Adelaide Festival

Day 1 | Sunday 28 February
Arrival | Adelaide Festival
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 light dinner together in the hotel’s elegant Koomo Restaurant. We then kick off our Festival program with our first performance this evening. Overnight Adelaide (D)

Day 2 | Monday 1 March
UKARIA Cultural Centre | Adelaide Festival
We begin the morning with our first talk in the hotel,
followed by free time to relax or explore Adelaide at leisure. In the early afternoon we travel by coach to UKARIA Cultural Centre, an award-winning chamber music venue renowned for its exceptional acoustics and architectural design. Set within landscaped grounds that reflect the natural rhythms of the Adelaide Hills, the hall offers an intimate listening experience, with seating arranged to bring audiences into close connection with performers. Following the concert here, we return to Adelaide in the late afternoon for an evening at leisure. 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 day is set aside to 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 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, offering a deeper perspective on the breadth and ambition of this multi-arts program. 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 preserves over 200 original works and 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, followed by a High Tea at Cedars Kitchen. We return to Adelaide in the afternoon with time to relax before tonight’s Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B, HT)

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. Regarded as one of the finest collections of its kind anywhere in the world, the gallery presents tools, ceremonial objects, bark paintings and material culture that speak to the richness and diversity of the world’s oldest continuous civilisation. 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, offering a rare insight into one of Australia’s most idiosyncratic domestic interiors. We then continue into the adjoining museum wing, which presents rotating exhibitions drawn from the David Roche Collection, showcasing Australian and international art. After returning to the hotel, there is time to freshen up before our evening Festival performance. 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 an idyllic rural setting. In the late afternoon, we return to Adelaide with time to freshen up at the hotel 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)