I’m New Here is literally Melbourne’s newest music festival. Held in Shadowfax Wines‘ gorgeous gardens, the day promised an afternoon of picnic-ing, fine food, finer music and the finest wine. The Plus Ones are quite familiar with the Werribee Park area of town, having been to a number of events there, so I was very curious as to how it would all work.
Let’s just say: it worked. Blessed with a gorgeous Melbourne day of sunshine and cool breezes, the Shadowfax team gave us a six-hour Sunday session of the highest order. The event was limited to ~200 people which gave it a very relaxed ‘day out with your friends’ atmosphere.
For the first time in my life, I experienced picnic service. That is, the waiters actually brought food from Shadowfax’s gourmet kitchen to our picnic blankets which were set up in front of the stage and under the shade afforded by the many trees.
Photo courtesy Shadowfax Wines
And bring the food they did — dish after dish for six hours! Calamari, rotti, arrancini, gourmet pizzas, sliders, chicken wings and more. Did I mention that all the food, ALL THE FOOD for the entire six hours was included in the ticket price? At $65 a ticket, this is an incredible deal. And I haven’t even started talking about the music or wine…
The Shadowfax team managed to attract some amazing talent for the day. There were five different bands that entertained us with a mix of originals and covers. Passerine were a standout for me, but all the bands came to put on a show. In between performances the music continued to flow with the highly entertaining beats of DJ Vince Peach.
The staff at the event were of the highest standard. I couldn’t believe that they were serving us for the entire day — running between the kitchen to each and every picnic blanket for six hours. They must have been exhausted, but they managed to serve us all day long with smiles on their faces.
If Shadowfax plans on celebrating their new vintages via a similar festival I would definitely recommend making the trip down — it is a certainly a unique event and one that everyone should experience.
– Ruki
