Adelaide Festival

Day 1 | Sunday 28 February
Arrival
The tour begins in our Adelaide hotel at 5.00pm, where we meet in the bar for introductions over a welcome drink, followed by a welcome dinner together in the hotel’s elegant Koomo Restaurant. Overnight Adelaide (D)

Day 2 | Monday 1 March
Writers’ Week | Adelaide Festival
We begin the morning with our first talk in the hotel, followed by free time to relax or enjoy sessions at the Adelaide Writers’ Week. This free event is held is the riverside setting of the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, where a program of author talks, panel discussions and readings unfolds throughout the day. We reconvene in the evening at the Festival Theatre for Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, directed by internationally acclaimed theatre-maker Romeo Castellucci. Bartók’s dark, psychologically charged one-act opera follows Judith as she opens the seven doors of Bluebeard’s castle, gradually uncovering the secrets of his past. Castellucci’s highly symbolic production dispenses with a literal castle, instead staging the work in a shallow pool of water illuminated by fire. Mezzo-soprano Christel Loetzsch appears as Judith alongside baritone John Lundgren as Bluebeard, with Lidiya Yankovskaya conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Overnight Adelaide (B)

Day 3 | Tuesday 2 March
Adelaide Festival | Adelaide Festival
Today begins with another Festival performance (schedules permitting), followed by lunch at Osteria Oggi in the heart of the city, known for its contemporary interpretation of Italian cuisine and a menu that reflects both regional traditions and seasonal South Australian produce. There is then an optional afternoon visit to JamFactory – a nationally recognised centre for contemporary craft and design located in the West End precinct. Established in 1973, JamFactory supports emerging and established artists across disciplines including ceramics, glass, metal and furniture, with working studios, exhibition galleries and a retail space offering insight into Australia’s current craft practices. In the evening, we reconvene for another Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B, L)

Day 4 | Wednesday 3 March
Writers’ Week | Adelaide Festival
The morning is set aside to enjoy sessions at Writers’ Week. We gather again in the afternoon in the hotel for a Q&A with Matthew Lutton, the Festival Director, whose programming brings together leading international artists and major Australian productions. In the evening, we take in a further Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B)

Day 5 | Thursday 4 March
Hans Heysen | Adelaide Festival
This morning we travel by coach into the Adelaide Hills to visit The Cedars, the home and studio of renowned Australian painter Sir Hans Heysen and his daughter, artist Nora Heysen. Set amidst rolling countryside near the picturesque German village of Hahndorf, The Cedars offers one of the finest examples of an historic artist’s house-studio in Australia. A curator-led tour introduces us to the studios and surrounding gardens. We return to Adelaide in the afternoon with time to relax before tonight’s Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B)

Day 6 | Friday 5 March
Indigenous & Private Art | Adelaide Festival
This morning we visit the South Australian Museum, one of the country’s most respected cultural institutions. Our focus is the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, home to more than 3,000 artefacts. We are guided through the collection by an Indigenous specialist. Following a break for lunch, our next visit is Fermoy House, the former residence of Adelaide-based millionaire David Roche. This highly individual estate contains an extraordinary private art collection and reflects Roche’s French and Irish ancestry. After returning to the hotel, there is time to freshen up before we head to Her Majesty’s Theatre for K. – a Talmudic vaudeville show inspired by Kafka’s The Trial. Directed by Adelaide Festival favourite Barrie Kosky, the production draws on Yiddish theatre, music, dance and slapstick to transform Kafka’s darkly absurd world into a theatrical collision of comedy and unease. Performed by the Berliner Ensemble, the production follows Josef K. as he is drawn ever deeper into an incomprehensible system of accusation and judgement, with Kathrin Wehlisch in the central role. Overnight Adelaide (B)

Day 7 | Saturday 6 March
McLaren Vale | Adelaide Festival
This morning we depart Adelaide by coach, taking a scenic route through the historic village of Clarendon before arriving in McLaren Vale, one of Australia’s most celebrated wine-growing regions, renowned for its rich Shiraz and innovative viticulture. We begin with a tasting at Shottesbrooke Cellar Door, sampling a selection of their award-winning wines, before continuing a short distance to The Currant Shed. Set amid vineyards and orchards, this acclaimed restaurant offers a relaxed lunch paired with regional wines. In the late afternoon, we return to Adelaide with time to freshen up before this evening’s Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B, L)

Day 8 | Sunday 7 March
AGSA | Adelaide Festival
After a final talk in our hotel this morning, we take a short walk to the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) to take in their special Festival exhibition (to be advised). The afternoon is then at leisure before we reconvene for our farewell dinner at one of Adelaide’s acclaimed restaurants. Following dinner, we walk together to the Festival Theatre for our final Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B, D)

Day 9 | Monday 8 March
Departure
The tour concludes after breakfast this morning. (B)