Tasmania
Tasmania’s food festivals: the Taste of Summer on Hobart’s waterfront from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, plus the island’s oysters, cheese and cool-climate wine.
At a glance
- Home of the Taste of Summer, Hobart, 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027
- An island of oysters, scallops and cheese, served by named producers at the festival
- Cool-climate wine, whisky and beer from Tasmanian makers
- Festival season is the southern summer, around New Year
- 1food festival
Food festivals in Tasmania
Dan Ingham, CC BY
Cities and towns in Tasmania
Andrea Schaffer from Sydney, Australia, CC BYMap of Tasmania
What to taste in Tasmania
Oysters
Grown in Tasmanian waters. Blue Heron Oysters and the Tasmania Oyster Company are among the festival’s Provenance partners.
Scallops
From Bass Strait, the sea between Tasmania and the mainland. Bass Strait Scallops is a festival partner.
Bruny Island Cheese
A cheesemaker of Bruny Island, south of Hobart, among the Provenance partners of the Taste of Summer.
Cool-climate wine
Pinot noir and sparkling wine are the island’s best-known styles.
Tasmania, Australia’s island state across Bass Strait from the mainland, puts its producers on show each New Year on the Hobart waterfront: the Taste of Summer, formerly the Taste of Tasmania, held since 1988.
Tasmania, the Apple Isle and its waters
Tasmania is known in Australia as the Apple Isle, and its cool waters and pastures supply the produce the festival puts forward.
The festival’s food page promises “the oysters from our waters, the meat raised on our farms, the fruit picked from our orchards”.
- 1788: Captain William Bligh planted the island’s first apple trees at Adventure Bay, on Bruny Island. Back 11 years later, he found a single survivor, says Discover Tasmania.
- Today: the Huon Valley, across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, is the heart of the apple industry and the start of the Tasmanian Cider Trail, with cideries in Grove, Franklin, Cygnet and Middleton.
A record vintage, 43% sparkling
Wine Tasmania, the island’s wine industry body, called 2025 a record year:
| Figure | 2025 vintage |
|---|---|
| Wine grapes processed | 23,002 tonnes, up 37% |
| Wine produced | 1,661,000 cases |
| Share of sparkling wine | 43%, up 5 points |
| Rank among Australia’s 65 wine regions | 5th by value, 13th by volume |
Cellar doors are grouped into four wine trails: North West, Tamar Valley, East Coast and Southern. Most vineyards follow the curve of a valley, says Wine Tasmania, and seldom sit on flat land.
Whisky after a 150-year ban
Discover Tasmania, the state tourism site, tells how Governor Sir John Franklin outlawed distilling in 1839, after his wife declared:
“I would prefer barley be fed to pigs than it be used to turn men into swine”, said Lady Jane Franklin.
- 1992: Bill Lark, a Hobart surveyor, had the prohibition overturned, more than 150 years on.
- Three decades later: Tasmania has more than 70 distilleries.
Hobart on the Derwent
- Hobart: the capital, on the Derwent estuary in the south-east of the island, and the base for the festival.
Before you go
- When: the Taste of Summer runs from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 in Hobart.
- Season: late December is summer in Tasmania, the season of the festival.
- Getting there: Hobart Airport has flights from the mainland, and ferries cross Bass Strait to Devonport, in the north.
- Alcohol: the minimum legal age to buy alcohol is 18.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Taste of Summer in Hobart?
From 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, on Princes Wharf No. 1.
What food is Tasmania known for?
Oysters, scallops, salmon, cheese, apples and cool-climate wine.
What was the Taste of Tasmania?
The former name of the Taste of Summer, Hobart’s summer food festival, held since 1988.