A long table lunch by Andrew McConnell, bespoke dinners by Neil Perry and Dan Hong, and a huge weekend of chef-cooked pizza, sizzling sausages and hot cross buns at Federation Square are planned for next year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

The program, unveiled today, includes more than 300 events across 10 days next March, ranging from free events to dinners by Michelin-starred international chefs, many of them collaborating with hometown heroes.

From Hanoi, Sam Tran will return to Melbourne, where she worked for several years, bringing her one-starred modern Vietnamese restaurant Gia to the CBD’s Aru for two nights. Garima Arora, owner-chef of Bangkok’s Gaa and the first Indian woman to win a Michelin star, will have a 10-day residency at Crown Melbourne.

In a maximum Melbourne moment, one of the city’s most successful chef-restaurateurs, Andrew McConnell, will lead the festival opening event, the World’s Longest Lunch. Don’t expect a mash-up menu drawing from Supernormal, Cumulus Inc. and the rest of his restaurant stable, though. This will be a cohesive lunch full of McConnell trademarks.

But creative director Pat Nourse emphasises that it’s not all about fine dining. Many chefs are doing multiple events at different prices. Sydney sensation Dan Hong, for example, will do two events: one at the ultra-glam Yugen and a more casual collaboration with gelateria Pidapipo.

Several events don’t attract an entry fee, including Baker’s Dozen, a bake sale featuring top local makers Tarts Anon, Bread Club and more. A hot cross bun bar will serve buns from Falco and an array of butters presented by “butter butlers”, with the festival currently taking suggestions for different butter flavours.

The Pizza Sessions, also free, will showcase slices from Capitano’s Casey Wall, Figlia’s Lucy Whitlow and Joel Bennetts of Sydney’s Fish Shop and Burger Park. A pizza clinic will offer tips on how to make pizza at home like the pros.

The World’s Longest Brunch gets a truckload of colour and spice thanks to three up-and-coming Indian chefs of Melbourne. Toddy Shop‘s Mischa Tropp will be making a Goan ros omelette: an omelette doused in chicken curry gravy. Harry Mangat of serial pop-up restaurant Biji Dining and Enter Via Laundry’s Helly Raichura will bookend that dish with their native Australian-accented cooking.

“Brunch is only a few years old and it already sells as quickly as [World’s Longest] Lunch. It’s really struck a chord with people,” says Nourse.

More than 25 out-of-town guests are participating in the 2024 festival, from Jonathan Zaragoza jetting in from Chicago to cook birria (Mexican slow-cooked goat), to Berowra Waters Inn pastry chef Lauren Eldridge and chef-restaurateur Neil Perry (Margaret, and soon-to-open Song Bird) heading in from Sydney for collaborations with local venues.

“Sometimes that part of the program has been challenged by its own popularity,” says Nourse. “They are among the fastest tickets to sell. We’ve done everything we can to up the number of tickets in the market [this year].”

Tickets go on sale to the public on Thursday, February 1.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival runs from March 15 to 24, 2024, at various venues around Melbourne. See melbournefoodandwine.com.au