Adelaide Festival

& Writers' Week

Enjoy ten world-class performances and a host of other activities at the 2026 Adelaide Festival & Writers’ Week.

Details of the remaining Adelaide Festival events are currently under wraps.
The Festival will release its full program on Monday 27 October, 2025, at which time the complete line-up for this tour will be confirmed.

tour snapshot

  • February 28 - March 8, 2026 | 9 Days

  • Assoc. Prof. Kate Foy. View full bio >

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  • The tour starts at 5.00pm on Saturday 28 February, at the Crowne Plaza Adelaide.

    The tour ends after breakfast on Sunday 8 March, at the Crowne Plaza Adelaide.

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  • Grade One. This tour is appropriate for travellers in good health with good mobility.

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  • $8,890 AUD per person, twin share (land content only)
    $1,690 AUD supplement for sole use of a hotel room

    • A $1,000 AUD non-refundable deposit is required per person to confirm your booking on tour

    • Once the full and final performance program is released, an instalment of $2,000 is required.

    Inclusions
    8 nights’ accommodation in a centrally located 4-star hotel. All breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 high tea and 2 dinners. Premium tickets to 10 performances. Services of an expert tour leader and an experienced tour manager throughout. All ground transport, entrance fees and tipping.

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  • Places Available. Maximum 16

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Status: Places Available - Maximum 16

 

tour overview

Academy Travel is delighted to present a nine day trip to Adelaide, timed to coincide with a superb run of performances at the 2026 Adelaide Festival.

Since 1960, the Adelaide Festival has been a highlight of the Australian cultural calendar and continues to enhance its international reputation to this day. Under the leadership of new Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM, the 2026 program promises bold, imaginative productions from around the world. As a partner sponsor of the 2026 Festival, Academy Travel is able to guarantee premium seating to nine festival performances, complimented by a tenth, intimate concert at the UKARIA Cultural Centre – a striking venue set on the hillside of the Ngeringa property in the Adelaide Hills.

Around the Festival performances we’ve built a program of gallery visits, excursions and an opportunity to participate in Adelaide Writers’ Week, which coincides with the festival. Accommodation is at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located close to many of the city’s attractions.

 

tour highlights

The aim of every Academy Travel tour is to provide a rewarding, in-depth travel experience.

  • Adelaide Festival

    Experience nine performances of the 2026 Adelaide Festival, including international star Isabelle Huppert as Mary, Queen of Scots, and a concert by renowned French choir and orchestra Ensemble Pygmalion.

  • UKARIA Cultural Centre

    Delight in a captivating concert at the acclaimed UKARIA Cultural Centre, where remarkable acoustics and the idyllic Adelaide Hills vistas provide a uniquely memorable setting.

  • Adelaide Writers’ Week

    Enjoy sessions at Writers’ Week – Australia’s largest literary festival, offering both writers and readers a unique opportunity to spend time sharing ideas in a garden setting.

  • The Cedars - Hans Heysen

    Visit The Cedars in the Adelaide Hills, the family home of iconic landscape painter and early conservationist Sir Hans Heysen, with many of their captivating works still on display in the original furnished home.

  • McLaren Vale

    Take a day trip to McLaren Vale, one of Australia’s oldest and most acclaimed wine regions, and enjoy a tasting and relaxed lunch in one of the region’s award-winning restaurants.

 

your expert tour leader

Assoc. Prof. Kate Foy holds a BA and an MLitt from the University of New England (NSW), and a PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her PhD studies focussed on world theatre history, whilst her final dissertation was a cultural history on aspects of colonial and post-federation developments in Australian theatre. In addition to her extensive professional profile as an actor (Kate Wilson), she also has a considerable production biography in Australian university theatre (UNE; USQ; GU).

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In good hands...

In addition to your expert tour leader, you will be accompanied by a trained tour manager for the duration of the tour. Our tour managers will ensure your safety and comfort on tour, while also overseeing the behind-the-scenes logistics. Our tour managers are great travel companions who ensure your needs are well taken care of. From offering suggestions for your free time, to a lively chat at dinner or even providing space for a quiet moment of reflection, rest assured you are in good hands when travelling.

tour itinerary

Adelaide (8 nights)

