CAKE PICNIC

This event is sold out, but there’s plenty of cake to go around this Festival.
Don’t miss lunch with your favourite baker Helen Goh – only at MFWF 2026.

Event details

Please review the site map so you’re familiar with the event before you arrive.

Ticket inclusions:
This event is all about the cake, and your ticket includes event entry, cake box, forks, napkins, giveaways from QUEEN®, coffee from Five Senses and La Marzocco, tea and cocktails from Dilmah and sparkling waters from Capi.

Event day checklist

The six very important things you must bring on the day of the event:

Your Ferve ticket purchase confirmation (this can be on your phone or printed)

Your completed printed waiver (this must be printed out)

A form of ID officially accepted in Victoria that matches the name on the waiver

One whole uncut cake per ticket holder, of a minimum 20cm width and 7.5cm in height

A label for your cake (include your cake name, list of ingredients and any major allergens it contains; you’ll find a label template here)

A cake server for your cake (please bring a cake server or cake knife, no kitchen knives)

Everyone who attends is required to bring along the above six items to gain entry to the event. To meet our health and safety commitments we can’t allow entry to the event to anyone who doesn’t have these six items.

If you’ve purchased more than one ticket, be sure to forward this information to all ticket holders

As well as the six items you’ll need for registration we suggest you bring along a picnic blanket and wear picnic-appropriate clothing (the event is staged on grass) and a hat and sunscreen.

Event schedule

Cake sections – get your wristbands

This is a big picnic, so to keep things moving smoothly we’re dividing guests into four groups, A, B, C and D. Each group will have its own designated block of tables for placing cakes and to choose from once they’re cut.

Your group allocation will be on the wristband you receive when you register; if you’d like to be in the same group as your friends or fellow ticketholders, be sure to register together on the day. The picnic area is a communal space so you’ll be able to meet up with other guests, whichever group they’re in.

Event timing

11am – 11.50am: Cake registration
Registrations will open at 11am sharp. Be sure to arrive in time to be in line well before the 11.50am cake registration line cut off. To make sure the event runs smoothly we can’t accept any cakes for registration after 11.50am, and anyone arriving after that time will not be able to participate.

11am – 11.50am: Cake drop
Once you’ve completed cake registration, head to the designated cake table area listed on your wristband (A, B, C and D) and drop off your cake. Be sure to put your cake server next to your cake. After you’ve dropped your cake off, please leave the cake table area; there’s time to take photos and videos once all the cakes are placed, but for now we need to get all the tables laid promptly.

Head to the picnic area and hang tight while we get all the other cakes onto the tables; you can grab your cake box from the collection point at this time, and kick back with a Dilmah tea or tea cocktail, and/or a coffee from Five Senses and La Marzocco.

12 noon – 12.10pm: Official welcome and judging of the Queen of Cakes
CAKE PICNIC founder Elisa Sunga is with us from San Francisco, and will provide the official welcome to the first ever Melbourne CAKE PICNIC. Elisa and Miss Trixie will also crown the Queen of Cakes.

12.10pm – 12.20pm: Cake viewing
If you’d like to photograph or film the cakes before they’re cut, now’s your chance. You’ll be called up by group and have five minutes per group to feast your eyes. No cutting at this stage.

12.25pm – 1.05pm: Cutting the cakes
Let’s eat cake! At each of the designated cake table areas (A, B, C and D) groups will be called on according to wristband colour and have seven minutes to choose cake slices for their pastry boxes. Once all of the groups finish, the cake tables will be opened to all ticket holders for seconds.

2pm: CAKE PICNIC concludes
Collect up your cake board, serves and any containers you brought along.

Please note, the event schedule and timings are subject to change if deemed necessary by the event organiser. You will be notified at least two day in advance should the event have to move to an indoor location due to weather concerns.

Cake guidelines - Your cake masterpiece (AKA the really important part)

CAKE PICNIC is the time and place to show up with your best cake forward. It’s a really good idea to have prepared a trial of your cake before the day or day before the event. As the CAKE PICNIC team puts it, “you need to practice, to prepare, to daydream, to practice some more, to strategize, to game plan. Collectively, we all need you to bring your very best cake. We all want to eat good, beautiful cakes”. Also, we want to show the entire world the best of the best cakes coming from Melbourne!

Good cakes: “I’m so excited to see and taste everyone’s cakes!” says founder Elisa Sunga. “Bring a cake that you would personally want to eat and are super excited about. Again, we all want to eat good, beautiful cakes.” Cake inspiration on CAKE PICNIC’s Instagram

Cake sizes: Cakes must be uncut whole cakes, a minimum of 20cm wide and 7.5cm tall. Bring the size and amount of cake that you would want to take home. If you want to taste 24 cakes, bring enough cake for an even exchange.

Cake containers: Please don’t set cakes on the display tables that are baked in aluminium foil or tins. All cakes on the tables should be on cake boards. If, for example, you’re baking a sheet cake, you should not display it in the cake pan but rather move it to a cake board and decorate it.

Cakes only:  No cupcakes, tartes Tatin, cake slices, babkas, madeleines, pies, tarts, et cetera. They are delicious but this is a picnic for cake, not cake-adjacent bakes. If you are not sure whether it is a cake or not, let’s just assume that it’s probably not a cake and you shouldn’t bring it to this event.

Cake designs:  Please have fun designing and decorating your cake! Bonus points if your cake says CAKE PICNIC on it, and for heart-shaped cakes, dome cakes, tiered cakes and long cakes.

Labelling your cake: Please clearly label your cake with the cake name, all ingredients and any major allergens. The top nine allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat (gluten), soy, sesame, fish and shellfish.

Cake safety: We encourage all attendees to complete the Department of Health’s free online learning program,Do Food Safely, to improve their knowledge of safe food handling techniques.

Cake storage and transport: Here are some suggestions on the best way to store a cake, and how to transport a cake.

Cake dietaries: We’re allocating a table for vegan and gluten-free cakes at the event. Please let our staff know if you have one of these cakes when you arrive and they will direct you to the appropriate registration line and drop-off area.

Frequently asked questions
Please find the CAKE PICNIC FAQs here

What else is happening at CAKE PICNIC
Apart from the spectacular sight (and taste!) of the many, many cakes we’ll all be bringing, we're working to make the MFWF edition of CAKE PICNIC its best outing yet, and we've teamed up with QUEEN® to bring a dash of majesty to proceedings with photo ops, giveaways and entertainment. We’ll also be crowning a Queen of the Cakes with a little help from CAKE PICNIC founder Elisa Sunga and Miss Trixie.

Our friends at Dilmah Tea, meanwhile, will be there to complement the cake with a can of Dilmah iced tea for everyone on arrival, and a tea bar pouring four hot teas and Dilmah Elixir tea cocktails (both alc and non-alc), all overseen by a Dilmah tea sommelier for cake-and-tea pairing suggestions. Five Senses and La Marzocco will be on duty making sure the coffee is delicious, and Capi are bringing the sparkling waters.

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