The Wine Island Team Is Hosting a Three-Day Greek Festival on Sydney Harbour's Clark Island
Spend a day in the middle of Sydney Harbour eating grilled octopus, drinking frozen ouzo and pretending you're taking a Mediterranean holiday.
When mid-March rolls around next year, Sydney's Clark Island will play host to a weekend of vino, vino and more vino, all thanks to returning festival Wine Island. But that's just one boozy way that you can spend time on the Sydney Harbour spot come autumn. The second: a three-day celebration of Greek cuisine and culture from the same crew.
Meet Greek Island, a weekend-long festival taking place between Friday, March 25–Sunday, March 27 — the very next weekend after Wine Island. The aim is to make this new fest feel like a Mediterranean holiday, something that's clearly been in short supply during the pandemic.
In a case of faking it till you make it — to the real Greek islands, that is — the event will line Clark Island with Greek-style tavernas, as well as cocktail bars, a seaside stage and a spa. So, you'll be eating fried calamari, grilled octopus, spanakopita, souvlaki, gyros and loukoumades, then washing it all down with Greek beverages — including frouzo, aka frozen ouzo. And, you'll be dancing to DJs, and getting a hilltop massage.
Alpha's Peter Conistis will be on food duty, alongside Kazzi Beach Greek, East 33 (yes, that means oysters), Lambda and Lookoomania — and live cooking demonstrations will also be on the menu.
Drinks-wise, Drink Greek is curating the beverage list, which'll include Greek wines and sparkling from Attica, Arcadia and Macedonia; beers from Chios Island and Atalanti; and Greek-themed cocktails such as Santorini Sunsets and Mykonos Mules.
DJs Tigerlily and Jolyon Petch will hit the decks, as will Daft Punk tribute act Discovery — the latter of which mightn't fit the Greek theme, but will still set a mood. Skewing far more traditional, live Greek music and dancing will also be on the bill.
Parts of the island will be decked out to emulate the country in the spotlight, too, with the promise of Mount Olympus-themed stage area and a Santorini-themed spa.
Trips to Greek Island will start with a cocktail on the boat ride over — and, if you're now keen for the kind of Mediterranean getaway you take when you're not really taking a Mediterranean getaway, the event is hosting two sessions per day. So, you can choose between 10am and 4pm tipples.
There are three Wine Island ticket packages available, starting with the $99 'premium economy experience', which includes ferry transfers, a drink on your way over, and a branded beach tote and tumbler. Then there's the $199 'business class experience', which adds a Greek Island towel, access to the Corfu-style beach club, a meal voucher, and complimentary ouzo and wine tastings. Or, you can go all out with $3300 private waterfront cabanas for up to ten people.
Greek Island hits Clark Island in Sydney Harbour from Friday, March 25–Sunday, March 27, 2022. Tickets go on sale at 12pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 24, with pre-sale from the same time on Monday, November 22.
Images: Onecut Studios.
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