This Saturday and Sunday is food exploring time and there’s plenty on the Crave Sydney International Food Festival program to do just that.Experience fun and adventure with Sydney Harbour Island Hopping. Try a taste of 1830s colonial life on Goat Island, let the kids give life ago as a national park ‘Future Ranger’ on Shark Island, and sample traditional bush tucker as part of the Aboriginal cultural experience on Clark Island. See www.harbourislandhopping.com.

There are heaps of free community events too, right across Sydney:

• Primavera in Haberfield: Stroll the streets for the very best Italian food and produce: bread, pasta, cheese, wine, cakes, chocolates, coffee and more in an Italian festa atmosphere. October 16, 10am-4pm.

• Mamre Good Living Festival: At historic 1820s Mamre Homestead, with food, wine, local produce (some fresh from the paddock), cooking demonstrations, stalls, children’s activities. October 17, 9.30am-3.30pm.

• The Australian Beer Festival: The Australian Heritage Hotel hosts the best and most popular micro-brewers. Connoisseurs, the beer curious and beer lovers can taste more than 130 different brews! October 16, 17, 11am-8pm.

• Summer Hill Grand Food Bazaar: The exotic flavours of a Middle Eastern bazaar presented by Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish restaurateurs. Enjoy kasheri, kibbeh and kebabs along with arak and other beverages to the sounds of Middle Eastern music. October 17, 10am-4pm.

Keen cyclists can join The Youth Food Movement ‘s ride-on-lunch – a bicycle food tour throughout Sydney’s inner city and surrounding suburbs to celebrate local and seasonal produce, and meet young farmers, gardeners, chefs and cooks who share the vision of a sustainable food future.

Check www.cravesydneyfoodfestival.com.au for details of upcoming tours, including a visit to market gardens of south-west Sydney (October 18 with Victors Food) and Sydney Markets at Flemington with Bird Cow Fish chef Alex Herbert (October 21).

Other weekend activities include Let’s do Brunch (set brunch menus) at a number of Sydney cafes and Sunday Family Lunch (designed for sharing with friends and family) at leading Good Food Guide restaurants around town and beyond.

Crave Sydney International Food Festival (October 1-31) presented by Citibank is one of five anchor events in the NSW Master Events Calendar created by the NSW Government through Events NSW. In 2009, an estimated 320,000 people attended more than 430 events across October. With more than 600 individual events in 2010, this year’s festival promises to be Sydney’s biggest food month ever.

For all Food Festival foodie fun see www.cravesydneyfoodfestival.com.au where you can search by date, location, event type, cuisine and much much more.

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