Australia's Best Winter Festivals That Will Make You Actually Want to Go Outside
From nude swims in Hobart to all-nighters in Melbourne, these arts festivals are made for winter weekenders.
Australia's Best Winter Festivals That Will Make You Actually Want to Go Outside
From nude swims in Hobart to all-nighters in Melbourne, these arts festivals are made for winter weekenders.
When winter hits — and you know when it really hits — pressing command+A and delete on all your iCal entries seems like a rational thing to do. But hold your horses, cold one — there are a few festivals happening that you won't want to miss out on.
In recent years, Australia has developed quite the winter events calendar. With Vivid's lights hitting every visible surface in Sydney, Melbourne's White Night moving to August for the first time, and hedonistic shenanigans happening down in Hobart for Dark Mofo, there is plenty to inspire a break from hibernation. So pull your calendar back up and block out a weekend to have a winter adventure out of town or interstate.
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Australia’s most sinister festival, Dark Mofo, is back for its seventh year — and it’s set to be as boundary-pushing as ever. As always, the festival will take place in the lead up to the winter solstice, exploring connections between old and contemporary mythology through art installations, performance, talks and music — all taking place in the darkness of Tasmanian winter.
Hosted by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dark Mofo will takeover most of Hobart between June 6–23, showcasing a melting pot of artists, creatives and thinkers who dwell in the shadows of mainstream culture. The lineup includes performances by FKA Twigs, an audiovisual ‘soundbath’ by Sigur Rós, and the return of Night Mass, a ritualistic series of multi-venue late-night parties featuring Sampa the Great, FAKA and Empress Of.
The festival’s dark and quirky arts lineup has grown, too, with the addition of a latex-filled installation and performance by Japan’s Saeborg and an immersive group exhibition — of ten international artists, including Canada’s Cassils, USA’s Paul McCarthy and India’s Shilpa Gupta — inside the former Forestry Tasmania Building. Of course, all the festival favourites are set to make a triumphant return, too. You’ll be able to drink and eat amongst inverted crosses and candles at the Winter Feast, try not to freeze during the very cold Nude Solstice Swim and absolve your sins at Night Mass.
Images: Rémi Chauvin. -
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Vivid, Sydney’s annual festival of light, music and ideas, is returning for 23 days and nights this winter. The most overt (and unavoidable) aspect of the program is the lights, and for the second year running their glow will head across the bridge to light up Luna Park. It will extend the reach of the CBD’s Light Walk from Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Barangaroo with a collection of 50 large-scale projections stretching along the walk’s three kilometres. The Sydney Opera House’s sails will this year be lit up with hypnotic images of Australian flora from LA artist and video maker Andrew Thomas Huang (who has previously created music videos for Björk), and Customs House will be transformed into an underwater wonderland.
Vivid Music is once again in fine form. As was previously announced, The Cure will do four shows at the Sydney Opera House from May 24–28 — the band’s only Australian shows this time round. Tickets have already been allocated via ballot, so we hope you jumped on that already. Joining them for the Vivid Live component of the program at the Opera House will be folk rock singer Sharon Van Etten, performing hits of her poignant new album Remind Me Tomorrow, American singer Maggie Rogers and Perth up-and-comer Stella Donnelly, who’s heading to the harbour city fresh off the back of the release of her new album Beware of the Dogs. Another big one is a performance from FKA Twigs who’s bringing her experimental dream pop to Carriageworks, and Rüfüs Du Soul will take over the arts precinct for three nights of electro bangers on June 13, 14 and 15.
Live music gigs will also be held across the city as part of the program, including at the Lansdowne, Ziggy’s hairdresser and 107 Redfern. Vivid Ideas is, of course, back for those keen to delve into creativity, science and technology — and this year it’s scored Spike Lee as its big-ticket speaker. Lee will be in town to chat about his personal political views as well as his award-winning 2018 flick BlackKklansman.
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Since 2014, White Night has brightened up Melbourne with an all-night arts festival each February. But this year, the popular evening is shifting to a new winter berth. While the exact program won’t be revealed until closer to the event, White Night has made the move to August as part of a huge new winter festival taking over Carlton Gardens, Birrarung Marr and the National Galley of Victoria. The after-dark spectacle itself will still only run over a single evening, but the broader fest will be a three-day affair, running from August 22–24, complete with music, design, film, food, performance and street art events.
Part of the move is inspired by Melbourne’s long mid-year nights, with the lengthier stint of darkness allowing White Night’s luminous activities to kick off earlier — meaning that artists have more hours to play with, and families can enjoy an earlier start time. Aiming to become one of Victoria’s signature events, the overarching multi-day festival will build upon 2018’s bigger White Night program. There’ll be more installations, more live music, more on-street projections and more restaurants and galleries opening all night. We’ll update you as soon as the program drops.
