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Little Food Festival 2026

Kids + Families
Free
Kids + Families
Free

Dates

15 April 2026 - 16 April 2026
Daily
10am - 4pm

The Little Food Festival is Australia’s first and only food festival created especially for kids. A free community event, it promotes health, wellbeing and sustainability education, focused on our food system.

During the April 2026 school holidays, kids will roll up their sleeves to plant seedlings, dive into the world of bush food, unleash their creativity with craft and master the art of preparing nutritious meals.

For more information visit: https://www.littlefoodfestival.com/

Main Stage

Stay tuned for the full program.

Activities and Workshops

The festival is made up of activities and workshops that celebrate each stage of the food system.

Check out the confirmed activities and workshops below that will be available at the festival. More amazing activations over the coming weeks will be added.

Grow

  • Learn all about pollination with Rooftop Bees.
  • Plant lettuce, silverbeet or an edible viola seedling with Bunnings.
  • More coming soon.
Move

  • Ready, set, Farm Dash! The race is on between a supermarket tomato and locally grown tomato. Kids get to play the role of farmer, to explore how farmers plant tomatoes from seed, care for them and get them to the market. Little ones will be able to see first-hand the difference between two types of farming, then decide which they prefer.
Buy

  • Visit the mini grocer with A Better Choice! Kids will grab their shopping basket and special tokens, and have fun playing the shopping game. They can exchange their tokens for yummy fruit and veggies.
  • Get crafty at the Seasonal Fruit & Veggie Calendar making workshop. Illustrator Angharad Neal-Williams will help kids create their own calendar to put on the fridge, to help them know what’s in season throughout the year.
  • Play the Ugly Food game with Monash University.
Cook

  • Pack it with purpose with the National Nutrition Foundation. Kids and families can discover how to pack a nutritious, energising lunch for maximum energy and brain power for school days.
  • Make rice paper rolls and meet your lunchbox superheroes with Tiny Fork. Kids will be able to choose from an array of colourful fruit and veg to make their own tasty rainbow rice paper roll and discover how different fruit and veggies support growing bodies.
  • Taste delicious cordials, featuring native ingredients, with the Common Ground Project.
  • Create a cute and crunchy mini cucumber caterpillar. Kids can decide whether they prefer the sweetness of apple or a juicy tomato to make their caterpillar at the Veggies First stall, then taste their edible creation!
Eat

  • Kids are encouraged to taste their way through the Little Food Festival! They can grab a free JAZZ™ apple for a healthy, tasty snack – or pick up a free Chobani Greek Yoghurt.
  • Open up a whole new world of fruits and veggies with United African Farm. Kids can learn about African culture, discover African fruits and veggies, and then get creative and make their own fruit and veg sculptures out of Play-Doh.
  • After kids eat and drink well – it’s time to clean their teeth well, too! Kids can make their own delicious fruit and veggie rainbow with the Smile Squad team.
Recycle

  • Calling all young explorers. Join CERES school of nature and climate for a fun-filled journey that will dig deep into the world of healthy soil, food waste, and our tiny, but mighty, friends – the worms.
  • Everyone’s favourite smoothie bikes are back. Kids can use rescued fruit to blend their very own smoothie to drink. Yum!
  • Make your own pickles. Kids get to choose their own herbs and vegetables and learn the science behind the pickling process – a great way to reduce food waste in our household.

Supporting Areas

Quiet Zone – The Little Food Library
The Little Food Library is presented by Melbourne Libraries. Kids can take some time out to read a book, or listen in to a story time reading from Melbourne Libraries wonderful children’s librarians.

Reflection Zone
What action will you take after your fun day at the Little Food Festival? After a day of activities, kids can test their knowledge of food systems with students and educators from Monash University.

Nom nom lane
Tasty food trucks will be located in Nom Nom Lane for you and your little ones to refuel for their Little Food Festival adventures. Kids can try a tasty and nutritious baked potato, or check out the range of healthy, social enterprise food trucks, to be announced soon.

Green My Plate

Thanks to the closed loop system from Green My Plate, we are proud to say the upcoming Little Food Festival will be a low waste event. All food vendors will be serving up their delicious food on the reusable Green My Plate plates and bowls which you then simply place into the pink bins within the venue. The team from Green My Plate will be continuously collecting the reusable plates and co to then wash and recirculate, leaving a cleaner footprint, and diverting single-use food packaging from landfill.

The process is simple. Simply head to your choice of food vendor, order up, then place your reusable plate in the pink bin.

The plates will be reused over and over at events across Victoria. We encourage and thank everyone for doing their part and assisting us with making dishes, not waste.

Learn More

Founding Partners:

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Event Partners:

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