On the night of March 11 2020, Tourism WA in partnership with Australia’s South West celebrated the launch of the new Jetstar direct flight from Melbourne to Busselton, at Melbourne’s best function and event centre, the one and only Encore St Kilda.

This was a major St Kilda event and our wonderful beachside function centre was the ideal Melbourne event venue.

Late 2019, Jetstar announced that they will be starting 3 flights a week between Melbourne and Busselton, which is located in the magnificent South West area of Western Australia. Making it the first flight from the east coast to WA’s South West region and will be the first time tourists from the east coast will be able to fly direct to the Busselton and Margaret River region.

Home to more than 200 wine producers, 100 cellar doors, lush forests, spectacular beaches and surf breaks, it’s not hard to see why the world is obsessed with the Margaret River Region. Of course, we think that St Kilda Melbourne beats all other locations but we are heavily biased.

Not only was Encore St Kilda the host of this inaugural event, but we also had the pleasure of having Guest Chef George Cooper, owner of Tiller Dining (formerly Food by the Chef), fly over from Western Australia to attend. George designed and created the menu for the Melbourne launch event, with our expert catering team assisted in rolling out the evening. George is well-known for his technique-driven food infused with memories from his childhood in England.

As guests began arriving and enjoying their champagne on arrival, the function commenced with an introduction of the key hosts from Tourism WA, ASW and Jetstar. The launch was then followed by a Welcome to Country didgeridoo performance by Josh Whiteland, as he acknowledged the land.

George Cooper gave a speech later in the night to introduce the menu he had designed specifically for the St Kilda Launch Event, showcasing flavours and ingredients from the west coast region, as well as giving a brief demonstration of how to incorporate liquid nitrogen with particular courses.

Guests indulged in a range of canape and grazing dishes which included ingredients such as Margaret River beef, West Australian marron and ‘The mother inlaw fish.’ Sounds delicious, I know.

Jazz singer, Cassandra Charlick provided entertainment for the night out in St Kilda, and she also MC’d the event, providing an overview of the launch event and introducing all special guests to the outstanding Melbourne celebration.

Ksenia Belova photographed the evening, capturing the launch event perfectly, as you can see from the images below.