It’s a festival celebrating food that is produced and enjoyed in the Mary Valley.
Yet GourMay is more than that. It’s about authenticity.
In introducing GourMay for 2026, program director Malcolm Oakley said the world was in a very strange place three years ago.
“At that time we’d come through drought then floods and Covid, but we are living in a wonderful part of the world.
“It was in recognition of this that GourMay was launched – a month-long celebration of everything the Mary Valley stands for.’’
What sets GourMay apart from other food festivals is the authenticity of its farmers, its producers and its providers.
This is in addition to the quality of the food – fresh, local and nutritious.
Malcolm was speaking at an information brunch at Yandina where two food networks – GourMay and Slow Food Noosa – joined together to deliver a similar message about the need for healthy food.
He was there to outline what can be expected at the 2026 month-long celebration of food in the Mary Valley during May.
Slow Food Noosa president Anne Godfrey spoke about the organisation and its philosophy of good, healthy and fair food for all, produced in a sustainable manner.
The brunch was highlighted by talks from farmers John Tidy of Amamoor and Ed Wright from Valdora who both adhere to ethical methods.
John Tidy Organics produces avocados as well as other foods and fruits. He is as passionate about his produce as he is about the community.
Ed Wright produces pork, eggs and honey at his Bamboo Park property in the shadows of Mt Coolum and Mt Ninderry.
Anne Godfrey took the opportunity to present Ed with his Slow Food Noosa Snail of Approval accreditation for the way in which he farms in recognition of Slow Food principles.
Reflecting on the start of GourMay, Malcolm said farmers were very passionate about looking after the land and providing good food for the table.
“The Mary Valley is also about tourism. It’s a great place for people to come and visit, so we looked at ways of how we could combine them.
“GourMay was developed from a meeting in July 2022 and we decided it would be a month-long event.
“Many events will be on weekends but they offer variety and are scattered across the Mary Valley.’’
In a significant move to underline its importance to the area, GourMay has attracted funding from Gympie Regional Council through a three-year sponsorship deal.
“In the past we’ve had one-year sponsorships but council has realised how valuable it is to our community,’’ Malcolm said.
“GourMay is telling the tourism message and the food message.
“Tourism Queensland is also providing us with 2026 funding in conjunction with Visit Sunshine Coast.
“They will tell not only the Mary Valley story and the Slow Food story but beyond that.
“With the Olympics coming up in 2032, this is a prime time to sell the benefits of our producers.
“We’ve got a whole variety of producers here and some fabulous food.’’
Part of the sponsorships means GourMay can have ambassadors. One of those is celebrity chef Matt Golinski, who has been extremely successful in an ambassador role in the past.
The other is Martin Duncan who will help promote the Mary Valley food story. Both are very passionate about food, especially local food.
Another part of the sponsorship funding is to create a Mary Valley Farm Trail.
These will be either celebrity and farmer guided or self guided over one weekend with possibly eight farms participating either throughout the day or at specific times.
This is to show the life of a farmer and how the food gets from farm gate to the plate.
“We have passionate farmers and we have thoughts on who how and when we can do this,’’ Malcolm said.
“There are issues such as bio-security that need to be covered while we’re on this journey, but there should be the chance of doing one or two-day farm trails.
“We are looking at creating partnerships with other operators, so guided tours can be offered as well as self-guided.
“When you look at GourMay – indeed the whole farm gate to plate concept – it affects the economy of the Mary Valley in a big way.’’
There are five weekends in May 2026, with the start of the festival set down for Friday, 1 May, and the closing event on May 31.
The festival is focussed on the villages of Imbil, Amamoor and Kandanga.
Bendigo Bank has increased its sponsorship, with HQ Plantations as well as Templeton’s Ginger adding their support.
“That first year we struck up association with Slow Food Noosa,’’ Malcolm said, “and we learned that it makes sense to connect because both stories are really about what we’re trying to achieve.
“Over the past two years we’ve connected further with Slow Food Noosa.’’
The brunch at Fairhill Nursery at Yandina was to take the message outside of the Mary Valley.
Festival Day at Imbil on the first Sunday will be across a morning session and afternoon. There will be cooking demonstrations and cooking classes with celebrated chefs as well as young chefs.
