Taste of the Hunter Valley lands on the foreshore

If you have been meaning to do the Hunter Valley but cannot be bothered with the drive inland, the Taste of the Hunter Valley brings the region to you. It is a multi-day food and wine festival that gathers the Hunter's top wineries, chefs, distillers and market stalls and sets them up on the Newcastle foreshore, so you get the best of the valley without leaving the city. It is billed as a family-friendly, budget-friendly day out on the harbour, and the 2026 edition is set for Saturday 26 September.

The venue is The Station, at the corner of Scott and Watt Streets, a grand site on the city's old railway land overlooking the harbour waterfront. It is owned and run by the Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation, which manages the temporary activation program there. There is more than 7,200 square metres of flexible space to work with, including a huge outdoor piazza, eclectic ground-floor shopping and an indoor studio. It is accessible for people with access needs, pet-friendly and family-friendly, with a bar, a pop-up wine bar, public toilets, licensed catering, Wi-Fi, in-house A/V and on-site parking. For scale, the Station Platform and Piazza can hold 4,500 people at cocktail capacity, with another 200 in the Locker Room.

On the day, you can work your way through wine, beer and spirits, with Discover Stage Sessions, mini golf, giant lawn games, jumping castles and family rides running alongside. There are cheese, deli and market stalls, food trucks, live local music and face painting, plus guided tastings at the Discover Stage, a golf chipping dart board and eating competitions. You can sample new wines, have a glass by the live music and take your favourite bottles home, or settle in with a cheese plate or a wood-fire pizza.

Tickets have been rolling out in stages: Early Bird went on sale 10 April at A$19.95, Second Release followed from 2 June at A$24.95, and Final Release has been available since 4 August at A$29.95. Children under 16 go free, and there is a limited number of 2026 show bags available to pre-purchase. If you are planning to go, it is worth sorting your tickets early rather than leaving it until the gate.

For anyone who has not spent much time here, Newcastle is Australia's second oldest city, affectionately known as Newie, and it sits about an hour's drive from the Hunter Valley itself, which is famous for Chardonnay, Semillon and Verdelho on the white side, and Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for the reds. The city is less than half a million people with a hipster-friendly feel, great beaches, surf, iconic ocean baths, street art, cool cafés and designer hotels. Fort Scratchley and its tunnels, the Newcastle Museum with its coal and steel exhibitions and the Civic Theatre round out the cultural side, while the ANZAC Memorial Walk and The Bathers Way take you from Nobby's Beach down to Merewether, past Bogey Hole and the ocean baths. The Hunter Wetlands and Blackbutt reserve are the green bookends to the coast. It is an easy place to build a weekend around, and the Taste of the Hunter Valley is a convenient way to bring a slice of the valley right down to the water.