Find your groove at the annual Noosa Jazz Festival

Noosa gets set to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Noosa Jazz Festival which runs from the 30th August to the 2nd September 2012.  

There will be over 90 performances from Australian and international artists in local restaurants and open air venues overlooking Noosa's stunning main beach and river, not to mention a long lunch on Noosa's Hastings Street. Festival headline acts include Australian jazz great Grace Knight, US troupe Bill Watrous and the San Gabriel 7,  and Liam Burrows who was recently named Best Jazz Artist at the 2012 Australian MusicOZ Awards. Other artists include Motown legend Gil Askey, jazz funk group BULLHORN (pictured) & the Barksdale Brass Band, James Morrison and renowned Australian artists Monsieur Camembert, Andrew Lawson, Emma Pask, Bob Barnard, Geoff Bull and Ed Wilson.

Enjoy the winter sun and get your groove on ... are you going to be there?

For further information on the Noosa Jazz Festival visit www.noosajazzfestival.com.au or www.visitnoosa.com.au

Got your tix to the Noosa International Food & Wine Festival yet?

Get set to wow the taste buds and delight the senses with the annual Noosa International Food & Wine Festival which rolls in to Noosa from Thursday 17th May - Sunday 20th May! 

As one of the country's most celebrated food and wine festivals, locals and visitors get to rub shoulders and dine on delights from some of the rock stars of the food world, as the crème de la crème of international chefs  descend on the Sunshine Coast for this must-visit event in any foodie’s calendar. The calender is jam packed with themed picnics and degustations, cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, special food trails, and the internationally renowned Qantas Best Dinner in the World. 

For the first time, festivalgoers will experience a sensory explosion with The Cook, The Chef and The Orchestra – a gala concert and dinner featuring Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant savoured to the strains of the Queensland Arts Orchestra.

This year’s entertainment lineup is set to keep the party going late into the night with ARIA award winners Jessica Mauboy and Anthony Callea rocking the stage on Friday night, and electro-pop outfit Sneaky Sound System bringing down the curtain on Sunday.

General Admission Tickets are $65 (adult) or $20 (child under 13) which covers general admission to the Welcome Party & Concert on Friday and general admission on Saturday and Sunday to Lion's Park, The Grand Marquee, Celebrity Chef Cooking Demonstrations, The Courier Mail Life Annexe and live entertainment. General Admission also includes two tickets for food or wine. The best way to experience the Festival is with a Weekend Gold Pass which costs $315 and includes VIP Admission for Friday's Welcome Cocktail Party, Saturday and Sunday with entry to hospitality pavilions and preferential concert seating.                

To see the full program and buy tickets go to the festival website.

Barefoot luxury at Makepeace Island - Noosa

When our editors Rhonda Bannister, Tanya Joslin and Nicole Deuble got the chance to join Richard Branson at his idyllic private hideaway Makepeace Island just upstream from cosmopolitan Noosa late last year, they came back gushing about the suave and eccentric billionaire with a surprisingly romantic side! 

Branson and his Virgin Blue co founder Brett Godfrey have taken what was once the secluded island home of local character Hannah "Shotgun" Makepeace, and converted it in to an exclusive destination for discerning couples or small groups of friends seeking out luxurious yet playful seclusion on the Sunshine Coast. 

Makepeace Island has now become sought after not only as a holiday retreat but also as a picture perfect location for weddings. With architecture and decor inspired by Bali, the heart-shaped island can accommodate up to 22 "castaways" - not a bad way to slit the $8000 a night price tag! - and boasts a two-storey open aired Balinese wantilan as the centrepiece to a tropical paradise ambience. 

The huge lagoon pool, a full sized tennis court and pavillion, spa facilities, theatre, office facilities and an expansive indoor bar is designed for entertaining on a grand scale. And the stunning gardens and indoor decor include giant sculptures, teak, granite and stone finishes, volcanic boulder bathtubs, ornamental lighting and antiquities and furniture commissioned and acquired in Bali, Java and elsewhere throughout Indonesia give one little doubt that this would be a spectacular residence to hold a small wedding - and you don't have to leave to enjoy the honeymoon. The island even has it's own private chef and a riverboat to transfer guests to and from Noosa!

Makepeace Island was recently voted 'One of the World's Best 101 Hotels' by the highly acclaimed Tatler Travel Guide and Awards, in which it was the only Australian property to feature in the Private Islands – Sensation Seclusion category. The Island will celebrate the achievement with a 6-month birthday celebration providing guests who book from today and stay in February and March 2012 with free flowing French champagne from the house of Moet and Chandon for the duration of their stay. 

We have always admired Richard Branson for his cheeky take on a luxurious lifestyle. Now we have even more reason to want to be in his world, even if just for a few days!

Noosa Food & Wine Festival has a new name - and big plans for 2012! !

The Noosa Food & Wine Festival has a new name - The Noosa International Food & Wine Festival.  The name change heralds a new focus on both Australian and International chefs and cooking identities as well as a global interest in the festival itself.

Our own Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Bannister calls this one her favourite food and wine festivals - you can usually find her sitting with friends at one of the long tables each year! It's always a fantastic weekend out in beautiful Noosa, one that's full of gastronomic experiences and fabulous wines to indulge in, as well as some really great live music acts that keep you going well in to the evening, and coming back for more the next day. 

Expect four action-packed days from May 17 to May 20 in 2012 when two hundred of the world's most prominent chefs, winemakers, media and food personalities descend upon Noosa and the Sunshine Coast.

The final details of the full program are being locked in but it has been confirmed that molecular gastronomist and 'Demon Chef', Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation in Hong Kong and Davide Scabin of Combal Zero in Turin, Italy will both participate in the Qantas 'Best Dinner in the World' event.  Each course of the degustation meal will be created by a different chef from the prestigious S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurant List. The list is created from The World's Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of over 800 international leaders in the restaurant industry, each selected for their expert opinion of the international restaurant scene.

Watch this space as more International and Australian names for the festival are announced! You can also find it all on facebook and keep yourself in the loop, or check out the festival's website for more.