From caviar to cocktails: The Canberra Cheese Festival is bringing the best of fromage to Fyshwick’s Grainger Gallery

Posted on 28 April, 2026

For Richard and Kacy Grainger, hosting what might just be Canberra’s cheesiest festival is “a dream.”  

From Friday 8 to Sunday 10 May, the duo will transform their Grainger Gallery into a dairy wonderland for the Canberra Cheese Festival. Whether you’re a connoisseur or simply cheese-curious, the ticketed boutique experience is set to be a gourmet odyssey, offering the rare chance to talk with producers and sample Australia’s most prestigious award-winning cheeses—from oozy triple cream bries, sharp cheddars to pungent blues, plus decadent extras like gooey raclette, parmesan wheel pasta and caviar.  

Beyond the fromage, there will be perfectly paired regional wines, live music, an exhibition of food still life and a cocktail bar, making it a sensory experience not to be missed. Grainger Gallery will present the festival alongside Belconnen’s renowned cheese shop, Le Cheeserie.  

“Even if you’re not a fan of cheese, there will be something for everyone,” Richard says.   

Richard’s “obsession” with cheese traces back to a trip to Normandy with his father when he was just 9 years old.  

“We ate Le Bec and Camembert de Normandie, and they were flavours we’d never experienced before,” he says.  

“I was fascinated; I came back to Australia wondering where all the good cheese was. At the time, it was the mid-1980s and we really just had the rubbery cheddar cheese slices.”  

As fate would have it, Richard landed his dream job years later, working as the sound recordist for television show Cheese Slices with Will Studd. This sparked a decade-long journey across France, Spain and Italy, all in the pursuit of the world’s finest cheeses. 

Now, he is excited to be bringing a piece of that world to Canberra with internationally renowned cheesemakers joining the festival.  

“As a city with many cheese-lovers I wanted to bring the best in cheese to Canberra, and some of the people involved in the festival are making really exciting cheese to rival the best in the world,” he says. 

“Since it’s a ticketed event, it won’t be too crowded and will have a relaxed atmosphere so you can really enjoy everything on offer.”  

As for the cheesiest question of all—after years of trying the very best in fromage, which is Richard’s top choice?  

“One of my absolute favourites that you can’t get in Australia is a merino cheese from Spain, called La Serena—it’s a great herby, grassy, nutty sheep milk cheese.”   

Has he come a long way from the days of rubbery cheese slices? You cheddar believe it.