Flavours of Mudgee 2026: Dates, Free Entry, and How to Plan Your Visit
20 July 2026
This guide is part of our ultimate guide to Mudgee wine tours.
Flavours of Mudgee returns on Saturday 26 September 2026, and here is the answer most people search for first: entry is free. The only thing to buy is a Festival Tasting Package, which comes with a souvenir glass and covers your wine sampling as you move between stalls. More than 60 local food and wine producers take over Mudgee's historic main streets for one evening, with performers filling the gaps between tastings.
What Flavours of Mudgee Actually Is
Founded by Mid-Western Regional Council, the official Flavours of Mudgee street festival is the biggest single night on the region's calendar. The format is a walkable feast: producers line the town centre's streetscape, you wander between them at your own pace, and everything Mudgee grows, ferments, bakes, and bottles is concentrated into a few blocks. It is the region's whole identity, one street wide.
The festival sits inside Wine and Food Month, the September-long program of winemaker dinners, vertical tastings, and cellar door events across the region. Our Mudgee Wine and Food Festival guide covers the full month; this page is about the street festival itself.
Tickets and Tasting Packages
Entry to Flavours of Mudgee is free. You can walk the festival, eat from the food stalls as you pay per item, and soak up the entertainment without buying anything in advance.
Festival Tasting Packages are the one purchase worth planning: the package includes a souvenir tasting glass and covers wine sampling at the producer stalls. If you want to taste your way along the street rather than just eat your way along it, this is the mechanism. Packages are sold through the official festival site, and popular allocations move fast as the date approaches.
Planning the Night
The festival runs through Mudgee's town centre, which means the smartest accommodation strategy is simple: stay in town and walk. September is the region's busiest month, and beds within walking distance of the main streets book out well before festival week. Our Mudgee weekend getaway guide covers where to base yourself and how the Sydney run works.
The festival is one night, but nobody comes to Mudgee for one night. The proven formula is the full weekend: arrive Friday evening, tour cellar doors Saturday before the festival, walk the street festival Saturday night, then ease into Sunday with a late start. A Saturday morning half-day tour covers 3 cellar doors and has you back in town with time to rest before the evening, or flip it and book a Sunday recovery tour once the festival dust settles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Flavours of Mudgee free to enter? Yes. Entry to the street festival is free, and food stalls sell per item as you go. The Festival Tasting Package, which includes a souvenir glass and wine sampling at producer stalls, is the only ticketed element.
When is Flavours of Mudgee 2026? Saturday 26 September 2026, in Mudgee's main streets in the town centre. It is the headline night of the region's September Wine and Food Month.
How much does the Festival Tasting Package cost? Pricing is set by the festival closer to the date and sold through the official site, flavoursofmudgee.com.au. It includes the souvenir tasting glass and wine sampling across participating producer stalls.
How many producers attend? More than 60 local food and wine producers line the main streets, from the region's wineries to its bakers, distillers, and growers, with live performers between them.
Can you do a wine tour the same weekend? That is the ideal Mudgee weekend: a half-day cellar door tour on Saturday morning or Sunday, with the street festival as the Saturday night centrepiece. Operators run morning and afternoon formats, so the festival and the touring never clash.
Where should you stay for the festival? In Mudgee town, within walking distance of the main streets. September is the region's peak month and central accommodation books out early, so lock in your stay when you buy the tasting package, not after.
Browse Mudgee wine tour operators and build the rest of the festival weekend around the tastings.