What's on: Top events and experiences happening around Australia

Melbourne-based social enterprise Scarf will launch its final seasonal program for 2023 in spring, with its annual Spring Scarf Dinners hosted at Brunswick East winery Noisy Ritual. Scarf is a program which aims to transform lives through hospitality, running hospitality training, mentoring and paid work experience through Melbourne restaurants with the aim to make employment more equitable for young people, as well as refugees and migrants seeking to enter the hospitality workforce.

Each Wednesday night until the end of November, ticketholders can enjoy a two course set menu prepared by Scarf's newest cohort of eight graduate trainees, with support from the steadfast team at Noisy Ritual. This spring's menu will feature entrees of torched kingfish with citrus kosho cream, as well as a smoky butternut pumpkin dip with burnt onion oil and crudités. Mains include fried cauliflower with romesco, and grilled mackerel fillet with pickled beetroot.

Tickets start at $55 per person, covering a set menu and contributing to future programs for Scarf trainees. Purchase your ticket here.

After a winter hibernation, Melbourne's floating bar Arbory Afloat returns for its eighth year with its new theme Viva Mexico — a celebration of the Central American country's vibrant culture and stunning coastal regions. For many Melburnians, the return of the pop-up Birrarung (Yarra River) bar signals the return of spring and summer festivities, which you can ring in with punchy tequila cocktails and snack-ready tacos and tortas.

Social enterprise Two Good has released a third cookbook packed with nourishing recipes from leading Australian chefs. To celebrate, Two Good has partnered with Ace Hotel Sydney's Loam for a special quarterly dinner series, which will see the all-day lobby restaurant partner with esteemed chefs from across Australia. The first chef on the pass will be cook and author Julia Busuttil Nishimura, whose inaugural menu will focus on a 'more with less' philosophy. Think pea, ricotta and anchovy bruschetta to start, and a roast herb chicken with buttery croutons and a zesty radicchio, fennel and blood orange salad as a main.

Tickets to the inaugural 'Change the Course' dinner series event with Julia Busuttil Nishimura are $150 per person including a three course meal, drinks by New South Wales sommelier-turned-wine-distributor-turned-small-producer Dan Simmons' project Balmy Nights as well as local favourite Four Pillars Gin, and a donation to help Two Good continue their mission to support, empower and employ women following domestic violence, homelessness and complex traumas. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Back for its 22nd year, the Good Food & Wine Show is a celebration of Australian produce, chefs, artisans and winemakers, stopping at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, with three days in each city. This year promises more than 250 stallholders peddling their goods; a cheese corner to fulfil your wildest fromage fantasies with over 60 different cheeses to sample; and 500-plus wines to sip from Australian regions like the Barossa, Margaret River and Clare Valley. There'll also be masterclasses, guided olive oil tastings, cooking demonstration, and an intimate wine and tasting pairing experience.

The Good Food & Wine Show has already happened in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, but the event is on in Brisbane from 27-29 October.

A 10-day festival of Victoria's top eating and drinking experiences is taking over Gippsland, Ballarat and the Yarra Valley for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival's new Regional Edition program. Happening from 10–19 November, the regional festival includes highlights such as The Village Feast by the beach as part of the Gippsland Seaside Weekender, with bigwig chefs and food personalities Adam Liaw, Thi Lee, Paul Carmichael and Jo Barrett all on the bill; a three-course underground feast in a quartz mine at Sovereign Hill; a cosmic wine party in the Yarra Valley; and a regional spin on Melbourne Food & Wine Festival's super-popular The World's Longest Lunch event. Check out the full program here.

One of the biggest names in food is set to descend on Sydney this November — Jamie Oliver. The beloved British chef and TV personality is coming to the Sydney Opera House's Concert Hall for an Australian exclusive event where he will chat his career, inspiration and motivation with Australia's own TV culinary personality Melissa Leong. He will tell tales from his The Naked Chef days through to the highs and lows of his more recent successes.

Luxury Tasmanian retreat Saffire Freycinet has partnered with luxury cruise operator On Board to offer a truly unique, all-inclusive coastal adventure exploring the remote southwest corner of the Tasmanian Wilderness World-Heritage Area by luxury ship. The round trip includes exclusive seaplane transfers from the three-night expedition cruise in southwest Tasmania to a three-night stay at Saffire Freycinet to then explore the stunning east coast. There is room for only 12 guests in six luxe suites both onboard and Saffire, and only three dates available.