New home for Vivid Sydney's culinary showpiece

 The Vivid Sydney festival is about more than art and colour.

Food lovers are also catered for at Vivid Fire Kitchen, now in a new waterfront home in Barangaroo Reserve.

The culinary showpiece is being positioned as one of the centrepieces of Vivid Sydney 2026 with over 60 culinary voices and two new focal points, The Vivid Fire Pit and the Food for Thought stage.

Running every night of Vivid Sydney from May 22 to June 13 from 6-11pm, the free entry Vivid Fire Kitchen is being promoted as "a vibrant, casual dining hub inspired by the great Aussie backyard".

Highlights will include open-fire cooking demonstrations, talks, tastings and live music.

Vivid Sydney festival director Brett Sheehy promises: “Vivid Fire Kitchen has been reimagined for 2026 as a place you can return to again and again and have a different experience each night.

"Moving to Barangaroo Reserve and expanding the program has allowed us to bring together more voices, more ideas and more ways for audiences to engage with food - from open‑fire cooking and talks to tastings, music and light.

"With rotating chefs, themed nights and new stages, no two evenings are the same, and that sense of discovery is at the heart of what Vivid Sydney is about.”

The Vivid Fire Pit line-up features culinary heavyweights and rising stars including Mark Best, David Moyle, and Mark La Brooy.

Mark Best, executive chef of Infinity by Mark Best and featured Vivid Fire Pit chef on Saturday, May 30, says: “The Fire Pit is an opportunity to explore why cooking over flame is so special - it's elemental, expressive and deeply connected to place. Fire strips cooking back to its essentials and opens space for instinct, memory and collaboration."

The Food for Thought stage will focus on culture, creativity, sustainability and the future of food, brining together chefs, authors, restaurateurs, celebrity cooks and digital storytellers.

Featured Food for Thought panel hosts and guest chefs include Luke Mangan, Mike Bennie, Gary Walsh, Julie Goodwin, Adriano Zumbo and Emelia Jackson.

See https://www.vividsydney.com/vivid-fire-kitchen

Meet Tasmania's new waterfront seafood festival

The Hobart waterfront will welcome a new seafood festival over the March long weekend to celebrate world-class Tasmanian seafood, local producers, and the waterfront community.

Tasmania's Seafood Festival will e hosted by fishing royalty Mures Tasmania, and sponsored by TasPorts. The free three-day festival will aim to turn Victoria Dock into a buzzing waterfront playground with food and drink stalls, live entertainment and family fun.

The new festival will run from Saturday, March 7 to Monday, March 9, starting from 11am daily and will bring together seafood producers, fishers, chefs and waterfront folk. 

From barbecued fish and Cajun-style seafood parcels to fresh paella, woodfired pizza, tacos, chowder, parmesan wheel pasta, oysters and bubbles, the menu will have widespread appeal. 

The Victoria Dock seafood punts will also operate throughout the event while Tassie beverage producers will be offering spirits, wine, beer and non-alcoholic options. 

The main stage will host a program of seafood carving, tastings and interactive presentations including a whole tuna carving, oyster shucking competitions, meet the producer sessions and complementary tastings. 

“We have long seen the potential for a large-scale seafood event in Tasmania,” said Will and Jude Mure,
the directors of Mures Tasmania. 

“Guests can watch free live demonstrations from Industry professionals, taste beautiful local seafood, take part in competitions and win prizes, while the kids enjoy hands-on activities and entertainment.

"This first year is just the beginning, and we hope to grow the festival over time into one of the country’s leading seafood events.”

For more info see mures.com.au/tas-seafood-festival.

# Mures Tasmania is a family-owned and -operated seafood business established in 1973 and located on Victoria Dock, Hobart. Mures catches, processes and serves premium local seafood directly from its own vessels Diana and Selkie and hosts several restaurants.

Canberra's arts scene comes alive in April

Despite the presence of some boofheads elected to represent us in Parliament, the national capital of Canberra is also a city of art and culture.

 
Canberra is regarded as one of the nation's creative hubs - just don't tell Barnaby, Sussan and Angus.

 

The sprawling city boasts diverse arts scene, several national attractions and a thriving community of creatives.

This April brings four highly anticipated exhibitions to Canberra: the first solo exhibition for multidisciplinary contemporary Australian artist Thom Roberts at the National Portrait Gallery; a celebration of female artists at the National Gallery of Australia and a showcase of the works of glass maker Katie-Ann Houghton and industrial designer Tom Fereday at the Canberra Glassworks.

The Immersive World of Thom Roberts - National Portrait Gallery
https://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibitions/thom-roberts-2025 

From April 12 to July 20 with free admission 

Australian artist Thom Roberts (below), known for his bold portraits that morph people with trains and buildings, is bringing his first solo exhibition to the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition showcases more than 100 works including paintings, installations, animations and some of his newest works.

Know My Name: Global - National Gallery of Australia
https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/know-my-name-global/
From April 2025 with free entry, this collection features works of inspiring female artists from around the world who have pushed the limits of artistic practice. Expect to see the works from creative trailblazers such as American feminist artist Judy Chicago, Order of Australia artist Vivienne Binns and American neo-conceptual artist Jenny Holzer.

Arum + Meander - Canberra Glassworks
https://canberraglassworks.com/2025-exhibition-2/

https://canberraglassworks.com/2025-exhibition-2-kah/
From April 3 to June 8 with free entry Sydney-based designer Tom Fereday's solo show Arum celebrates the transformation of raw material into glass and highlights his interest in the tension that lies between natural materials and contemporary design. Glassmaker Katie-Ann Houghton, meanwhile, explores her fascination with urban landscapes in her newest exhibition Meander.

For more information visit https://visitcanberra.com.au/