Brisbane Japanese Festival
Get your chopsticks at the ready – Brisbane is soon to welcome its first Japanese festival! On Saturday August 19, Sekisui House’s West Village will host the Brisbane Japanese Festival, bringing the flavours and culture of Japan to the heart of West End. Tickets are $10 for adults, which will give you access to delicious eats including gyoza, bubble tea, sashimi-topped poke bowls and sushi doughnuts. Japanese art and culture will also be celebrated, with a series of hands-on workshops, drum demonstrations, cultural music, dancing and more. For full details and ticketing information, head to our Event Guide.

Pawpaw Asian Kitchen Balmoral
There’s certainly no stopping Giorgina Venzin and the Venzin Group – the group has just announced its latest project, a second Pawpaw Asian Kitchen. Due to open in ten weeks, Pawpaw Asian Kitchen Balmoral will be very similar to its Tingalpa sibling, offering Southeast Asian street food inspired by the flavours of Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The menu will be much the same as the original Pawpaw Asian Kitchen (think chilli popcorn chicken, lamb curry puffs, wagyu green curry and more) with a focus on takeaway and delivery. The Balmoral eatery will also offer weekend breakfasts akin to Pawpaw at Woolloongabba, but trading out coffee for iced Asian-style drinks. We’ll have more details for you soon.

Gelato Messina Gelato Appreciation Classes
Is gelato life? Then brace yourself – Gelato Messina has just announced its first round of Gelato Appreciation Classes for Brisbane. Already popular with gelato aficionados of Melbourne and Sydney, the classes are part gelato-making class, part information session, part science lesson and part gelato degustation. Yep, gel.a.to.de.gust.a.tion. You will learn how Messina makes it famous gelato and gelato cakes (which of course you get to sample), enjoy a four-course gelato degustation, and when the class is over you get free reign to sample all 40 flavours in the gelato cabinets. Oh and just in case you haven’t had enough – you get to take a 500 ml tub of gelato home with you. Stretchy pants are not mandatory, but advised. Get the full details, dates and ticketing information in our Event Guide.

Beers, Burgers & Beats
We’ve been having some pretty killer weather of late, which tends to make us want to stretch out the weekend as long as possible with a cheeky Sunday session. Lucky for us there’s a new reason to indulge in a few weekend bevs – Beers, Burgers & Beats at Miss Bliss Whole Foods Kitchen. The second event will be kicking off from 2:00 pm this Sunday July 16 in Bliss Lane (adjacent to Miss Bliss), with Balter Beer, superfood cocktails, carnivore and herbivore burgers, probiotic bliss bowls and vegan spelt pizza on offer.

If you’ve heard something that’s worth mentioning in The Weekend Edition’s Pavement Whispers, email [email protected]