Included meals are indicated with B, L, D and HT for High Tea

  • Saturday 28 February
    Arrival | Performance I
    The tour begins in our Adelaide hotel at 5.00pm, where we meet in the bar for a welcome drink. Following brief introductions, we then enjoy a light dinner at a local restaurant before heading out together for our first Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (D)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Sunday 1 March
    UKARIA Cultural Centre | Performance II
    We begin the morning with our first talk in the hotel, after which there is free time to explore the vibrant Adelaide Writers’ Week – Australia’s largest free literary festival located in the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, a short walk from our hotel. In the afternoon we travel by coach to the UKARIA Cultural Centre, an intimate concert hall set amid the picturesque landscapes of the Adelaide Hills. Since its opening in 2015, UKARIA has earned a reputation as one of Australia’s foremost venues for chamber music, renowned for both its acoustics and idyllic surroundings. Here we’ll enjoy a concert in this remarkable setting before returning to Adelaide in the late afternoon. Overnight Adelaide (B)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Monday 2 March
    Adelaide Festival | Performance III & IV
    Today begins with a morning Festival performance, after which we gather for lunch at Osteria Oggi, an award-winning Italian restaurant in the heart of Adelaide, known for its contemporary take on traditional dishes and lively, convivial atmosphere. The afternoon is free to attend a Writers’ Week session or simply relax at leisure. In the evening, we reconvene to enjoy another Festival performance together. Overnight Adelaide (B, L)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Tuesday 3 March
    Adelaide Festival | Performance V & VI
    Our program today once again centres on the Adelaide Festival. After a leisurely morning, which includes a talk in our hotel, we attend a midday performance. The afternoon is free to delve further into Writers’ Week, with its stimulating program of international and Australian authors in conversation. In the evening, we gather again for another Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Wednesday 4 March
    Hans Heysen | Performance VII
    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 house, studios, and surrounding gardens, followed by a delightful High Tea at Cedars Kitchen. We return to Adelaide in the afternoon with time to relax and freshen up before tonight’s Festival performance at Elder Hall. Here, the Pygmalion choir and orchestra make their long awaited Australian debut in a residency exclusive to Adelaide Festival. Led by visionary founder and director Raphaël Pichon, the Ensemble Pygmalion will perform Rossi’s rediscovered baroque masterpiece, Orfeo. Highly sought after by Europe’s 17th-century tastemakers, Italian composer Luigi Rossi was commissioned to write the first-ever opera for the French court while in exile in Paris. The result, his Orfeo, boasts some of the Baroque’s most sublime and original writing, blending tragedy and comedy with remarkable poignancy. Overnight Adelaide (B, HT)

    Performance details
    Venue: Adelaide Town Hall
    Program: Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo
    Performer: Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

  • Thursday 5 March
    Indigenous Heritage | Performance VIII
    This morning we visit the South Australian Museum, one of the country’s most respected cultural institutions, renowned for its research and collections spanning natural history, anthropology and world cultures. Our focus is the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, which houses more than 3,000 artefacts from Central Australia and the Top End. Considered one of the finest collections of its kind anywhere in the world, the gallery showcases 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, whose insights provide invaluable cultural and historical context. The afternoon is free to enjoy further sessions at Writers’ Week, before we reconvene in the evening for another Festival performance. Overnight Adelaide (B)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Friday 6 March
    McLaren Vale | Performance IX
    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)

    Performance details
    Venue: To be advised
    Program: To be advised

  • Saturday 7 March
    AGSA | Performance X
    After a final talk in our hotel this morning, we take a short walk to the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) for a visit to its special exhibition (program to be announced). The gallery is one of the country’s premier cultural institutions, home to more than 47,000 works spanning from ancient Rome to the present day. Here we enjoy the exhibition at our own pace, with time to explore the gallery’s rich holdings. The afternoon is then at leisure before we reconvene for our farewell dinner at Fugazzi, an acclaimed city restaurant offering bold, modern Italian cuisine crafted from seasonal South Australian produce. Following dinner, we walk together to the Festival Theatre for our final performance, Mary Said What She Said. In this powerful solo performance, international stage and screen star Isabelle Huppert embodies Mary, Queen of Scots in a mesmerising production directed by the late Robert Wilson. Written by novelist Darryl Pinckney, with a score by celebrated composer Ludovico Einaudi, the work plunges us into the psyche of Mary Stuart – a woman involved in some of the most notorious plots of her time, and a Queen exiled, isolated and misunderstood. After the performance, we return to the hotel and gather for a final drink in the bar to reflect on the week’s experiences. Overnight Adelaide (B, D)

    Performance details
    Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
    Program: Robert Wilson’s Mary Said What She Said
    Performer: Isabelle Huppert

  • Sunday 8 March
    Departure
    The tour concludes after breakfast this morning. (B)

tour Accommodation

Crowne Plaza Adelaide (8 nights)

The four-star Crowne Plaza Adelaide offers modern accommodation in the heart of the city, overlooking the CBD and Adelaide Hills. The hotel is within a short walking distance of many of the attractions on the tour.

adelaide.crowneplaza.com

tour booking

$8,890 AUD per person, twin share (land content only)
$1,690 AUD supplement for sole use of a hotel room

A $1,000 deposit is required per person to confirm your booking on tour. This deposit is non-refundable.

Once the full and final performance program is released, an instalment of $2,000 is required.

  • Book Online

    To secure your place(s) on tour, book online below with “Athena”, our virtual tour consultant.

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  • Book via Email or Post

    Download a printable booking form. You can also complete the form on screen and submit via email.

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Still deciding? Hold a place…

We are happy to hold a tentative place for 7 days while you make your final arrangements.

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your tour consultant

The consultant for this tour is Sharon Williams. For further information or to discuss the tour, please call 9235 0023 (Sydney) or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email sharon@academytravel.com.au

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Academy Travel is more than just a tour operator. We are also a full-service travel agency who can assist you with all aspects of your travel, including flights, transfers, pre-tour arrival, additional travel and comprehensive travel insurance.