The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, run by Food and Wine Victoria Ltd. is an event held in March annually since 1993 to promote Melbourne and Victoria's food and wine culture. Operating on a not-for-profit basis, the festival's charter is to promote the produce, talent and lifestyle of Melbourne and Victoria, and to promote Melbourne as the "food and wine capital of Australia". Since its beginnings with a small program of events, the festival has grown to become known for events including cooking classes and large 'banquet-style' lunches. The festival has a board of management and is supported by a small team who are responsible for the coordination of its events, in close collaboration with Victoria's food and wine industry. 20th Year Celebrations 2012 The 20th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, presented by Bank of Melbourne, celebrated its 50th year over 20 days, 2 – 21 March. There was around 30 events staged along Melbourne's Yarra River and Docklands. The Festival launch also saw the opening of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Greenhouse by "Joost", a temporary "eco-restaurant" erected solely for the 20 days of the Festival. 2012 international individuals in attendance included: Rene Redzepi (Denmark), Brett Graham (UK), Massimo Bottura (Italy), Corey Lee (USA), Stevie Parle (UK), David Chang (USA), Telmo Rodriguez (Spain), Allen Meadows (USA) and Virginie Taupenot-Daniel (France). 2012 Australian individuals in attendance included: Peter Gilmore, Ben Shewry, Darren Purchese, Dan Hunter, Matt Skinner, Luke Burgess, Max Allen and James Halliday AM. History The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival began in 1993 with 12 events. Since its inception it has grown annually, the Festival claims to attract food and wine experts from across the world, including chefs and winemakers, growers, purveyors, authors, food and wine commentators and critics. Food critic Matt Preston was previously the festival's creative director; the 2009 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival was his last. Most of the 2020 festival went on hiatus. The rest went virtual. Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2011 The 19th Melbourne and Food and Wine Festival was attended by more than 350,000 people with over 250 events over 11 days. The Festival was book-ended by two events: The first day saw around 4,500 people jointly attending 26 World's Longest Lunches held simultaneously across Victoria. The Melbourne lunch saw 10,000 broad beans, 1,800 cherry tomatoes and more than 200 kg of veal consumed; The last weekend of the Festival