Food, wine and brew lovers will have the opportunity to meet celebrity chefs, watch cooking demonstrations, make lanterns and sample artisan cocktails when the inaugural The Waterfront Food and Wine Festival comes to The Waterfront, Shell Cove later this month.

The program for the family-friendly event running 4pm to 10pm on Friday, October 28 and 10am to 9pm on Saturday, October 29, has now been released, with events, stalls and entertainment taking place just metres from the Shellharbour Marina at South Coast’s flagship development by Shellharbour City Council with Frasers Property Australia. 

The more than 30 vendors hail from the South Coast, Illawarra and Southern Highlands, making the event a true local gastronomic experience.

On Friday night from 6pm Illawarra indigenous chef Mark Olive will host a cooking demonstration and meet food fans while bands entertain crowds on the main stage, roving entertainers with LED hula hoops light up the night and the Henry Clive Caravan Bar serves artisan cocktails.

On Saturday from 11.30am MasterChef winner and celebrity cook Adam Liaw will meet and greet fans and host a cooking demonstration, followed at 2.30pm by MasterChef alumni and Shell Cove resident Gina Ottaway, AKA Shellharbour Nonna, who will whip up a squid ink pasta dish, in homage to the festival’s seaside location.

Alongside the tasting and sipping there will be meet-the-maker events, roving entertainment including stilt walkers, unicycle ballet, a juggling chef and pranksters The Talking Lampposts, with closing night fireworks at 9pm on Saturday. A long table dining experience will be a feature of both days of the festival.

The Waterfront Food and Wine Festival is supported by the NSW Government’s 2022 Incubator Event Fund, which provides grants for regional NSW events in their first or second years of activity.

Exhibitors include Wollongong’s Headlands Distilling Co, recipient of gold medals at the 2022 London Spirits Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Corang Estate, a 2022 Halliday Wine Companion 4-star winery located in Tarago and known for its shiraz and tempranillo.

Local food vendors are coming to the party. Shellharbour-based Mexican restaurant Amigos will bring their taco truck, Wollongong-based 2 Smoking Barrels will provide American barbecue while Wollongong’s Bun Me Bar will offer Vietnamese banh mi. Artisan Delish use Italian curing techniques in their range of salami, which includes kangaroo and wild boar varieties while Nani’s Food Truck offers Javanese delights using ingredients from the Illawarra region. His Boy Elroy will leave their Wollongong laneway location to bring the burgers. 

Chris Homer, Mayor of Shellharbour City, said the festival would be a regionally significant tourism event that would proclaim NSW’s newest coastal landmark to the city and wider region, while showcasing the region’s food and wine producers. 

“This festival is an amazing opportunity to showcase Shellharbour City and our local region. The Waterfront, Shell Cove, with the spectacular Shellharbour Marina and surrounding dining and recreation precincts, is the perfect location for an event of this calibre,” he says.

Mathew Gulliver, Development Director, Shell Cove, Frasers Property Australia, said the festival was all part of the company’s determination to not only build the community at Shell Cove, but also introduce those not lucky enough to live there to the area’s many attractions, including the new Shellharbour Marina.

“We’re really hoping yachties will use this festival as an excuse to have a great day of sailing followed by a chance to explore both the fabulous new marina facilities, and the excellent local produce and food innovations of the Illawarra,” he says.

The Waterfront, Shell Cove is a masterplanned community in a natural coastal setting surrounded by beaches, parks and wetlands but close to schools, transport and major centres.

The Shellharbour Marina and Shell Cove Harbour are next to the lively town centre featuring a retail precinct anchored by a Woolworths supermarket and specialty shops, Waterfront Tavern with restaurants on the harbour’s edge, children’s beach and water play areas. Additional components of The Waterfront, Shell Cove masterplan currently in planning or delivery include the 117-room hotel, marina services centre, library and community centre.

The Waterfront, Shell Cove recently won the Excellence in NSW Regional Development award at the UDIA NSW Crown Group Awards for Excellence.

The Waterfront Sales Centre is in the Shell Cove Town Centre at Shops 1 and 2, 100 Cove Boulevard, Shell Cove. It is open seven days from 10.30am to 5pm. Call 13 38 38 or visit www.thewaterfrontshellcove.com.au for more information. View the full program for the festival.