The Festival

Now in its 18th year, the Andersons Mill Festival is a showcase for the excellent food, wine and music of the region.

An eclectic mix of local produce, boutique wineries, entertaining music, arts and crafts and heritage, the festival is a fabulous day of innovation, entertainment and information. The festival is a great place to.......

Try, taste and buy some of the best food available in the region. Delicious fresh trout rolls, spicy Italian bullboar sausages, organic vegie burgers, beef rolls with exquisite home made relishes and sauces, olives, tapenades and olive oils, refreshing ice creams and much more. You can also purchase biscuits, cakes and slices along with delicious breads and pastries.

Wines from four of the best boutique wineries in Victoria. Enjoy hand crafted whites, reds and sparkling wines from cool climate vineyards in the local area. Wines can be purchased by the glass and the bottle at very reasonable prices. Wineries offering these delights are Dulcinea Winery, Captain's Creek Organic Wines, Daylesford Wine Company and Kangaroo Hills Organic Farm. Boutique Beers will also be available from Red Duck Brewery.

Music at the 2011 Andersons Mill Festival will have a distinct Australian / Celtic Folk music feel with "Damian Howard and The Ploughboys" returning along with local band "Tar 'ere Jack" performing. Both bands will have you singing along and tapping your toes. To start the day we have some young talented performers from the Ballarat High School. Their two bands "Bob" and "Whizbang" will get the Festival off to a lively start.

Stalls offering high quality goods and services for sale including a variaty of arts and crafts. Some of the unique products at this year's Festival include hand made woollen coats along with scented candles and soaps. Wood turning, blacksmithing, sheep shearing, working horse and working dog displays are also a feature of this year's Festival.

Workshops throughout the day will be conducted on a variety of topics including brewing beer, wine appreciation, aquatic plants, butter making and cooking with mushrooms.

...and the star of the show Anderson's Mill...

The majestic, bluestone mill, standing sentinel in a picuresque valley is a partner and the backdrop to the fabulous Andersons Mill Festival. The giant waterwheel, once the only source of power to operate the mill, comes to life again at the festival, offering a glimpse of an bygone era when the Mill produced the flour and grains to feed the many miners who flocked to the region during the Gold Rush.

Owned and maintained by Parks Victoria on behalf of the people, the Mill is a work in progress and is slowly being restored for future generations. Tours of the mill will be conducted at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm on the day. Local Historian Mr Jack Sewell will introduce the tours and Mr Peter Muelan, a descendant of the original Mill owners, will conduct the tours.

Within this fabulous setting the Andersons Mill Festival is an emerging event of note in Victoria's impressive calendar of events. If people only visit one festival a year, this has to be the one!