City of Port Phillip event submissions

Crawl and Bite Southside
Presented by City of Port Phillip 

Everyone’s favourite program of progressive dinners and moveable feasts, comes to the City of Port Phillip this spring, and we want your business to get involved. 

Presented by City of Port Phillip and hosted by Melbourne Food & Wine, each Crawl and Bite tour stops for a one-course, one-drink introduction across three or four venues at a time. Think of the Crawls as a sort of speed-dating exercise between diners and venues; a tasty, informal way to showcase the strength and diversity of food and drink in the City of Port Phillip, and have a lot of fun along the way. 

This October we’re planning Crawl and Bite tours in the following areas: 

• St Kilda (Fitzroy and Acland streets and surrounds) 
• Balaclava (Carlisle Street and surrounds) 
• South Melbourne (Coventry and Clarendon streets and surrounds) 
• Port Melbourne (Bay Street and surrounds)
  

Other events
We’re celebrating food and drink in the region throughout October, and you’re invited to join the fun with standalone events as well. Venues are also hosting unique events under the theme of Local and Sustainable throughout October. If you have a great event idea that fits the theme, submit an application; the best events will be shared on mfwf.com.au. 

How to apply 

If you’d like to be part of a Crawl or present a standalone event, tell us all about it by filling out this application form. 

This year’s theme is Local and Sustainable. All applications must satisfy at least one of the following criteria.  

• Collaboration with other local businesses 

The City of Port Phillip is rich with amazing small food and drink businesses, artisanal producers, butchers, fresh produce stores, spice shops, bakeries, cake shops – the list goes on. Applications that feature partnerships between local businesses will be favourably considered. 

• Showcasing local producers and suppliers  

City of Port Phillip is home to some excellent fresh produce and beverage producers. Applications that demonstrate a commitment to supporting local industries, and a consciousnesses of where their food and drink comes from will be favourably considered. 

• Sustainable food and drink offerings 

Food and drinks that aim to use as much of each ingredient as possible, reducing food waste now and into the future, are a key focus of this year’s program. Applicants that use creative techniques to demonstrate a commitment to reduced food waste will be favourably considered. 

• Best practice in sustainability  

Businesses that can showcase sustainable business practices, including limiting single-use plastics and bottles, innovative waste reuse and closed-loop practices, and using renewable energy and new technologies to improve operating costs and limit carbon footprint will be favourably considered. 

Expression of interest applications close 28 June 2024 

Timeline: 

Fine print and tips: 

Terms and conditions (general): 

• Applicants must be a registered business located in the City of Port Phillip 
• Applicants are permitted to apply for both streams, provided they meet relevant criteria  
• Applicants must not have incurred any significant compliance issues with the City of Port Phillip 
• All required permits and licenses for the events are the responsibility of the business 
• Businesses are obligated to comply with existing permit conditions that apply to the land in relation to noise et cetera. 
• For applicants with multiple locations across Australia, applicant must have head office located in Victoria 
• Applicants will be assessed based on merits of their application by a panel of assessors 
• MF&W and/or City of Port Phillip reserve the right to reject applications. 

Tips (general): 

• Ensure the proposal is clearly articulated and meets at least one of the desirable focus areas 
• Applicants are encouraged to consider events and offerings that showcase their business and local precinct 
• Consider engaging local distilleries and breweries as part of beverage offering 
• If applicants wish to incorporate live music as part of their proposal, please consider contacting the City of Port Phillip’s Live Music Lead, Patrick Donovan, at patrick.donovan@portphillip.vic.gov.au, for help engaging local artists. 

Crawl and Bites: 

• Applications for Crawl and Bites are limited to listed precincts and surrounds 
• Successful applicants will work with MF&W to organise scheduling, ticketing and offering. MF&W will host the ticketing platform on behalf of successful venues 
• Applicants are encouraged to:  

• provide a proposal that includes examples of the types of food and beverage offerings that support a Crawl and Bite format 

• showcase offerings reflective of their business and their precinct. 

Examples: 

• A selection of bite-sized offerings that highlight local producers with matched beverages from local distilleries 
• A selection of small dishes that showcase root-to-stem cooking 
• An oyster offering that collects and returns oyster shells to South Melbourne Market’s Shuck Don’t Chuck program 

Standalone events: 

• Applications are welcomed from any registered hospitality business within the City of Port Phillip 
• Successful events will be the responsibility of the applicant to organise and manage; ticketing will sit with the applicant, not MFW. 
• Successful events will be listed under the ‘Events and Specials page’, with link to the business  

Examples: 

• A week-long sandwich special that features produce from local butcher and vegetable stores 
• A seafood degustation dinner that showcases seafood from Port Phillip Bay and wines from Victoria 
• A special dinner that features local musicians, and drinks from local distillery 
• A cooking demonstration that shows how to reduce food waste 

Contact: 

• Crawl and Bites enquiries – Ali Webb, Partnerships Manager, Melbourne Food & Wine, ali@foodanddrinkvic.com.au  
• Support connecting with local businesses, suppliers – James Gullan, Head of Advocacy, Economic Development and Partnerships, City of Port Phillip, james.gullan@portphillip.vic.gov.au 
• Support connecting to local artists – Patrick Donovan, Live Music Lead, City of Port Phillip, patrick.donovan@portphillip.vic.gov.au