Lithgow’s Main Street will come alive on Saturday 21 February 2026 as the Seven Valleys Wild Food Festival makes its highly anticipated debut, promising a bold and immersive celebration of wild food, local culture and regional storytelling.
Set across the heart of Lithgow for one summer evening, the festival will transform the street into a lively open-air precinct featuring a curated producers’ market, hands-on workshops, live entertainment and a boutique beer garden showcasing some of the region’s finest craft beverages. Designed to be both educational and celebratory, the event invites visitors to slow down, explore and reconnect with where food comes from.
At the centre of the festival program is the WildFire Kitchen Stage, headlined by acclaimed chef Analiese Gregory. Known for her fearless approach to cooking with wild and seasonal ingredients, Gregory has traded the world’s most prestigious kitchens — including Paris’s Le Meurice and Sydney’s Quay — for a life immersed in Tasmania’s landscapes. Her philosophy of sustainable, place-based cooking, documented in the SBS series A Girl’s Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking, aligns seamlessly with the Seven Valleys ethos.
Sharing the stage will be Sharon Winsor, founder of Indigiearth and the Warakirri Dining Experience, and recipient of the Bill Granger Trailblazer Award at the 2025 Good Food Awards. Widely recognised as Australia’s most awarded Indigenous chef, Winsor brings a powerful focus on native ingredients, culture and connection to Country.
They will be joined by wild food specialist Elijah Attard, local chef Leila Khazma and award-winning pitmaster Adam Roberts, whose fire-driven cooking style promises plenty of heat and theatre.
Beyond the kitchen stage, the festival will offer bushfood yarning and tasting sessions with Felicity Kerslake from the Australian Bush Food Education Centre, alongside talks and demonstrations from leading voices in wild food, including celebrated local forager Diego Bonetto.
“Wild food foraging is important because it reconnects us to place,” Bonetto said. “It teaches us to read the land, respect seasons, and understand that real nourishment comes from relationship, not extraction.”
The Seven Valleys Wild Food Festival is supported by the NSW Government Vibrant Streets – Open Streets Program, which aims to transform streets into people-focused spaces that support local businesses and strengthen community connection.
More information and program details are available at sevenvalleyswildfood.com.
