Newcastle Tuna Festival Returns — Bigger, Bolder and Built for Winter

Newcastle Tuna Festival is back for 2026 — bigger, bolder, and it's bringing the whole ocean with it!

After a sold-out debut in 2025, the festival returns this July with a month-long Seafood Trail across Newcastle, exclusive Chef’s Catch dishes from leading venues, seafood events at several venues across the city, and the return of Japanese master chef Koji Harada for a live 80kg Southern Bluefin Tuna cutting at the Grand Opening on Sunday 28th June. The festival first made its mark in October 2025 with a landmark opening event at Nagisa on Honeysuckle Drive. Chef Koji Harada flew in from Japan to cut an 80kg Southern Bluefin Tuna before a sold-out crowd, a display of precision, theatre and respect for one of the ocean’s most prized fish.

The two-week Tuna Trail that followed saw fifteen Newcastle restaurants serve specially crafted tuna dishes, giving the city a taste of what a chef-driven food festival could look like. For 2026, the festival returns on a greater scale. The Seafood Trail will run throughout July, with more venues across Newcastle set to participate. Each venue will offer its own Chef’s Catch, a signature seafood creation designed exclusively for the festival. Alongside the trail, several venues across Newcastle will host seafood events throughout July, giving diners the chance to experience multi-course menus, chef-led dinners and special seafood-focused dining experiences that showcase Newcastle’s chefs, local produce and winter seafood.

Together, the Seafood Trail and featured events give Novocastrians even more reason to get out this winter and explore the city’s dining scene, one plate at a time.

On Sunday, 28th June, Chef Koji Harada will once again cut a whole 80kg Southern Bluefin Tuna at the Grand Opening event, officially launching Newcastle Tuna Festival 2026. It is the kind of spectacle that reminds you food can be as much about artistry as it is about flavour.

This year, the festival broadens its focus beyond tuna, embracing the full range of seafood that Newcastle’s chefs are capable of showcasing. The decision reflects both the ambition of the event and a deeper philosophy, one borrowed from Japanese culinary tradition, where the relationship between chef, ingredient and season is treated with care. In Japan, seafood is not a menu choice. It is a cultural practice, shaped by an understanding of where ingredients come from, when they are at their best, and how to honour them through skilled preparation.

That reverence is what the Newcastle Tuna Festival is bringing to the Hunter region.

It also challenges a common misconception: that summer is the best time for seafood. According to festival founder Taiyo Namba, winter tells a different story. Australians often believe that summer is the best time to eat seafood, but the Japanese eat more seafood in winter. This is because of the concept of shun, which is a cultural appreciation for eating foods at their best.”

The colder months from July through to October are widely regarded as peak season for seafood quality. Cooler waters are higher in nutrients, producing fish with higher fat content, richer flavour and more tender flesh. July, then, is not an arbitrary choice for the festival. It is the right time of year to rediscover Newcastle’s seafood scene.

Newcastle Tuna Festival is a celebration of craft, seasonality and the remarkable dining culture that continues to grow in this city. Whether you are chasing the Chef’s Catch across Newcastle’s most loved venues or attending one of the seafood events taking place across the city, July 2026 offers something worth planning around.

For more information, visit www.newcastletunafest.com.au.