A three-day live event dedicated to contemporary baking and cake decorating will come to Sydney in March next year.

The Cake Bake and Sweets Show is modelled on the highly successful British expo of the same name and expects to bring in around 20,000 visitors, which would make it Australia’s largest dedicated baking exhibition.

The event, which has a strong practical focus, will be held at the Sydney Showground at Olympic Park from 21-23 March, 2014, and will cover the full spectrum of baking from cakes, breads and pastries to chocolates and desserts.

Event producer Mark Harvey said the show will not only inspire home baking enthusiasts, it will also shine a spotlight on Australia’s professional bakers, pastry makers and cake decorators.

“There is no doubt the art of baking and cake decorating is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence in Australia. In response to this growing fascination, we’ve designed an event to appeal to home bakers and professionals alike, an event that becomes the ultimate destination for everything baking and beyond,” Mark said.

“Regardless of your age or experience level, whether its your passion, profession or business, Cake Bake and Sweets Show is all about inspiring home bakers and reigniting interest in the professional baking industry.”

The show will feature an extensive program of live demonstrations, seminars and competitions. Masterclasses will also be on offer, covering a range of baking categories, including wedding cakes, novelty cakes and sugar art.

The event will also incorporate an Artisans Marketplace for small vendors to sell hand-crafted chocolates and freshly-baked breads, pies, brownies, pastries and other sweets.

“This is an unmissable event for all those interested in the cake and bake industry,” Mark said.

“It’s a growing passion and profession and this event not only provides this community with a place to meet, talk, taste and shop, it’s sure to be an entertaining, educational and inspiring day.”

In an effort to find Australia’s most talented cake artists, organisers of the Cake Bake and Sweets Show have launched a cake decorating competition with prize money and awards topping $15,000.

Competition co-ordinator Shannon Terry said the Australian Cake Decorating Championships will showcase the talent present in Australia’s cake decorating and sugar art industry.

“We believe Australia has some of the best talent in the world so we’ve launched the championships to unearth our very best decorators,” Shannon said.

The competition invites all cake decorators and pastry chefs to participate in master, professional and open categories.

“New publications, websites and hit television shows continue to shine the spotlight on this highly creative sector, pushing the cake decorating community to new levels of creativity, ideas and inspiration,” Shannon said.

“Recognising this, our goal is to find and award the nations best cake and sugar artists, then provide them with a platform to showcase their creations at next years Cake Bake and Sweets Show.”

An exhibition hall will also be on offer, giving leading food service brands an opportunity to promote the latest baking and cake decorating supplies, ingredients, tools and equipment.