Virtual Festivals

Spring has sprung, and with the seasonal change comes warmer weather, longer days, a whiff of the glorious summer to come and events.

BLOOM

From mid-September

Enjoy the gardens, culture, heritage and award-winning gastronomy of Bendigo and surrounds from home this year, with Bloom – the region’s much loved spring festival which has come online for the first time. Tune into live Tulip Talk, entertain the kids with creative school holiday activities from Bendigo Art Gallery or tuck into a virtual cooking class with Hoo Gah café.

2020 Nature Festival

28 September - 11 October

Brush up on nature credentials these school holidays with the free Victoria Nature Festival, which runs for the first two weeks of October. Connect with nature safely online and enjoy a huge range of free events including a virtual tour of the zoo, virtual meditation in the Royal Botanic Garden, a live search for endangered hooded plovers or tune in to the Phillip Island virtual penguin parade, which has had more than 10 million viewers.

Noisy Ritual Virtual Tasting

15 October

Join Melbourne’s most popular urban winery, Noisy Ritual, for an interactive virtual group tasting on Thursday 15 October. Participants will taste three wines with Noisy Ritual founders Alex and Cam in a special one-hour online tasting. Book a spot in the virtual event to receive three generous sized 100ml wine samples, along with a Zoom link, delivered to home ahead of the event. The tasting promises to include a Noisy Ritual overview, wine tasting basics, guided tasting of wines, question time and some laughs.

Home Herbalist

Sunday & Mondays through October

Allow Naomi Ingleton from Beechworth’s Farmacy Co. Clinic to evoke the inner herbalist with a class of a different kind – a guide to the ancient art of apothecary. Participants will receive fresh sachets of herbs, an apothecary bottle and jars as well as recipe cards & a herb function booklet. Learn to make an elderberry tonic to boost immunity, a ‘cooling tea’ and a ‘focus tea’, which promotes sleep and digestion as well as to de-stress. And the best part is that it’s not only healthy, but delicious.

Bingo Academy Live

Every Sunday

Brush up on the bingo lingo, popular Melbourne restaurant Tokyo Tina has taken its infamous bingo online with the launch of Bingo Academy Live. Held every Sunday, drag superstar Valerie Hex hosts the number-calling, ball-dropping online game via Instagram Live at 2pm, paired with enough booze, food and fun. To play, order Tokyo Tina's Bingo Pack from Providoor, which includes a snack feast, all the ingredients for homemade Aperol Spritz, Bingo Cards and a bingo playlist.

At Home Gin Masterclass

If Spring were a drink, it would have to be a Gin & Tonic. So why not perfect mixology with an at home gin masterclass kit from Bass & Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula? Learn about the exciting flavours and exotic native botanicals that can be found in Victoria, and how to expertly craft a personal gin. Head Distiller, Holly will guide participants through via video tutorial and be supplied with a 500ml bottle of the personal bespoke gin within two weeks of finalising the recipe.