There’s this feeling you can only get in a good country town.
Time slows to a languid pace. People are just a tiny bit friendlier. The sound you wake up to is birdsong instead of the rumbling of a tram or your upstairs neighbour practicing karate.
If you add on top of that a nice sip of some lip-smacking local wine, then it starts to sound a whole lot like this festival we know: Roam Rutherglen.
As Australia’s longest-running wine festival, Roam’s had plenty of time to perfect the art of the long weekend getaway in the vines. This year’s event, running from June 6 to 7, is expected to be a doozy, with DJs, live music, lawn games, high tea, costumes and 17 wineries to explore. And with more than 200 wines available to taste, you know they’re not messing around.
Roam Rutherglen
- 6 & 7 June 2026
- Rutherglen, North East Victoria
- Tickets here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Kirsty Crockett, events and administration coordinator for Winemakers, is gearing up for her town to once again play host to the party.
“Rutherglen itself is an internationally acclaimed wine region,” she says. Located in the the crook of the Murray River in Northeast Victoria, the historic area became known across the world for its deliciously sweet muscats and fortified reds.
“It is a multi-generational wine region. We have fifth, sixth and seventh generation wine makers running family businesses,” says Kirsty.
“A lot of our new generational wine makers are quite an innovative group and taking spins on traditional wines and making them fun, vibrant and a bit different.”
This mix of old and new is something you can really feel at the festival. They’ve got vintage museum wines to try straight from the barrel, as well as playful wine slushies, spritzes and cocktails.
Punters have the chance to check out a hidden, centuries-old winery and learn how they crushed grapes back in the good old days, or they can boogie down to live house, pop and rock and roll.
And then there are the costumes, which Kirsty says have become the “DNA” of the whole event.
The tradition reportedly began with staff dressing up, before catching on with everyone else around 40 years ago once they realised how much fun there was to be had.
Now, Kirsty says it’s not uncommon to see a bunch of minions looking for their Gru, or someone’s uncle lumbering around in a blow-up elephant costume.
Whether as a group or on their own, punters really get into the spirit of it.
And while while there’s no official costume theme, this year’s special events lean towards that of the traditional royal court: princesses, knights, clergymen, emperors and jesters.
The King’s High Tea, held at De Bortoli Rutherglen Estate, offers visitors the chance to start the day in an elegant way with bites, bubbles and a string quartet. Then there’s the Great Royal Regalia Competition at All Saints Estate, where punters can snap a pic of their outfit in the old Scottish castle for the chance to win prizes.
Elsewhere across the weekend, there’s also a Giant Warehouse Sale hosted by Pfeiffer Wines as well as a three-course brunch and wine pairing by Colfield Wines, Trivia in the Vines with music and dinner, golf and cornhole competitions, and the Roam Runway catwalk where punters will strut their stuff to try and win best in show.
Between checking out all the special events and jumping on the hop-on, hop-off festival bus to explore wineries equipped with VIP cellar doors, food trucks, pumping dancefloors, stunning vistas and plenty of places to sit, sip and relax, the weekend just melts away – until you wake up on Monday with a throbbing headache.
“There is a sense of community, a sense of fun, excitement, and hopefully a little bit more love of wine by the end,” says Kirsty.
“At every stop a winery is making wine fun again, and everyone at the end feels a little bit of joy.”
For more information and to get your tickets on Roam Rutherglen, running on the King’s Birthday Long Weekend 2026, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Roam Rutherglen.
