The Darwin International Laksa Festival is back and the stakes are higher than ever before: a trip for two to Timor Leste is on the line.

The Fyles Government said this year’s festival will involve the entire Territory, with restaurants in Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Alice Springs all vying for Best Regional Laksa as part of what is being dubbed as a month-long “Food Tour”.

The festival encourages people to order laksa at different venues and then vote for their favourites on the festival’s app.

“Once the community have tasted as many dishes as possible, they are encouraged to vote for their favourite laksa and inspired-by dish using the Golden Bowl vote via the app, to go in the draw to win a trip for two to Timor Leste,” the government said in promotional material for this year’s festival.

Laksa-inspired dishes this year will include “Laksa Arancini, Laksagna, Coconut Laksa Panna Cotta, Laksa Iced Coffee, Sweet and Chilli Laksa waffles, Laksa Chicken Nuggets, Laksa Buco, Laksa Chicken Pizza and more”, the government said.

The two categories for this year’s festival will be Best Laksa and Best ‘Inspired By’ Laksa dish. The dishes will come from 70 local businesses with more than 88 dishes in total.

Malaysian ‘celebrity chef’ Sherson Lian will be promoting the different food venues through the month-long “food tour” and will present a cooking demonstration at an undisclosed location on November 27.

Darwin’s best laksa restaurants, market vendors, eateries will all gather at the undisclosed location that day, for the Grand Finale Festival Day to celebrate everything laksa, the government said in a statement.

“The Laksa Festival not only supports local business it encourages Territorians to continue visiting our food outlets while also exploring parts of the Territory,” Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said.

“November is usually one of our quieter times of year, that’s why it’s important that we have events like this running.”

Details and conditions of the Timor Leste trip were not provided and it is unclear if there are specified dates for travel.

Last year’s best laksa crown went to Jason “Chow” Hanna.