Pako Festa Returns to Light Up Pakington Street

PAKO Festa is upon us, and what better way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon (pending weather) than wandering its many multicultural community food stalls on an empty belly?

After speaking with a Balinese friend of mine, I’m particularly excited to visit the Indonesian Association of Geelong’s stand, where the veg and non-veg satays will be sizzling away. A speciality for this year, they’ll be serving pastel (a kind of snack sized, half-moon fried curry puff) alongside various other friendly street-food dishes. The chefs on duty there are Ummu and Ferdian for the day, be sure to stop and say Hi. Another stall worth checking in with might be the Wathaurong Aboriginal co-op, whose bushtucker menu promises kangaroo (in both sausage and burger form) and lemon myrtle iced tea. Besides the endless) amount of food vendors that can be found along the strip for the date (I’m told it’s close to 100) there are roughly 25 of these community food stalls that will feature, each enthusiastically run by the volunteers from Geelong’s multicultural groups and associations. I love the diversity on show here, and it makes me happy they can all come together on an occasion like this for the public to appreciate.

 

For those planning to make a day of it, don’t forget it’s dry-event (ie no liquor allowed) except for a few venues you can go to, to receive refreshments of an alcoholic nature. For me, the spot to do this will be next to the K-Rock main stage at the north-end of Pakington Street (which is also one of the points of entry for the day) at the Petrel Hotel. This is by far the best place in Geelong West (if not, most of Geelong) in terms of good pub-style meals, and their front public bar is always a welcomed hive of (controlled) drinking activity on weekends. No doubt the taps here will receive a good workout during the afternoon of the festa! Don’t forget your water bottle too, in case we’re hit with another 35+ degree day like last year…

 

Heading across the river, there’s a small beer-centric spot in Belmont that sometimes gets forgotten about (at least, by me) who have been quietly going about their business in their own, positive way. I’ve made an effort to call past Mount Pleasant Rd Brewers a couple of times over the last few week to check in, as I really like their small, but rather cute indoor/backyard space (and, yes – I really like their beers). Besides the Belmont Hotel, there’s not anywhere else to enjoy some cold tab beers (certainly no craft ones, anyway) in the area, counting Highton in that too, save the faithful Highton Bowlo on a Friday night. Best of luck to the owner-duo in there continuing to supply the Belmont community with a neat little local every Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons/nights. If you get in there, try their Tropical Eclipse pale ale, or they usually have a couple of single-batch/single-keg beer available worth investigating.

Also, Tastes of Greater Geelong will be returning again in 2026, slated for a late June kick off. Details on the program are still in works, but I welcome the return of this festival as it’s a chance for some of our city’s smaller hospitality operators to host an event/s in some of the colder winter weeks across the June and July period. There’s usually a key flagship event or two – generally involving an out of town chef or foodie influencer – which tend to bring in the crowds, however it’s the smaller collaborations between local businesses (like when a good local winery pairs with likeminded small eatery for a one-off dinner) that are really worth putting you on radar. More to come here.

 

Finally, and I mentioned this event last week, but I am going to again now: namely as I plan to be going myself and I know there’s a few late spots remaining. BAAH LAA! are hosting Victorian winemaking steward, Doug Neal, next week for an intimate one-off dinner to showcase a huge range of some of respected local wines that Doug has made over the previous couple of decades, as well as some fine international examples to taste against his own. We simply don’t see enough wine events/dinners held around town, particularly when we live in such a rich, viticulture landscape like Geelong. If interested, get in quick and contact the venue if you want to secure one of those last remaining spots.