I attended the 1st Session of A Taste of Sydney festival this year (Thursday - 5:30pm - 10pm) and it was incredible. The Brazilian Gardens in Centennial Park were filled to the brim with food, wine & culture enthusiasts looking to experience what Sydney has to offer. I walked in & exchanged some money for "Crownies" which is the festivals only form of currency. The Crownie Card acts like a debit card that all stalls have access to using. You can load any amount you like onto the card and pay a $1 bond for the card that you receive back when you hand the card back in (If you end up handing it back in!). After loading up on the card we started our A.T.O.S journey through all the tents. The place had an amazing atmosphere right from the get go but we were lucky enough to get some incredible weather too.

We started off with a glass of Barossa Valley Estate's Grenache Shiraz Mouvedre from Delegats Wines and went on our way passing through the tents. There were as many freebie's & taste tests as you could possibly eat & drink with a few alternative products in there too. Coconut water, jerky sauce, white wine, pork belly, fine cheeses, organic chocolate, red wine, chicken with red sauce, polenta chips with gorgonzola cheese, green teas, beers, chopping boards, ice cream, nuts, peanut butter, coffees, eclairs, lamb souvlaki & of course, more wine! (Bear in mind, there's plenty more, this is all I could remember after too many glasses of wine last night!).

If you're interested, you can register for an onsite cooking class with some celebrity chefs. There is also a pretty cool "First Date" booth where you can meet new people, plenty of seating, makeshift bars and music all around, which really gives it it's fun vibe. You'll find yourself doing plenty of laps of the stalls for top ups, reminders & more freebies because 4 hours is more than enough time to revisit the stalls over and over again.

It was around $30 a ticket, which more than covered my share of the freebies consumed, plus whatever you choose to put onto your Crownie Card. I got away with spending about $100 between two of us with a bit left to spare, so $50 a head + $30 a ticket should get you a long way. Also, if by the end of your night you haven't spent all you allocated on your Crownie Card, then you hand the car in, receive your $1 bond & the staff provide you with the remainder of what you had left on the card.

Overall, it was a brilliant night with some great weather and an exceptional range of spectacular products. I've never attended such a culture-filled festival like A Taste of Sydney but I definitely look forward to coming back again next year. I highly recommend heading in this Friday or Saturday night and getting your culture fix!