Wednesday 24 February 2016

What's on in Tassie This Autumn: Dropping Leaves, Dropping Beats, Kicking Balls and Open Stalls

It's that time of year and we just love it! Red wine is starting to be poured, AFL is back on the agenda and sporting events morph from long hot days, to cooler pursuits. Down south we're rolling out the Autumnal welcome mat with delicious food and wine festivals, beautiful boutique music festivals in incredible locations, MoMa market is back and so are the uniquely Tasmanian festivals like Agfest, Tassie Trails and Targa Tasmania. So don't just sit there, get yourself here pronto, our leaves are ready to change colour.

MoMa Markets Hobart

A market that's friendly on your gut? Our inner hipster just died and went to crafty heaven! The new MoMa Markets, conceptualised by Mona's First Lady Kirsha Kaechele, is a curated collection of stallholders like Anastasia Gardyne's floral creations, Bombay Irish who use vintage sari silk to create new clothing, Earth Angel small batch skincare, Glitoris,the body paint and festival glitter people and food from Drumhead sauerkraut, Evie and Ginger coeliac and vegan treats and Rough Rice. To name, but a few. There's also MoMa Minors where kids can learn about bugs and bacteria, arts and science. Every Sunday until 27 March from 11am – 4pm at Mona, Hobart.
www.momahobart.net.au

AFL in Tasmania

The start of an AFL season is full of promise and this year Launceston and Hobart kick off the first half of the season with four cracking games. From February until May, watch the play unfold in a NAB Cup game between Hawthorn v Carlton (18 Feb) then into the season proper with North Melbourne vs Melbourne (10 Apr), Hawthorn vs St Kilda (16 Apr) and Hawthorn v Fremantle (14 May). Pull out your supporter beanies, heat up the pies, it's going to be a great season down south.
www.discovertasmania.com.au/what-to-do/events/curated/afl

Devonport Food and Wine Festival

Surrounded by some of the world's finest seafood, beef and produce, Devonport spreads out the picnic rug again for the annual Devonport Food and Wine Festival 27 February – 31 March. Join this year's ambassador Scott Pickett, a Melbourne restaurateur, host of The Hotplate, author and award-winning chef to celebrate local food and wine in the heart of the Tasmanian food bowl. The festival is focused on food miles, which in these parts most produce is from within a few kilometres rather than hundreds. This year's program boasts over 30 events, from signature dishes at local restaurants, to learning about growing your own food and the signature launch event - a concert amongst the vines.
Follow the festival on www.facebook.com/devonportfoodandwinefestival

The Spiegeltent

Spiegeltent Hobart is set to return to Hobart's PW1 forecourt with a jam-packed program of music, comedy, cabaret and circus, headlined by internationally acclaimed act, Limbo. Making their Tasmanian debut, the gritty and glamorous Limbo is an award-winning spectacle of jaw-dropping contortion, fire breathing, dancing and sword swallowing. And shirtlessness. Limbo will make its Tasmanian debut for the duration of the Spiegeltent season, from 10 March to 3 April.
Tickets on sale now at www.spiegeltenthobart.com

A Festival Called Panama

One of Australia's best boutique festivals returns this year to Tasmania's northeast from 11 – 13 March. A Festival Called Panama sets up in the Lone Star Valley, a forest reserve outside Launceston for a three day lineup of carefully selected rising stars and celebrated cult figures appearing on the main stage, while smaller venues like canvas tents and tiny candlelit bars host a selection of wild jazz, cabarets, intimate acoustic sessions, DJs and story telling sideshows. Grab one of the limited 1250 tickets available, pitch a tent among the soaring Panama trees and enjoy some local Launceston coffee, fantastic food trucks and craft beer from around the state.
Tickets on sale now at www.panamafestival.com.au

Steamfest Tasmania

The Redwater Creek Steam and Heritage Society love steam. It's their thing. Learn more about why it's so fascinating when Steamfest Tasmania returns for the 22nd year of tooting good fun from 12 – 14 March, featuring steam train rides, the Grand Parade of incredible historic machinery, entertainment for kids, exhibitions, competitions and delicious food stalls. Check out the SteamPunk best dressed competition for some of the coolest 19th century costumes crossed with a wild west, machinery, supernatural vibe…if you can imagine that!
Check out the details at www.steamfesttasmania.org.au

Tassie Trail Fest

The Tassie Trail Fest straps on it's running shoes from 12-14 March, with an awesome line up of quality trail running on single track, double track and fire trails through grand Tasmanian wilderness in Derby, just outside Launceston. The festival features a 44km marathon, two 22km half marathons, 14km recovery run and night run, two shorter 6.5km runs and a fun 2km kids run. And with a sideline program of social gatherings - the Trails In Motion Film Fest, live music celebration and seminar series – it's an action-packed weekend in the wilderness.
www.tassietrailfest.com.au

