malissa is there to help the local producers enjoy the experience as they cook, spruik and share their wares. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun!” she says, adding that she’s tempted to throw a few MasterChef challenges into the mix.

As well, she’ll be hosting a cooking demonstration of her own, serving up “a really beautiful, simple dish with mood boosting benefits” and some nutrition education on the side.

The Meet the Maker stage promises great foodie discussions and new recipes that you can easily whip up at home to add to your favourites repertoire. So, pull up a chair and feed your inner foodie.

Have a long table dining experience

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in recent years it’s that, at heart, we are social animals. Long table dining is as convivial as it gets, with food and fine bevvies a conversation ice breaker.

The long tables kick off during the festival’s Saturday Session ! with Spirit of Orbis: Dine with the Young Gun of Wine. Winner of 2023’s coveted trophy, Lauren Langfield is head winemaker at Orbis Wines, a young label that’s making some mighty fine natural, vegan wines from their off-grid winery in McLaren Vale.

Flavours of Summer: 23rd Street Distillery Dinner on Saturday evening sees the world-beating distillery combine a carefully curated range of spirits with a summer inspired two-course menu. And for those who are up early-ish on a Sunday, Bubbles & Brunch with DAOSA is a sweet reward. Winemaker Xavier Bizot hosts a bespoke three-course brunch paired his traditional method DAOSA sparklings and Terre à Terre fine wines.

Festival director Jasmine Pohl says the long table dining experiences provide a fantastic opportunity to chat one-on-one with the winemaker or distiller. Also sharing his perspectives on the food and drinks pairings is the man behind the menus, Adelaide Convention Centre executive chef Gavin Robertson.

Expand your wine and spirit knowledge

In addition to providing a platform to sip, sample and shop the best of SA, Cellar Door Fest is also known for its educational aspect, offering a range of opportunities for festivalgoers to enhance their knowledge of our state’s vibrant food and drink scene.

Respected South Australian wine writer and judge Nick Ryan is joining the fun this year, hosting the new Great Wine Capitals Discovery Stage. Get yourself front and centre for interactive wine discussions with some of the state’s Best of Wine Tourism award winners.

There are multiple free sessions on Saturday and Sunday, making it easy to drop in for great wine conversation across each day.

Alternatively, enhance your experience with the tempting roster of ticketed masterclasses, spanning everything from Chocolate & Spirits, where you’ll learn the language of luxury courtesy of Full Circle Spirits and Adixions chocolates; to Adelaide Hills Cheese & Chardonnay, pairing Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard’s premium cool Chardonnays with artisan cheese from Woodside Cheese Wrights – the epitome of Adelaide Hills excellence.

For those keen to build their wine knowledge, Wine Deconstructed has been specially curated to teach you the art of wine tasting and how to demystify the lingo.

Discover a new food producer

Want to know what’s new in the world of food? MasterChef’s Malissa says she does, too. “I’m really looking forward to touring the Fest to discover the exciting group of up and coming foodies participating in the emerging producers zone,” she shares.

This year’s Cellar Door Fest sees 16 South Australian food producers showcase their unique and moreish wares. From premium chocolate and native foods, to cocktail essentials and gourmet treats just made for a grazing platter – this is where you’ll find your new, go-to pantry essentials and more.

Make plans to tour the producers’ stalls and taste of all of this year’s goodies. And don’t miss the ever-popular Festival Market Bag – follow the market trail around the festival, collecting goodies from a range of producers before you roll on home to enjoy them.

“I am all about supporting local SA produce,” Malissa says “… And what a great place Cellar Door Fest is to try it all.”

Go vegan

In putting this year’s Cellar Door Fest together, festival director Jasmine says the team was focused on making sure there is something for everyone.

“We’ve got lots of different elements around wine, spirits and food,” she says. “And we’ve had a strong focus on eco-friendly producers for a few years now.”

By eco-friendly, Jasmine means biodynamic, certified organic and vegan.

“A good example is Bone Dry from the Limestone Coast, who are joining us for the first time. Their wines are vegan friendly and with 0.1 per cent sugar or less certainly appeal to the health-conscious.” (Translation – way less carbs per glass.)

There are 21 vegan-friendly winemakers and distillers participating in this year’s event. You can find them here or just look for the eco-friendly logo on each producer’s stand.

Celebrating its 13th year in 2024, Cellar Door Fest enjoys a reputation as Adelaide’s favourite food and drink festival for good reason.

Discover more on this year’s Fest by visiting the website.