The Mystery Box Challenge will again be a highlight, in which local people are given an amount of money and time to collect food at the market as if they were on MasterChef or Ready Steady Cook. They then come back to the festival site and create something special.
Amamoor State Forest walking tours – to learn about the origins of macadamias – will be back on the calendar.
Macadamias have their origin in the region, with the term “baupal nut“ coming from Aboriginal culture and named after Mt Bauple, near Tiaro.
The original trees date back centuries upon centuries, with the soil and climate area providing home to the most prolific natural forest.
Wild Macadamias Australia are looking after the Amamoor trees. Their role is to preserve them for posterity because, today, the commercial orchards are made up of hybrids.
“Wild Macadamia’s Australia are looking to preserve that root stock,’’ Malcolm said.
“If anything happens to the commercial macadamia industry, they have to go back to the roots and start again.’’
A TASTE OF THE MARY VALLEY
The government sponsorships underline the value GourMay has in highlighting the fresh food that is available in the Mary Valley.
Significant strategies for 2026 will be the market in Central Park at Imbil on Festival Day – the first Sunday in May.
There will be an enlarged community market while the Festival Day activities will be focused on the Rail Park.
The evening walk and dinner at Bellbird Park will return, as will the camp oven cooking and mystery picnics.
The Sunrise Breakfast at the Avocado Tree Farm is a special event held at John Tidy’s Organics in Amamoor and bookings are expected to be highly sought again in 2026.
There is interest in the Lake Borumba fishing competition returning, with the added feature of the cook-up later – to eat what has been caught on the day.
Matt Golinski will be hosting cooking demonstrations, including for young chefs, while Sunshine Coast Foodie, Martin Duncan, will be compering events.
Kandanga Farm Store will continue to have popular lunches and dinners in a farm setting.
Dingo Creek Vineyard, Woollahra Homestead and Kandanga Country Club will again be strong supporters.
The focus of the festival is on recognising the level of local fresh food that is presented .
An innovation will be a tiered system of recognising the level of local food and that will be acknowledged on the menus.
Traceability of food is becoming of ever-increasing importance in farming and the Mary Valley is an ideal region to highlight this.
“We have places that pay high respect to provenance,’’ Malcolm said, “and that is an emphasis that we would like to support.’’
Another important attribute of the Mary Valley is the people.
“The 2000 Sydney Olympics experience showed that people coming into an area want to know that it is a local event – local people, local food, local customs and culture where possible.
“Sydney had that benefit of being greeted by local volunteers. Brisbane’s World Expo 88 had that home-town welcome.
“This is going to be of high importance and people need to get their head around it – that you’re dealing with genuine local people who care.
“We want to remain grass roots, supporting our local farmers which gives us some point of difference.
“If people come here before or during the Olympics, they know they’re going to talk to the farmer and eat food that is grown in that paddock.
“The farmers are pretty much the backbone of the community and they will be at the events.’’
Sunday, 31 May, will be a fitting finale in which community and farmers join together. It’s a chance to come and meet the people who have played such a significant part of this event.
“This will be the chance to show how we can utilise all food.
“We’ve got the ingredients, we’ve got the recipes. It’s just a matter of how we bake it and present it.’’
REGISTER AS A PARTICIPANT
GourMay Mary Valley is getting bigger and stronger with support from organisations such as Gympie Regional Council, Tourism & Events Queensland and Bendigo Bank.
GourMay Mary Valley 2026 is requesting expressions of interest to host an event during May.
The success of GourMay Mary Valley Food Festival to date has been the mix of events available for visitors and our community to enjoy, and we’re hoping to create a similarly interesting calendar in 2026.
We want a calendar that has something for everyone – art, culture, music, education, humour, kids – and of course food.
It could be a picnic, workshop, walk, talk, lunch, dinner, farm tour, treasure hunt or breakfast.
The event must:
* Take place in the Mary Valley;
* Take place between May 1 and May 31, 2026;
* Have a food element;
* Emphasise local produce.
We strongly advise to get in early. Complete an application by filling in the online form
www.gourmaymaryvalley.com.au/event-application.html
