FOOD FOCUSED FESTIVALS, SEAMLESSLY DELIVERED

Since 2008, Andrew Ballard Events has led back-of-house operations for the Good Food & Wine Show, delivering the culinary engine behind one of Australia’s most recognised and multifaceted food events. Working across every state the show tours, our role spans a wide range of activations, each requiring its own rhythm, demands, and level of precision.

Over the years, this has included overseeing the Celebrity Chefs Theatre, supporting appearances from internationally recognised names such as Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein, Miguel Maestre, and Ainsley Harriott. It has also included the delivery of the VIP Dining Room, where menus are created each year to reflect the theme and character of the show, serving more than 300 diners in a premium event setting.

Beyond this, our work extends into highly detailed culinary support across the broader event footprint, including the Wine Selectors Theatre, where up to 2,000 individual tasting portions are prepared to pair with featured wines, as well as cooking schools, demonstration spaces, masterclasses, and other state-specific activations. The result is a large-scale operation requiring consistency, adaptability, and calm coordination across multiple live environments.

The Good Food & Wine Show is an event Andrew holds in particularly high regard, and one that remains a valued part of the Andrew Ballard Events story. It is a long-standing partnership that reflects not only operational capability at scale, but a genuine passion for delivering exceptional food experiences year after year..

Andrew Ballard Events was contracted by IMG International to oversee the kitchen operations for Fire Kitchen at Vivid Sydney, helping shape the culinary delivery of one of the city’s most distinctive live food events. Running across the cooler weeks of May as part of the wider Vivid Sydney program, Fire Kitchen brought together internationally recognised chefs focused on cooking with flame, each presenting signature dishes to crowds drawn by the theatre and intensity of live-fire food.

Our role centred on the kitchen operations that allowed those demonstrations to move from stage to audience. Working behind the scenes, we managed the kitchen systems and service execution required to transform chef demonstrations into guest tastings, ensuring that each featured dish could be experienced not only as a performance, but as something tangible for the audience to enjoy. The result was a fast-paced, high-profile environment requiring precision, flexibility, and strong culinary coordination throughout the event period.

The event also provided an opportunity to showcase another side of Andrew’s work through PROVENANCE by Andrew Ballard, which previously featured as the festival’s sole vegetable-led fire offering within a line-up otherwise dominated by meat-focused concepts. It brought a different perspective to the program, demonstrating that cooking with fire can be every bit as compelling, layered, and satisfying through produce-led food.

For Andrew Ballard Events, Fire Kitchen was an exciting example of large-scale food event delivery at its most dynamic — bringing together international culinary talent, live audience engagement, and the kind of disciplined kitchen execution required to make complex public food experiences feel seamless.

Andrew Ballard Events was contracted by Global Hospitality Group to oversee the kitchen operations for the Australian Pavilion at World Expo Osaka 2025, helping shape the culinary delivery across one of the most significant international event platforms in the world. Running daily across the six-month duration of the Expo, the pavilion brought together high-volume public hospitality, premium dining, and official event spaces within a single, high-pressure operational environment.

Our role centred on the kitchen operations that allowed these distinct hospitality offerings to function seamlessly side by side. Working behind the scenes, we managed the kitchen systems, production flow, and service execution required to support the public café, which at peak periods fed up to 10,000 guests per day, while also delivering across private dining rooms and special event spaces hosting dignitaries, official guests, and international delegations. The result was a fast-moving, high-profile environment requiring precision, adaptability, and strong culinary coordination throughout the event period.

The project also highlighted the breadth of what Andrew Ballard Events can deliver, balancing the demands of large-scale public service with the refinement expected in premium hospitality settings. For Andrew Ballard Events, World Expo Osaka was a defining example of international event delivery at scale — combining complexity, volume, and prestige within one of the most dynamic food environments imaginable.