The Hampton Festival, renowned for its High Country Food and Arts exhibitions, celebrates a 2023 milestone. In this 20th Anniversary year, there is much to celebrate.
Its transformation over the 20 years has seen the Festival grow from humble beginnings showcasing the produce of the local Hampton area perched on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, to thousands of visitors from all over Queensland making the festival an annual ‘must do’ on their calendars. The reputation of the Hampton Festival for quality is now well entrenched in the regional culture.
The Festival this year is set to wow new and return fans on Sunday 21st May at Hampton’s Chapman Park on the New England Highway from 10am to 3pm. This venue, an easy drive from Brisbane, the Sunshine or Gold Coasts and Toowoomba, is expected to draw large crowds eager to enjoy the cool Autumn climate and the food and arts on offer.
Always a high point is the Art Exhibition with usually around 150 exhibitors vying for the $100 cash prize for the People’s Choice award. This year the artists have been encouraged to celebrate the theme of the High Country.
With a regional focus on the range of produce that thrives under the High Country climate and soil conditions, a central feature of recent festivals is the Growers on the Green. This features local producers demonstrating fruit and vegetables straight from the farms, with advice on how best to grow and how to use local favourites such as rhubarb, avocados, blueberries or finger limes among many others. Local Pechey Gin distillery and Manifest Kombucha will be on hand as well to share their now famous drinks.
Visitors can taste and purchase the produce they see demonstrated at the many stalls, and enjoy a picnic in the gum-lined setting while being entertained by the musicians on the main stage, the roving buskers or the tastes of the many food outlets. There is something for everyone.
Tickets are available to be purchased here. Any enquiries can be directed to info@hamptonfestival.com
Growers on the Green
| START TIME | END TIME | TALK TIME | BUSINESS NAME | Presentation |
| 10:00 | 10:15 | 15 | Halo Farm | Finger Limes |
| 10:25 | 10:40 | 15 | Cutta Murphey | Indigenous Food |
| 10:50 | 11:15 | 25 | Lily’s Artisan | Pasta/Italian |
| 11:25 | 11:40 | 15 | Bee Raw Honey | Honey |
| 11:50 | 12:05 | 15 | Botanica Rose Farm | Vertical Gardening |
| 12:15 | 12:35 | 20 | Highfields Gourmet Meats | Meat and Butchery |
| 12:45 | 1:00 | 15 | Valknutt | Meadery |
| 1:10 | 1:30 | 20 | Willow Vale | French Cooking |
| 1:40 | 1:55 | 15 | DF SmokeHaus | Smoked Products |
| 2:05 | 2:20 | 15 | Belle Bouquets | Floral Cake Decoration |
| 2:30 | 2:55 | 25 | Word Fest | Diverse Cultural Foods |
| 3:05 | 3:20 | 15 | Pechey Distilling | Pechey Gin |