ollowing last year’s successful inaugural event, the Australian Native Food Festival will return to Sydney’s Carriageworks on 26 and 27 September 2026. The event will once again bring together some of the country’s most celebrated Indigenous and non-Indigenous chefs and business owners for a two day celebration of native ingredients, culture and connection.
Presented by Indigiearth and led by Weilwan woman Sharon Winsor, the 2026 program will unite an inspiring range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous chefs and native foods advocates. The lineup will feature celebrated Indigenous chefs and native foods advocates Rayleen Brown, Aunty Beryl Van Oploo OAM, Kerrie Saunders, Mindy Woods, Zach Green, Bruce Pascoe, each bringing their own expertise and connection to native ingredients to the demonstration stage.
The program will also feature renowned chefs and cooks who share a passion for native foods and ingredients including Kylie Kwong, Nat Thaipun, Adam Liaw, Lucy Tweed, Karima Hazim, Colin Fassnidge, Jason Roberts, and Amber Doig.
The festival will once again feature an inspiring lineup of 30 First Nations owned and run businesses from across Australia. Ranging from native spices, bush beauty and wellness products, gourmet chocolatiers, native wild tea ranges, bush beef jerky, and handcrafted weaving items.
Each day of the festival will feature a weaving workshop presented by Ngumpie Weaving, the NSW based, First Nations, female led weaving company founded by Barapa Barapa and Barkindji woman Tegan Murdock, where guests can learn traditional Aboriginal basket weaving. New to the program are Ngangkari Healing Treatment Sessions, facilitated by Debbie Watson, a Pitjantjatjara healer from the APY Lands, South Australia, offering a traditional hands on healing treatment that supports physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing; sessions are one on one and bookings are required.
The chef demonstration program opens with 2024 MasterChef Australia winner and Vue de Monde chef Nat Thaipun, who brings her deep roots in Thai cuisine and her natural curiosity for global flavours to the stage, drawing on the culinary traditions passed down by her mother and late grandmother.
Sydney based food stylist and author Lucy Tweed, author of three cookbooks, will be taking the stage with Ben Tyler, owner and founder of Kakadu Kitchen. Lucy will share their practical, no fuss approach to bringing Australian native ingredients into everyday cooking. Ben will join Lucy in a conversation designed to share stories and foster a mutual learning space with the audience.
Renowned chef and restaurateur Colin Fassnidge joins Indigiearth founder Sharon Winsor for a demonstration full of banter and learning, exploring how everyday ingredients can be swapped for Australian native ones.
Sunday’s program, and the festival, closes with Adam Liaw, cook, writer and broadcaster known for hosting The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and Who The Bloody Hell Are We? on SBS. The author of ten cookbooks, Adam brings his curiosity for food to a demonstration full of tips and tricks for incorporating Australian native ingredients into home cooking.
Following the success of last year, returning chefs will include Karima Hazim, founder of Sunday Kitchen and co-author of Sofra, and Rayleen Brown, founder of Kungkas Can Cook; Proud Gamilaroi Elder Aunty Beryl Van Oploo OAM, founder of Yaama Barrgay, and celebrated chef and author Kylie Kwong; acclaimed author and agricultural thinker Bruce Pascoe, with proud Bundjalung woman, award-winning chef, author, and educator, Mindy Woods and more.
The Australian Native Food Festival is proudly supported by ANZ, Breville and AV1 (both for the second year), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and the NSW Government through Destination NSW.
The Australian Native Food Festival is free for general admission and will run between the 26th and 27th of September. Chef demonstrations and workshop tickets are also available for purchase via the website. The Australian Native Food Festival is hosted by Carriageworks, a leading cultural hub renowned for championing First Nations arts and innovation.