SIP, SAVOUR, AND CELEBRATE: THE HAMPTON FESTIVAL 2026 IS BACK THIS WEEKEND
If you've not yet locked in your weekend plans, consider this your friendly heads-up - the Hampton Festival is back this weekend, with more than 5,000 people expected through the gates across two days for the High Country's most beloved celebration of food, wine and art.
10 May 2026
Photography provided.
Wine and food. Food and wine. The most iconic of duos - and once again, the Hampton Festival is giving them all the room they need to shine. The beloved celebration of all things delicious, creative, and distinctly High Country is back, and we’re already packing our picnic blankets.
Taking place across two full days - Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May - this year’s festival has evolved into a weekend-long immersion of flavour, art, and community spirit. Nestled in the idyllic Chapman Park (25-minute drive north of Toowoomba), it’s still got all the charm you know and love, but with more to experience.
Things actually kick off Friday night with the Hampton Autumn Soiree - an opening of the 2026 Art Exhibition followed by a garden soiree, celebrating some of the region's finest growers. (Translation: very good wine, very good food, very good company.)
Saturday is your day to get arty. This year's Art Immersion: Artscapes & Experiences day brings hands-on workshops, exhibitions, live music and creative encounters around every corner. A standout addition for 2026 is demonstrating artist Matty Gordon, whose recent project at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne saw him turn 30 metres of hoarding into a run of bags, pouches and wallets - repurposing as performance art.
Add to that: painting under the trees, unexpected performances, conversations with local makers, markets to browse, wine in hand, and tunes on tap, it’s basically your ideal Saturday plan.
Then on Sunday, it’s time to dig into the region’s finest food and produce with High Country Flavours: Learn & Grow. There’ll be tastings, demos, and grower chats galore, alongside everything from kids’ activities to live music to seriously good coffee, cheeses, spirits and craft beer. It’s a love letter to paddock-to-plate living.
And it's not just for the grown-ups. The Little Festival is the kids' precinct running all weekend, with Tinker Artworkshops (pot painting, canvas art, beading and ceramic tile decorating), face painting from Colour Me Happy, buzzing bee talks, life-size games, a sand pit and the Chapman Park playground. In other words: a genuine, hands-off-your-glass amount of time for the grown-ups to enjoy that Pinot in peace.
As Festival President Wendy Allen puts it, "It's the atmosphere that makes Hampton Festival so special — you can get up close and personal with growers and artists and really savour those personal interactions that you don't normally get in larger festival environments."
A few practical bits: day passes are $24, weekend passes $38, family passes are available, and entry is free for kids 11 and under. Even better - free shuttle buses are running from Toowoomba and Crows Nest, so you can save the petrol (and the designated driver argument).
Full program & tickets: hamptonfestival.com.
Oh, and if you’re looking for us? We’ll be the ones hovering near the Hungarian Langos, glass of Pinot in hand.
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