Top 10 Australian events and festivals

The Top 10 Australian events and festivals is a collection of the best bashes and cultural coming-togethers compiled from our 100 Incredible Experiences (right here in your backyard) special.

We Australians love a good bash; we throw celebrations across the country for everything from camel racing to blues music. Here’s our pick of the events you just have to attend.

1. Sail away – Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Queensland

If there’s one thing that the Whitsundays is synonymous with it’s sailing. Every August yachties and spectators alike descend on Hamilton Island to watch sails race around the islands and enjoy the accompanying on-shore happenings from fashion shows to exclusive dining events hosted by the likes of Guillaume Brahimi. Add it to your bucket list because: You can see stunning Hamilton Island at its best during the country’s largest offshore yachting regatta, Race Week . 20–27 August 2016.

2. Feed your inner Bacchus – Margaret River Gourmet Escape, WA

In just a short number of years the Gourmet Escape has become one of the country’s premier food events. So well-curated is the Escape and in such a stunning location that international and homegrown chefs both clamour for an invitation to be a part of it all. The names are big – last year it was bad boy Marco Pierre White and the year before Heston Blumenthal headlined – and the scenery, feasts on offer, and wines to devour are just as alluring to foodophiles. Add it to your bucket list because: You can see yourself in a tepee sipping a cocktail by those azure waters. For east-coasters, there’s no better excuse to cross the desert. 18–20 November.

3. Embrace the quirk – Adelaide Fringe Festival, SA

Adelaide in summer pretty much ticks all the holiday boxes: beautiful, uncluttered beaches, wineries a stone’s throw from the city, and award-winning restaurants and bars. Add the Fringe Festival to the list and you’re left with no good reason to stay home. The festival has been entertaining since the ’60s with the manifesto that anyone with a creative vision can join in, hence the wonderfully eclectic atmosphere and variety of arts on display, from cabaret to comedy. Add it to your bucket list because: The iconic event is basically Australia’s Got Talent, just more wild and totally live. 10 February to 12 March 2017.

4. Celebrate love in all its forms – Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

Perhaps one of Sydney’s greatest triumphs, the Mardi Gras , which culminates in a bedazzled and bawdy parade, is a festival of love and tolerance. It didn’t begin that way, however, when in 1978 the inaugural parade met its end in police violence. but The sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras returned in defiance and now attracts not only a worldwide LGBTQI community, but also anyone who loves a party. Add it to your bucket list because: It’s a visual spectacular that sweeps the whole city up in its infectious spirit. 4 March 2017.

5. Come over to the dark side – Dark Mofo, Tasmania

Dark Mofo defines itself by just how different it is from every other mainstream festival in Australia. Hosted by the equally peculiar and pleasing MONA, the festival celebrates darkness in all its literal and metaphorical incarnations through grand-scale, multi-discipline public art performances, such as crossbreed music, theatre and film events. Held over 10 days around June’s Winter Solstice, most (mainly night-time) performances happen in pop-up spaces around Hobart. The winter feast is a foodie must, while the annual nude solstice swim is an option for the fearless. Add it to your bucket list because: You won’t like or even understand everything that you see, but you’ll certainly be talking about it afterwards. 10–21 June 2016.

6. Settle an old debt – Alice Springs Camel Cup, NT

In typical larrikin fashion, the Camel Cup began as a bet between mates in 1970. The two took to a dry riverbed on their humped steeds and hilarity ensued. So entertaining was the grudge race that the event continues to this day on the second Saturday of July. Raising funds for those in need, it’s feel-good fun full of colourful characters. Add it to your bucket list because: If you get in touch with the right people, you may be able to mount a camel alongside your arch nemesis and settle that old grudge once and for all. 9 July 2016.

7. Join an outback institution – Birdsville Races, Queensland

On the dusty plains of cattle country, Birdsville swells with punters looking to get lucky at the races every September. The Birdsville Races began back in 1882 and starred stock horses and a handful of local spectators. Today there are 13 races and 6000 attendees. Like all legitimate racing carnivals, there’s a cocktail party and fashion on the field, albeit a little more wilted than at Flemington. Add it to your bucket list because: It doesn’t get much more Australian than having a cold one while watching horses race around in the dust. 2–3 September 2016.

8. Get folked Woodford Folk Festival, Queensland

The crowds are much smaller and the fireworks displays less intricate, but spending New Year’s Eve at Woodford Folk Festival is in the same league as partying at Times Square, New York. Woodford has been dancing to its own beat for 30 years and even moved to its own purpose-built site 22 years ago. Woodfordia is a micro-village, with all-weather roads, a visual arts studio, butterfly walks and ponds, that becomes home to about 2000 performers. Add it to your bucket list because: If you missed the Age of Aquarius and Woodstock, this is the closest you’re going to get. 27 December 2016 to 2 January 2017.

9. Let your dreadlocks down – Byron Bay Bluesfest, NSW

Australia is home to many fantastic blues festivals, but the ultimate remains the five-day Byron Bay spectacular held over Easter. Yes, it attracts covetable headline acts and is located on the east coast’s most desirable beachside getaway, but if we’re honest, what makes the Bluesfest such a must-do attraction is the vibe. The celebration of chilled-out tunes and a laidback crowd makes it an enduring treasure of an event. Add it to your bucket list because: Unlike other festivals, it doesn’t matter what age you are or where you’re from, everyone is here to enjoy the music and soak up the atmosphere. 13–17 April 2017.

10. See the greats in action – Australian Open Tennis, Melbourne

It doesn’t matter if your tennis prowess is limited to a hit and a giggle with friends, come summer it seems everyone turns pro. The Australian Open is one thing to watch on television, but to be close enough to see the sweat bead on the pros’ brows is fantastic. The atmosphere courtside is electric. If you go to one sports event once in your life, make it the Open. Add it to your bucket list because: You could find yourself at the match that reveals who Australia’s next big tennis star will be. 16–29 January 2017.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat , now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate , whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor , who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will , who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods . “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield , embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House .

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument , which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds .

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens , hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)