Music stars Mitch Tambo, Nathan Lamont, Reigan and Travis Collins will headline a revamped Denman Food and Wine Festival when it returns to the Upper Hunter Valley in November.
Rebadged as the Denman Wine Food and Film Affair, and billed as the biggest event on the region’s calendar, the festival will run over two days to accommodate the addition of the popular Blue Heeler Film Festival.
Denman’s Ogilvie Street precinct will feature three performance stages, roving street performances, a dedicated children’s zone and free continuous short film screenings.
The film festival, the result of a collaboration between the Shire of Muswellbrook and the Denman Chamber of Commerce, will kick off the weekend with the Blue Heeler Film Festival Red Carpet Awards.
Staged at Twin Rivers Winery, the awards will fire the starting gun on two days of partying that are expected to draw more than 7,000 people from around the region and across NSW.
Muswellbrook Council Director of Community and Economy, Shaelee Welchman, said the film festival has been enormously popular over the last 11 years, and draws entries from around the world.
“It’s always a really spectacular night with really inspiring films,” Ms Welchman said.
“We have short films from across the globe as well as others that were produced in our region.”
More than 60 vendors will spotlight a wide variety of local food, while the region’s Two Rivers Wines, Hollydene Estate and Horseshoe Vineyard will also feature.
The always-popular sport of woodchopping will return, while visitors to the region will be able to stay in glamping-style accommodation at the Denman Recreational Area.
Ms Welchman said it was no surprise that the event was able to attract performers of the calibre of Mitch Tambo, Reigan, Travis Collins and rising country music star Nathan Lamont.
“We’ve been able to attract some really good artists in the past. Our first music festival, Rock in the Brook, had James Reyne and James Blundell as feature performers, so we’re pretty lucky to get a few good artists up here.
“But we’re also really focused on growing our own local artists and giving them a platform as well.”
The combining of the two previously separate festivals was enabled by a $150,000 grant from the NSW government’s Open Streets Program, which is led by Transport NSW.
The Denman Wine Food and Film Affair will run over November 1 and 2. More information is available at www.muswellbrook.nsw.gov.au.
