While the rest of Australia shivers, Port Douglas is serving a four-day feast between the reef and the rainforest

There is a particular kind of smugness that comes from eating a long lunch outdoors in a T-shirt while everyone you know back home is reaching for another blanket. Port Douglas in August delivers that feeling better than almost anywhere in Australia, and this year, it comes with 23 world-class chefs and four days of food and drink that would be remarkable in any capital city – let alone a tropical town of 3,500 people wedged between the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

The Taste Port Douglas Food and Drink Festival, presented by Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, turns 10 this year. What started as a boutique food celebration in Far North Queensland has grown into one of Australia’s premier culinary festivals, attracting Michelin-starred international talent alongside some of the country’s most respected chefs, and drawing visitors who come for the food and stay because Port Douglas in winter is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful places you can be.

What you need to know

The festival runs from Wednesday August 6 to Saturday August 9, with more than 40 curated events spread across the long weekend. Final release tickets are on sale now.

The setting is extraordinary. Events take place at Rex Smeal Park on the waterfront, at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, and across local restaurants and venues throughout Port Douglas – all within easy walking distance of each other, which matters when you are eating and drinking your way through four days.

The weather in August is what the rest of Australia dreams about: warm, dry days in the mid-to-high 20s and cool, pleasant evenings. Pack light layers for dinner, a hat and sunscreen for daytime events, and comfortable shoes for moving between venues. You will not need a coat.

The chefs worth knowing about

This year’s lineup brings together two-Michelin-starred chefs from Singapore, one-starred talent from Vietnam, and some of Australia’s most celebrated names – a calibre of cooking talent you would normally need to fly internationally to experience.

Kirk Westaway, whose restaurant JAAN in Singapore holds two Michelin stars, leads the international contingent alongside Rishi Naleendra of Cloudstreet, also two-starred and ranked among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and Ryan Clift of The Cave in Bali. Australian chefs include Colin Fassnidge, best known from My Kitchen Rules, Manu Feildel, Ben Williamson from Brisbane’s acclaimed Agnes restaurant, Jerry Mai and Mindy Woods of Karkalla, whose native ingredient cooking has attracted national attention.

For food lovers over 60, the opportunity to watch these chefs cook, eat their food and in some cases learn directly from them in intimate masterclasses of just 30 people is genuinely rare.

The experiences worth booking

The Lexus Long Lunch Series is the signature experience and the one to book first. Five hundred and fifty guests sit down for an outdoor lunch at Rex Smeal Park with ocean views, menus created by guest chefs including Colin Fassnidge and Sam Aisbett, matched wines and a DJ soundtrack that sets precisely the right mood for a long afternoon in the tropics. It runs on both Friday and Saturday from noon to 3pm. Tickets are $319 per person in the final release – not cheap, but for a three-hour lunch of this calibre in this setting, it represents strong value.

The Takeover Series delivers one-off restaurant takeovers across Port Douglas, where visiting chefs collaborate with local venues for single-night dinners you will not see again. The standout is The Red Book Collective on Saturday night – a Michelin-led dinner featuring Rishi Naleendra, Sam Aisbett, Kirk Westaway and Michael Wilson cooking together. If there is one ticketed dinner to prioritise, it is this one.

The Moffat Masterclass Series offers intimate, hands-on sessions capped at 30 guests. Highlights include a fish curry class with two-Michelin-starred Rishi Naleendra – a genuinely once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity – and a native food experience with Mindy Woods, creating a native seafood curry with local snapper and pipis, paired with wines from Indigenous-owned Munda Wines. These sessions sell out fast for good reason.

The Festival Village at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort runs across Saturday and Sunday and is the most accessible entry point. It is the beating heart of the festival – chef demonstrations on the main stage, more than 20 pop-up restaurants and bars, live music and a relaxed, grazing atmosphere. Highlights include Preston Fresh Seafood shucking oysters to order, KOI Restaurant’s Japanese-inspired menu, an authentic Italian pizza truck from Vitalia’s and pop-up bars from Champagne Pol Roger, Vasse Felix and Brokenwood.

The Opening Night Launch Party on Wednesday evening at Rex Smeal Park sets the tone for the weekend – food by the Sheraton’s Belinda Tuckwell, bars from festival partners and live blues, rock and boogie covers from Viva Mossvegas as the sun goes down over the Coral Sea. It is the kind of evening that reminds you why you came.

Making it a holiday

Festival Director Spencer Patrick puts it well: “People come to Taste Port Douglas for the food, but they fall in love with the feeling of the place – the warmth, the setting and the way the weekend flows.”

He is right. Port Douglas in August is not just a food festival – it is a winter escape that happens to have world-class dining attached. The reef is right there. The Daintree is twenty minutes north. Four Mile Beach is steps from the Sheraton. The town itself is compact, beautiful and built for exactly the kind of slow, indulgent long weekend that this festival delivers.

For Australians over 60 looking for a winter escape that offers something more than a hotel room and a pool, Taste Port Douglas combines food, warmth, natural beauty and genuine cultural richness in a way that very few Australian events can match.

Leave time either side of the festival to snorkel the reef, walk the Daintree, eat at local restaurants that are excellent year-round and simply enjoy a part of Australia that feels, in the best possible way, like another country entirely.

The details

When: Wednesday 6 to Saturday 9 August 2026

Where: Port Douglas, Tropical North Queensland — various venues including Rex Smeal Park and Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort

Tickets: Final release on sale now at tasteportdouglas.com.au

Where to stay: Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort is the festival’s presenting partner and the most convenient base — beachfront, lagoon pools and steps from the Festival Village. Book early as August rooms fill quickly.

Getting there: Fly to Cairns (direct from most Australian capitals), then a scenic one-hour drive north to Port Douglas. Airport transfers and car hire are readily available.

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