Melbourne Food & Wine Festival hosts Feast for Freedom with Asylum Seeker Resource Centre for One Night Only

In a city built on food and culture, Melbourne is setting a longer table for refugees

As public debate around migration continues to harden, Melbourne is responding in its own language: food, culture and shared experience. On Tuesday 25 March 2026, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) will host A Longer Table, a one-night-only long-table dining event presented as part of Feast for Freedom and the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Held at the ASRC’s Home of Hope in Footscray, A Longer Table is a signature event within the ASRC’s annual Feast for Freedom fundraising campaign, a nationwide movement that invites Australians to host shared meals in support of refugees and people seeking asylum.

Running from 6pm–9pm, the immersive dining experience offers guests a rare opportunity to gather in the ASRC’s community dining hall (the same space where clients, staff and volunteers share daily meals) and experience firsthand the power of food as a connector.

Guests will dine together at a communal table, sharing a curated menu created by refugee cooks Noha from Palestine and Nige from Sri Lanka, the 2026 Feast for Freedom Hero Cooks. Their dishes reflect the flavours of home, family traditions and the resilience carried through food.

For Noha, Palestinian food is a way of holding onto culture for her daughters and showing the world the beauty of Palestine beyond the headlines. Her recipes, grounded in za’atar, olive oil and harvest traditions from Gaza, carry family history and memory.

For Nige, food became a lifeline. After fleeing Sri Lanka and spending six years in detention, he learned to cook by phoning home for instructions from his mum and wife. His recipes reflect the vibrant flavours of Trincomalee and the joy he finds when people share his meals.

The menu will feature Palestinian favourites such as Moussaka Beitinjaan (eggplant moussaka), Sri Lankan dishes including Kari Kulambu (lamb curry), alongside recipes from past Feast for Freedom cooks and special family recipes donated by Feast for Freedom Ambassador Kishwar Chowdhury and ASRC CEO and Founder Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM.

The food on the night will be prepared and cooked by ASRC Catering, a social enterprise which provides meaningful employment, training and pathways for people seeking asylum and refugees.

Feast for Freedom ambassadors Dani Valent and Alice Zaslavsky will support the event as campaign ambassadors, with both available for pre-event media and attendance on the night, lending their voices to the role of food and storytelling in building connection and community.

Throughout the night, guests will hear directly from the hero cooks about the meaning behind their dishes and their journeys, while learning how funds raised through Feast for Freedom support more than 8,500 people seeking asylum each year with essential services including food, housing, healthcare and legal support.

In a world that too often builds walls, A Longer Table is about doing the opposite, creating space for connection, conversation and shared humanity. All proceeds from the event go directly to the ASRC.

Images related to the event, ambassadors and hero chefs are available here.

Tickets for A Longer Table are available via the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival:

https://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/events/feast-for-freedom-a-longer-table/

Quotes

Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM, CEO and Founder, ASRC, said:

“At a time when fear and division are being used to decide who belongs, A Longer Table is about choosing connection instead. This is what Feast for Freedom is all about, bringing people together, sharing food and making sure everyone has a seat at the table.

This event takes place in the same dining hall where people seeking asylum share daily meals with our staff and volunteers. Opening that space to the public is about showing what connection really looks like: sitting down together, sharing food and getting to know each other as people.”

Noha, Hero Cook 2026, said:

“When people cook my recipes, I hope they feel something different, something that makes them wonder where it comes from. Food is our identity. I want people to taste the Palestine they never get to see.”

Meet Noha: https://youtu.be/4-5O1n9Aovw?si=akop_OXITNC1RCa2

Nige, Hero Cook 2026, said:

“I came to Australia with my culture and my food, now I want to share them with everyone. A good Sri Lankan meal isn’t just tasty, it’s healing. The spices are medicine.”

Meet Nige: https://youtu.be/liKMBUjhaCQ?si=lisUH1QUk1tg7cpK

Feast for Freedom is currently open for registrations, inviting people across Australia to host their own shared meals and fundraisers: https://feastforfreedom.org.au

More information:

https://feastforfreedom.org.au

https://asrc.org.au

Social media

Instagram: @asrc1

Facebook: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Official hashtag: #FeastForFreedom

For media enquiries:

Christa Brajkovich, Brand and Marketing Manager: christa.b@asrc.org.au