Burnt Acre Vineyard owner Cliff Stubbs said the annual central Victorian wine showcase would make the most of the venues which had to be abandoned last year, featuring the best of the region’s food, wine and entertainment.

“At the Ulumbarra Theatre we’ve got an opera singer who’s going to be performing on the Saturday and at the town hall we’ve got some local food producers as well as wineries,” he said.

Mr Stubbs said the precursor event, Heritage After Dark, was as popular as ever with tickets to this year’s event, now hosted at the historic Fortuna Villa already almost sold out.

“We had it at the town hall last year but because it’s almost reproducing part of the Saturday event we thought it was a great opportunity to keep the heritage feel and so we’re using Fortuna Villa this year,” he said.

“We’ve got a string quartet serenading the patrons and if the weather’s fine we’ll spill into the lovely gardens at the front of the villa and into the room and if the weather’s inclement we’ll just move the event inside there because it’s a big enough venue.”

All up, the weekend will showcase 16 wineries and more than 70 wines across nine venues.

“Any of the wine’s you taste you can purchase them at the wine shop, a pop-up shop in the town hall,” Mr Stubbs said.

Mr Stubbs said tickets to both events were selling fast.

“Anybody who’s interested in buying tickets will need to pull their finger out or they might miss out,” he said.

Heritage After Dark is on Friday October 7 between 6pm and 9pm at Fortuna Villa.

Tickets are $60 per person and available at www.bendigotourism.com/tours/bendigo-heritage-after-dark-2016

Heritage Uncorked takes in the Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo Art Gallery, Shamrock Hotel, La Piazza, Bunja Thai, Rocks on Rosalind, the Chinese Gardens and Bendigo Town Hall on Saturday October 9.

Tickets are $120 per person and available at www.bendigotourism.com/tours/bendigo-heritage-uncorked-2016