There is a particular kind of pleasure that comes from eating food in the place where it was grown – from standing in a paddock and tasting something that came out of the soil beneath your feet. It is a pleasure that most of us rarely experience. The Scenic Rim Eat Local Month, which turns 15 this year, has built an entire festival around exactly that feeling.
For all of June 2026, the farmers, growers, chefs and makers of Queensland’s Scenic Rim are throwing open their paddocks, kitchens and cellar doors for what has become Australia’s most authentic paddock-to-plate food and farming experience. And this year, with 153 events across the entire month – the biggest program in the festival’s 15-year history – the timing couldn’t be better for a winter road trip from Brisbane or the Gold Coast.
If you haven’t yet made it to the Scenic Rim – you should go. Just 80 kilometres from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the region is ringed by dramatic mountain ranges and World Heritage-listed rainforests, with lush valleys and fertile farmland dotted with charming country towns. It is home to ancient rainforests, national parks, lakes, sweeping valleys and epic mountain ranges, as well as destination restaurants, wineries, breweries and distilleries.
In winter, when the coast can feel grey and the days are short, the Scenic Rim comes into its own. The air is crisp, the light is golden, and the fires are lit in the cottage kitchens. June is, in many ways, the ideal time to visit – and Eat Local Month makes it unmissable.
What started in 2011 as a modest celebration of the region’s farmers and producers has grown into a Gold Award winner for Excellence in Food Tourism at the 2025 Queensland Tourism Awards – and a significant economic event that contributed more than $2.2 million to the local economy last year alone.
This year’s program includes 42 on-farm adventures, 40 lunches and dinners, 48 family-friendly events and 62 workshops and experiences – with 51 brand new events making their debut. There is genuinely something for everyone, at every budget and every appetite.
The range of what’s on offer is remarkable. At the indulgent end, there are long lunches on working farms with the Scenic Rim’s best chefs, dinners under the stars in some of the region’s most spectacular settings, and a brand-new Twilight Feast and Luxury Mountain Escape at Verandah House Country Estate. For something more hands-on, there are cocktail masterclasses using locally grown botanicals, a Farm to Jar Pickling Workshop, a Forage to Feast experience at Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, and a Chocolate, Cheese and Wine afternoon in the vineyard at Bunjurgen Estate.
Families are particularly well catered for. Little Farmers Day Out at Clandulla Cottages & Farmstay offers children a hands-on introduction to life on the land, and a picnic experience at Northview Highlands – home to miniature Highland cows, Valais Blacknose Sheep and Pygmy Goats – will delight anyone who has ever been won over by an exceptionally fluffy animal.
For those who prefer to explore at their own pace, the Ride, Gather and Graze Picnic Trail on Tamborine Mountain lets you pedal through some of the region’s most beautiful scenery with a picnic basket in tow. And food lovers will want to seek out the collaboration between Tamborine Mountain’s French bakery Franquette and Brisbane’s celebrated intimate diner, Joy — one of the most anticipated events in the new program.
The Scenic Rim proudly holds the title of Australia’s carrot-growing capital – local farmers harvest 600 million carrots annually – and the famous Kalfresh Carrot Day is one of the festival’s most popular events with families. It sells out quickly, so book early. And if you can only manage one weekend away, make it the last weekend of the month: the Winter Harvest Festival, held in the country town of Kalbar from 26 to 28 June, is the festival’s grand finale, complete with the legendary Tractor Pull event, live entertainment and a celebration of everything the region produces.
June is also the only month of the year that Moffatt’s Fresh Produce makes its sought-after carrot ice-cream – reason enough, some would argue, to make the trip.
All events are ticketed and many will sell out, so the advice from the organisers is clear: read the program now, book early and sort your accommodation at the same time. The region has a wonderful range of options from cosy country cottages to luxury lodges – and a winter weekend in the Scenic Rim has a way of turning into something you plan to repeat every year.
The full program is available now at eatlocalmonth.com.au. Tickets are on sale now.