Gourmay in the Mary Valley 2026
There are plenty of standout food destinations in Australia, each with their own iconic gastronomic offerings – and we often plan our leisure time based on what those places can do for our bellies and tastebuds. Matt Golinski discovers a region that is worthy of a whole month to savour, celebrate and support the many local producers and chefs that call it home.
If there was a word that summed up what it is that makes the Mary Valley a special food destination it would have to be ‘diversity’.
From its early settlement in the mid 1900s, this fertile area that stretches from Kenilworth and Conondale in the south to Lagoon Pocket in the North, west to the ranges and east to Traveston and Kybong has seen everything from beef, sheep and dairy production to tobacco, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, potatoes, maize, beans, peas, ginger, avocados, citrus, macadamias and stone fruit all on small and large scales.
The Mary River reaches the Great Sandy Strait just south of Hervey Bay and snakes its way through 300km of prime farming land from its headwaters in the Sunshine Coast hinterland to the ocean at Maryborough, providing a valuable source of water for irrigation of crops and making farming in the Valley
a viable prospect.
It’s a resource that isn’t taken for granted by the community, and in recent years a lot of work has been done to ensure the river and the land that surrounds it are being used to grow food sustainably so the industry survives for generations to come.
Today’s Mary Valley sees a lot of smaller scale farmers striving to carve out niche markets and selling direct to the public rather than trying to compete with huge farms to make a living – and it’s all these interesting, passionate people and their unique produce that makes it a region worth visiting for food lovers of any age.
In fact there’s so much to see that a weekend, a week or ten days just wouldn’t be enough to cover it all, so in 2023 the Mary Valley Chamber of Commerce created the ‘GourMay Mary Valley Food Festival’, an entire month dedicated to the celebration of the region’s rich agricultural heritage and vibrant food culture.
It promises to be a month to remember, beginning with an action packed Festival Day in Imbil Rail Park on the 3rd of May and finishing on the 30th with a Gala Dinner at the stunning Stockyard Valley in Coles Creek, one of the region’s newest event spaces.
In between there’ll be a Women’s Angling Competition on Lake Borumba, the Kenilworth ArtsFest, curated walks to see original clusters of wild macadamias in Amamoor, or the bellbirds in Imbil.
There are high teas, movie nights and songwriting workshops, and weekly intimate cooking masterclasses with myself, Peter Wolfe and Penny Maguire at Kandanga Farm Store.
Sunshine Coast Foodie, aka Martin Duncan and myself who are this year both official ambassadors for GourMay will be hosting farm trail bus tours with small groups of up to 20 guests on the 16th of May, or visitors can choose to self-drive and visit farms throughout the day at their leisure.
Martin also brings his legendary ‘Sconversations’ concept to the festival on the 17th, a gathering that brings together interesting people from the region to share meaningful conversations over freshly baked scones, sublime Woolooga Farm Rosella Jam, Bunya Grove Persimmon Jelly, and lashings of whipped cream.
As well as cooking for the opening party on the 1st of May, an autumn long lunch at Kandanga Farm Store on the 9th and the Gala on the 30th, this year I’ve been set the task of creating a menu for the inaugural One Hundred Percent Mary Lunch, a showcase of produce exclusively from the Mary Valley, a challenge I’m very much looking forward to.
There are plenty of options to stay for the weekend including quaint cabins on working farms, B&Bs, camping and caravanning, or authentic country hotel accommodation. It’s worth thinking about booking yourself a place and settling in for a couple of days so you can relax into some serious exploring, eating and drinking in this foodies paradise.
See you there and in the meantime, check out my recipes in this edition using the best produce from the region.
GO GOURMAY!
GOURMAY MARY VALLEY, 1-31 MAY
Don’t miss a delicious month of delectable delights celebrating and savouring the produce and people of the Mary Valley! From free and family-friendly events to decadent degustation’s and hand-on workshops and experiences. For the full program, tickets and more, visit www.gourmaymaryvalley.com.au
Hungry for more? Check out our recipes page!
