Australia’s premier Indigenous food and culture festival, A Taste of Kakadu, will be staged across Kakadu National Park from 22 to 31 May 2020, serving up a menu of ancient cuisine with modern twists.

This year’s festival has been expanded to include a range of new food and cultural experiences showcasing the rich Indigenous culture and breathtaking scenery of Kakadu National Park.

Over nine days, visitors can embark on guided foraging walks tasting ‘super foods' and delicacies such as Kakadu plums, enjoy slow-cooked Kakadu staples such as crocodile, barramundi and buffalo cooked in ground ovens, and glide along the famed barramundi-filled Yellow Water Billabong while enjoying bush tucker-inspired canapes.

‘Pop-up’ dinners are back by popular demand, this year featuring culinary Jedi master, Paul ‘Yoda’ Iskov’s Fervor, which will combine locally sourced bush tucker, and sumptuous contemporary elements all against the backdrop of Kakadu's stunning landscape.

Yoda will host two of his trademark dinners along with cooking demonstrations at the Festival Hub, located at the Bowali Visitor Centre, where there will be a hive of food stalls, live music and arts and crafts over two weekends.

A Festival highlight will be Anme Garringun Ganji Mayambolk (Dinner under the Milky Way) on Friday 29 May. Held in the heart of Kakadu on the Cooinda airstrip, the evening event includes Kakadu inspired food and beverages, accompanied by a stargazing experience from a Kakadu Bininj perspective. The skies are rich in Aboriginal folklore, and Traditional Owners will share their interpretations of the stars above and provide a first-hand chance to interact and learn about their amazing culture.

Cooinda will host another remarkably authentic experience with the daily Yellow Water Cruises ‘Canapes and Crocodiles’ sunset cruises. Guests will see crocodiles as large as four metres from the safety of their cruise vessel as they glide through the spectacular Yellow Water wetlands with an on-board menu of native-inspired canapes.

Beyond the Festival Hub, the Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel is the place to be with Kakadu-inspired cocktails and the Escarpment Restaurant serving up a Taste of Kakadu buffet every night, showcasing the best flavours from the Northern Territory and Kakadu.

Guests can also wander out to the hotel lawns and enjoy a selection of short films from the NT Travelling Film Festival program. Once festival-goers have had their fill of the delicious food on offer, the Marrawuddi gallery will provide an opportunity to take in some of the Top End’s best Indigenous art with the Man Me Art Exhibition and Rarrk Art Tea Towel Workshop.

Walk among art in nature as the trees around the Bowali Visitor Centre are adorned with beautiful food-themed artworks from local artists, then create a very special Taste of Kakadu memory as you join local artists to design your own tea towel using traditional Kakadu/Arnhem Rarrk-style painting.

Kakadu National Park is dual World Heritage-listed for its outstanding cultural and natural values. It is home to Bininj/Munnguy, who have lived in the region for thousands of generations.

Accommodation is available during the Festival at Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel (rooms available from $205 per night per room), the newly-refurbished Cooinda Lodge (from $219pn), Outback Retreat glamping tents (from $179pn) and Cooinda Camping Grounds (from $30pn for a site). 

For further information and bookings .... 

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