Brisbane Coffee and Chocolate Markets and Festival at Portside Markets, Hamilton, Sun July 12

There's a "Coffee and Chocolate Affair" happening on Sunday July 12 2009, at the Portside Wharf, Hamilton (click here for a Google Map). It's basically a big coffee and chocolate festival and market with some interesting free events.

There's a competition to find the best home barista, apparently you can win up to six grand's worth of home coffee machines if you win the competition. There are also free masterclasses with Lindt and Sprüngli Australia chocolatier Thomas Schnetzler, and Dean Merlo of Merlo Coffee, and there's a competition for professional baristas that you can watch. I'm afraid the website doesn't say what time these events are on, but you can call the Portside Wharf office on (07) 3868 5111 and ask them (+617 3868 5111 from outside Australia).

The event's website lists 21 different stallholders so far, including Seatonfire Chili Chocolate, the Coffee Education Network, Import Tea, Eumundi Fudge and other upmarket coffee and chocolate sellers, so that sounds like an interesting, if potentially expensive, day of browsing and buying. There's also going to be blues and jazz bands playing. It's free to go and browse, see the free classes or listen to the music. If you're on Facebook, you can check the details of the event here.

If you're driving, you can park at the Portside Wharf. If you are using public transport, your best option is to either catch a ferry to the Brett's Wharf ferry terminal at Hamilton or the 300 bus to Racecourse Rd, Hamilton, just after it turns off Kingsford Smith Drive onto Racecourse Rd, near the Hamilton Hotel. Click here for a Google Map showing all this locations.

CREATIVE COMMONS: The photo in this article is called "briagdeiro" and it's by flickr user rodrigo senna - he has licenced it under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence which means you can use the photo for any purpose, including commercial uses, as long as you credit him.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/negativz/ / CC BY 2.0