Here’s the epic food lineup for Download Festival in Sydney and Melbourne

As if a festival with Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Alice in Chains and Judas Priest (and those are only the headliners) wasn’t enough, a supersized food program packed with some of the East Coast’s finest eateries has been announced for both the Sydney and Melbourne legs. As was the case last year, Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham, the masterminds behind cult burger joint Mary’s, will come on board as curators for the festival’s food. And they’ve curated the absolute shit out of this one.

The program, aptly dubbed Hell’s Kitchen will feature a mouth-watering lineup slightly tweaked to suit each city. Which makes perfect sense, since the Mary’s team have served as curators for multiple events now, including various Sydney festivals and the annual Newtown Festival as part of the Newtown Locals collective. They’re so well connected that they’ve managed to build up the following, with each kitchen headed by Mary’s with three highly celebrated local chefs, and rounded out by some of the most popular food stalls around.

Hell’s Kitchen Melbourne

Melbourne’s triple-threat chef headliners, with plenty of Chef’s Hats and awards between them, are: Aaron Turner (The Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year 2017) from Igni; Jo Barrett from Oakridge Winery; and Phil Wood from Laura/Point Leo Estate. Of course, Mary’s Burgers will be joining them alongside more casual eats (in a separate precinct) like Beatbox Kitchen, Taco Truck, HSP, Juanita Peaches, All Day Donuts, Messina, Leonards House of Love, Harley and Rose, Blue Bonnet BBQ, Pearl of the Quarter, Ryan Gozleme, and MILF.

Hell’s Kitchen Sydney

Sydney’s triple-threat chef headliners, again with a lot of Chef’s Hats and awards between them, are: Paul Carmichael from Momofuku Seibo; Ali Currey from Agrarian Kitchen (in Tasmania); and Enrico Tomelleri from Fratelli Paradiso/10 William St. Yep, Mary’s Burgers will be there too, as well as (in a separate precinct) Mary’s Pizzeria (which you may know from The Lansdowne Hotel), Messina, Chat Thai, Chaco Bar, Yullis, Bovine and Swine, Nighthawk Diner, Happy as Larry, Sol Y Luna, Ryan Gozleme, Superior Burger, and Birdman.

“This is one of the greatest old school line ups of metal ever to grace our shares”, said Smyth. “Ozzy, Slayer, Judas Priest- alongside some of our newer favs- Behemoth, High Tension and our beloved fellow Newtowners- Frenzal Rhomb. We’ve handpicked these chefs because they are our pals and we love them! They are some of the best people to party with and they cook like fucking bastards too. We want to sell a fuck-tonne of tasty burgers to a bunch of happy heavy metal fans, while getting suitably wasted and banging our empty heads to Ozzy and friends!”

Haven’t got a ticket to Download Festival yet? Head on over to the official website here to fix that.

Chris Singh

Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.