People are invited to come and sample some fine wines this weekend at the inaugural Swirl 2003 - a festival of food and wine in the Southern Highlands.

The festival will be held at Eling Forest Winery in Sutton Forest and will kick-off tomorrow with an array of activities designed to pleasure the palate.

Some of the highlights include the regional cuisine and wine matching, live entertainment, an art exhibition and a wine auction.

Mundrakoona Estate's Barbara Balog said Swirl 2003 would showcase the quality of vineyards, wines and food products of the Southern Highlands.

"Through this festival we want to encourage both Highlanders and people from outside the area to attend so we can show them what the Southern Highlands has to offer," Mrs Balog said.

"We first came up with the idea for the festival last October and all the members of the Swirl 2003 committee felt it was a really good opportunity to work together, striving to display Southern Highlands wines as a distinctive cool climate product.

"As well as showcasing our wines, all the proceeds from this event will be donated to the charity Petrea King's Quest for Life Foundation."

Mrs Balog said the committee had experienced few problems during preparation.

"The only hiccup we have encountered was the early harvest due to the dry weather," Mrs Balog said.

"We are however, still managing to do 1000 things at once.

"In the long term we hope to establish Swirl as an annual event as more wineries start producing wines."

Swirl festivities will begin at 10am tomorrow at Eling Forest Winery in Sutton Forest and will conclude on Sunday.

Tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre at Mittagong, wineries throughout the Highlands and from the ABC Bookshop in Bowral.

For further enquiries people are invited to contact Eling Forest Winery by phoning 4878 9499 or by e-mail at winery@elingforest.com.au.