May 8th and May 9th 2010

In the relaxed valley of Wandiligong this exciting festival encourages locals and visitors to enjoy art, food, wine, music and friendship. Celebrate the fertility of the North East and share the farmer’s bounty and passion!

Wandiligong is a small semi-rural settlement located 350km north east of Melbourne (via the Hume Freeway) at the foot of the Victorian Alps 6km from Bright. The Wandiligong Nut Festival is a celebration of the uniqueness of our valley, which is renowned for its beauty and quality of its local produce; primarily nuts (chestnuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts), apples and berries.

The Wandiligong Nut Festival is a combination of events held during the last three days of the Bright Autumn Festival. Highlights include a Chestnut Farm Walk, a Farmers Market featuring local and regional produce, Cooking Demonstrations focusing on local nuts by local acclaimed chefs including Anthony Simone, David Flukes and Naomi Engleton, Food and Wine Matching by local restaurants and wineries, artists and entertainment for kids and adults.

This year we will have an Arts and Culture Marquee with local Artists in Action showcasing their talent and guiding budding artists to express their creativity. Our talented Artists include Frank Burgess, Annie Smart, Francis Solosy and Stephen McCall. This is where you can grab an easel and a chair and be guided to express your creative side. The Arts and Culture Marquee encourages all standards and all ages so come along and join in!

Saturday and Sunday of the festival will see Alpine Park once again turn into an amphitheatre of market stalls at our Farmers Market. A great success in previous years, you will see a myriad of stalls, chestnut roasting, exceptional foods, wines, flowers, fresh produce, buskers and live music all set amongst an amazing autumn backdrop. From 9.00 a.m. both days the extravaganza unfolds.

A feature of this year's festival will be the children's entertainment at Alpine Park on Saturday and Sunday. Vic Health's Centre for Active Recreation Network ( CARN ) will conduct activities all weekend you can also meet the CARN Croc. Get involved with the Golden Nut Competition, find and present a Golden Nut to win a prize. These activities plus face painting, games, loads of prizes and giveaways will ensure two perfect days out for all the family.

  On Sunday afternoon nutty revellers can end their day at the Wandi Pub for the traditional BRART auction (for entry forms email brart2007@bigpond.com ). All in the name of raising money for Breast Cancer Research, brightly coloured brassieres are auctioned off and tossed high into the elm tree at the pub, with the setting sun heralding the end of another fabulous celebration for the nut harvest season.