The Herb and Chilli Festival 13-14 March, 2021 - Australia's hottest weekend!

We hope to again sign up Australia's best Zydeco (Psycho Zydeco) band to play on both days. Don't know Zydeco music - It is THE BEST sound from New Orleans and no-one can resist the toe tapping music. Listen Here

Welcome to the Herb and Chilli Festival, 2021. This year will be our tenth and we’re looking forward to welcoming the crowds! 2020 was great even with the clolud of the Covid-19 pandemic and how Victoria was going to deal with it. We were hoping for a really busy year after 2019 being such a great event with 7000 people coming to try yummy food, drinks, listen to music or watch our chilli fanatics test their taste buds.

With plenty of your favourite stall holders returning and a number of exciting new additions, expect an abundance of sumptuous food, lively music and sensational entertainment to suit every age.

With free entry for kids under 14, the bigger-than-Ben-Hur Free KidZone is definitely going to get a workout!

Hot Sauce Alley is bound to be hit again this year, with many new sauces, relishes and rubs being released at the festival, while the popular Stinger Wing Challenge will no doubt see plenty of victims willing to set their mouths on fire (metaphorically speaking, of course!) for fame and glory. The real glory goes to our annual 'Captain Chilli' for the man, woman or other who can really take the heat!!!!

There’ll be plenty of mouth-watering treats in the Food Court, or for something different try the World’s Hottest Dim Sims or fresh fruit Ice-cream - yikes! If improving your DIY meal repertoire is what you’re after, check out the Cooking Stage where chefs and cooks will share their expertise, tips, tricks and favourite recipes. Mexican wrestlers will be demonstrating their incredible craft and schmoozing with the crowds, and there’ll be vendors-a-plenty spruiking their glorious wares! In other words, there’s a quite bit happening!

Keen to try growing your own chillies or herbs at home? We’ll have 40+ varieties of chillies and a massive range of herbs for sale. Chillies were propagated in July this year and are looking fabulous.

Tickets available at the gate OR online through TryBooking.com – click on the 2021 Festival Ticket tab above. Buy tickets online and receive a free Herb & Chilli Festival hat and, most importantly, avoid the gate queues! For discounted group bookings (10+) call Clive on 0414 242 710.

Like us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with what’s on at the festival.

Remember – “Every chilli is a good chilli and life is too short for bland food!”

Details:

Date: 13-145 March, 2021 from 10.00am to 5.00pm

Address: 125 Quayle Road, Wandin. (Off the Warburton Highway.)

Tickets: Online (best option if you want to bypass the queues) or at the gate on the day. Weekend passes also available.

Festival: Adults $26; Concession/Students $20; Children under 14 FREE; Family (2 adults, 2 under 18s) $69.

Disabled Access: Level site with no stairs and dedicated parking area.

Parking: Free on-site or nearby. Separate parking area for motorcycles and bicycles.

All-inclusive: Vegan and most other food options available. Huge KidZone. Well-behaved dogs welcome on leash.

At a glance:

Everyone receives a free Herb and Chilli Festival book and program.

Everyone receives a free online Herb/Chilli Growing e-book.

Every ticket holder receives a free plant.

Four stages running from 11am to 4.30pm both days. (Speakers, Cooking Demonstrations and Entertainment).

Free kids’ activities including Jumping Castles, Face Painting, Pony Rides, Animal Farm!

80+ stalls selling sweet and savoury foods, beer, wine and healthy drinks, handicrafts and other products.

Reasonable prices (many food dishes under $10 and most drinks at standard bar prices).

Access to the world's best hot sauces - Australian, American, Mexican and Japanese.

The Australian Chilli Cookoff is back for 2021!

More details here along with the application form

Hot Sauce Alley will again be a feature of the event!

Festival Favorites. Have a wander and test your tolerance. Check out the difference between the Ferraris, Mazeratis and Rolls Royces of Hot Sauces.

- Flamin Good Chilli: Chilli Sauces, salts, oils, & world's hottest dimmies.

- The Patch on the Bellarine:.Home made chilli jams, chilli sauces, relishs and chutneys.

- Grumpy Gary's Hot Sauces: Handcrafted sauces that are a bit milder, but still hot and tasty.

- Jungle Rain: Gourmet Chilli Sauces featuring Sadistic Slumber and Jungle Mustard.

- Melbourne Hot Sauce: Award winning Smoked Jalapeno and Chipotle BBQ

- Crowleys Hot Sauces, Hot sauces and chilli condiments from Wagga

- Senor Chilli: Tasty sauces range from ‘not-so-hot’ to ‘so-bloody-hot’

- Blonde Chilli: Best range of imported sauces including Blair's Death Sauce, HellFire, and more.

- Danny Balboa's Sauce Co: Hot and tasty sauces and chilli products

International Food Court

2000 square metres with over 20 food vendors showing off food styles from all over the world. Come and sit down, listen to some music and try food from all styles many of which are hard to find in Melbourne's amazing restaurant scene.

Entertainment Stage

Get your groove on and your toes tapping at the Entertainment Stage! MC’d by local muso Garry Marr. Includes our regular Peruvian Folkloric dancers and Inka marka with their amazing Andean music. Garry and John play a mixture of music; blues, jazz country and pop, from the seventies till now. They have played and sung with many musicians and toured in most states of Australia and overseas. They have also had tv and radio appearances with their original music.

This year we have special guest band - Psycho Zydeco or the Psychos as their fans affectionately dub them. They have established themselves as one of the country's premier roots act who specialise in the high-energy, uplifting style of music known as zydeco. This music was originally formed in the swamplands and bayou area in Louisiana's deep south. Drawing from all corners of the zydeco kingdom, Psycho Zydeco have created their own distinctive Australian style. Driving washboard and funky, powerful drums underpin skittering, bluesy accordion melodies that weave together music designed for dancing. Psycho Zydeco's fast paced blend of bluesy grooves, metal percussion and general craziness propels people out of their seats and onto the dance floor. Flying stainless steel washboard, industrial sized Cajun triangle, screaming sax and guitar team up with the pumping squeezebox to create a compelling onstage spectacle. The heady mix of traditional Cajun, modern zydeco, blues and funk conjures an atmosphere of festivity. Website

Cooking Stage

Tired of cooking up the same old stuff at home? Want to zhoosh up your meals repertoire? Come along and watch our chefs and cooks whip up their favourite dishes, explaining as they go.

Getting-hot-in-here Competition Stage

Whether you’re keen to set your mouth on fire, or would prefer to simply watch all the fun, the Competition Stage is where to see the heats and finals, including the Stinger Wing Challenge and Captain Chilli. This is also where you’ll be enthralled by the spectacular Lucha Fantasica Mexican wrestling.

Competitions & Awards

Australian Chilli Cook Off - Teams competition to make the yummiest chilli dish - register your interest through the link above.

Stinger Wing Challenge: Chicken wing eating competition run by Diemen's Hot Sauce.

Shot n Holler: Knock back a shot of tequila and chilli sauce, then Holler. Loudest wins!

Captain Chilli A test of endurance with the winner consuming the most hottest food items in the quickest time. A challenge for the strong!

The Herb and Chilli Festival Exhibitor Awards: Best Relish. Best Chilli Sauce. Best Hot Sauce - public choice. Best Stand for the most colourful and exciting stand.

KidZone - FREE!

Our huge KidZone will keep the young ones (and young at heart) entertained for hours. Including a HUGE jumping castle for big kids and small one for little kids, pony rides, face painting, petting zoo and photo points!