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Victoria’s answer to Dark Mofo, WinterWild, is returning to Apollo Bay for two weekends this August. While last year’s after-dark winter arts festival was structured around the death and birth, this year’s theme is ‘visions and ecstasies’. Creeping into the coastal shire on the eastern side of Cape Otway, the festival will take place on the weekends of August 16–18 and August 30–September 1.
While the program is yet to be released, if it’s anything like last year, each evening will begin with a ceremonial bonfire on the beach. You’ll start with warming food and drinks before moving onto the rest of the shows and festivities. Mark these weekends in your calendar — we’ll update you with more details once the program has been announced.
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When it comes to Australia’s best food and drink regions, the Sunshine Coast punches well above its weight. It boasts rainforests, farms and the ocean all within extremely close proximity to one another, making for a unique ecosystem — and an interesting culinary landscape. And you can celebrate all of the goodness that this coastal pocket has to offer when The Curated Plate kicks off its inaugural season in August.
Across four days, the region’s best chefs and producers will be joined by Australian and international heavy-hitters for a series of long lunches, degustations, food markets, tours and much more. Events will take place in venues across the region’s hinterlands, rainforests and beaches with a beachside pop-up restaurant acting as the festival hub. Top chefs from around the country — including Peter Gilmore (Quay, Bennelong), Clayton Wells (Automata, A1 Canteen) and Alejandro Cancino (ex-Urbane) — will be taking over some of the region’s best eateries alongside international heavy-hitters like Japanese chef Zaiyu Hasegawa.
Meanwhile, Black Swan Park in Maroochydore will host a three-day food fair, featuring a bunch of local eateries, stalls and live entertainment, and Caloundra’s Moffat Beach will be running a beach cinema, with burgers, beers and limited-edition treats supplied by Gelato Messina. So, if you’re looking for an excuse to head up north (besides escaping the inevitable winter blues), this may just be it.
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Over the past decade or so, Orange has become recognised as one of Australia’s finest culinary regions. And, for one special weekend this August, Orange Winter Fire Festival will have the town bursting with great food, drink and cultural events, all with a wintry flavour. The festival will capitalise on the town’s winemaking status as some of the best local drops are showcased at events inspired by classic Australiana images, such as crackling bonfires and chargrilled feasts.
Held across the weekend of August 2–4, the festival kicks off on Friday with the nearby village of Millthorpe being transformed into a winter wonderland as country-folk duo Smith and Jones light up the stage and Pym Street bustles with food and wine market stalls. Meanwhile, back in Orange, Ross Hill Wines will host a fireside feast with mulled wine and lots of slow-cooked meats by Smoking Brothers. The fire theme continues on Saturday. Join in a night of live music and vino at Nashdale Lane Vineyard, head for hot cocktails, barbecue and campfire sing-alongs at The Oriana or enjoy winter soups and slow-cooked meats (as well as plenty of wine) at The Old Convent.
With poetry sessions, ‘astronomical journeys’ and Sunday roasts plus so much more taking place over the festival, a road trip to the Orange Winter Fire Festival would make for a pretty perfect winter weekend.
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Forget the idea that Port Fairy is a purely summery destination. The small town on the Princes Highway may be best known for its beach, but thanks to its annual winter festivities there’s still plenty to do when it gets chilly. From art installations and photography exhibitions to markets and toy-making workshops — plus the feverishly anticipated Dachshund Dash that attracts more than 2000 spectators — Port Fairy Winter Weekends are well worth the drive down the coast.
Taking place every second weekend throughout June and July, Winter Weekends will showcase a mix of food, wine, art, culture… and sausage dogs. Did we mention the sausage dogs? They’ll be pumping their tiny, adorable legs on Sunday, June 9 — although not before a dog’s breakfast and the grand doggo parade. Other standout events include bathing more than 15 colonial cottages and 19th-century villas in light as part of an illuminated installation, a country pub crawl, a mad hatter’s tea party, gin and whisky tastings, a Labyrinth screening complete with a dress-up shindig, hot wine paired with cool jazz, and ghost tales in a cemetery. Anyone willing to brave the early morning cold can also take part in the Winter Solstice Dawn Swim first thing on Sunday, June 23.
Port Fairy Winter Weekends will run on June 7–9, June 21–23, July 5–7 and July 19–21.
Image: Dark Mofo nude swim by Rosie Hastie.
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