Taste the Harvest

The foreshore along Devonport's Mersey River comes alive on Sunday 13 March, to celebrate all things quality food and wine for the annual Taste the Harvest Festival. The Producers Marquee features the finest line up of local produce – visitors will enjoy tasting and sipping their way through, picking up tips and techniques from top chefs, growers and producers along the way. Entertainment for big and little food lovers is on throughout the day with music stages featuring talented Tasmanian musicians, roaming performers, and a dedicated kids area with a jumping castle and face painting.
www.tastetheharvest.org.au

International Mural Fest

Our art galleries look a little different down here. Sheffield, the town of murals, features large artworks dotted throughout the town, a spectacle in itself. But each year, nine artists compete in a public 'paint off' from Easter Sunday to the following Saturday. The artist must complete a 2.1m x 4.8m mural, using a selected poem as their inspiration. Each year a new poem is chosen making no two Mural Fests ever the same. With over $20,000 in prize money on offer, the quality of the entrants is increasingly incredible and Sheffield benefits from a major mural acquisition each year. This year's Mural Fest runs from 27 March - 2 April.
Find out more at www.muralfest.com.au

Taste of the Huon

Now in its 24th year, A Taste of the Huon is a celebration of fine food, wine, entertainment, arts and crafts from the Huon Valley and Channel region, 30 minutes south of Hobart. On 13 and 14 March, pull up your picnic rug and enjoy the abundance of apples, cherries, mushrooms, salmon, wine, berries and truffles, all farmed in the picturesque area. Kids will be entertained with activities throughout the weekend and a full entertainment program promises some toe-tapping fun. The area takes in the Huon Valley, D'entrecasteaux Channel and Bruny Island, which are destinations in their own right, so it's a great place to make a weekend of it.
www.tasteofthehuon.com

Tamar Valley Writers Festival

As one of the biggest writers festivals outside a capital city, the Tamar Valley Writers Festival in Beaconsfield, from 18 – 20 March features a three-day program of free seminars, literary lunches and cocktail parties. With nationally recognised authors and critics like Graeme Simsion, author of the best-selling novel The Rosie Project, critically acclaimed award-winning novelist Alex Miller, human rights advocate and writer Julian Burnside QC and much-loved foodie Maggie Beer, the festival will embrace genres as diverse as popular romantic fiction, politics, crime, biography, humour, songwriting, and film and television.
More program details at www.tamarvalleywritersfestival.com.au

Skyfields Event

Sounds like an aeroplane festival right? Wrong! This is the Northwest Coast's own music festival, and one with THE most incredible mountain view. Overlooking stunning Mount Roland, outside the town of Sheffield (yes, the one with the murals), the line up of acts includes Missy Higgins with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Paul Dempsey and Dan Sultan, Halfway to Forth and Leah Woodberry. VIP and VIP+ tickets are also on offer for the 19 March event, with lots of added benefits like your lovely own toilets and a complimentary t-shirt.
Tickets on sale now. www.skyfields.com.au

V8 Supercars Tasmania

Get ready revheads, the V8 Supercars are back in town at the Symmons Plains Raceway from 1 - 3 April. Get along for the Tyrepower Tasmania Supersprint to see all the action. Grab a Paddock Pass for behind the scenes fun - see inside the team garages and amazing purpose built team transporters in the Transporters Parade, and maybe even grab an autograph from your favourite driver. The Disney Zone is sure to keep the kids entertained too, when they're not glued to the action. Tickets on sale now, from $30.
www.v8supercars.com.au/tasmania

Targa Tasmania

Now in its 25th year, Targa Tasmania is the world's largest, longest and hardest tarmac rally event, conceptualised from the best features of the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, the Coupe des Alpes and the Tour de Corse. But this is no slow motion re-run, it's a genuine red-blooded motorsport competition, covering over 2000kms of racing snaking through the Tasmanian wilderness. From 11 – 16 April, classic and modern cars alike battle in every corner of the state, racing at exhilarating speed on open roads. For the best viewing, check out www.targa.com.au

Great Chef Dinner Series

From April until October a posse of the world's top chefs will travel to Launceston to teach, instruct and work with future talent of Tasmania's hospitality industry at TasTAFE Drysdale. As part of their stay, the chefs will host small and intimate 'Great Chefs' dinners - six-course degustation dinners with matched wines showcasing local producers. Jacques Reymond, Donovan Cooke, Mark Best, Tetsuya Wakuda, Dan Hong and Michael Luo will work alongside TasTAFE Drysdale apprentices and qualified chefs. As luck would have it, the dinners April-July will coincide with AFL games being played in Tasmania, and the 'Great Chef' series culminates in a celebration of Chinese National Day and Golden Week with dim sum and yum cha events on 30 September and 2 October. With only 88 guests at each dinner, the $165 dinner and matched wine tickets will sell out fast.
Book today at www.greatchefsseries.com.au

Mount Field Centenrary Celebration

2016 marks 100 years of National Parks in Tasmania. And we're blessed with some big and beautiful ones, like Mount Field, the state's first National Park. On the 23 and 24 April, the Mount Field Fagus Weekend is on to celebrate with guided walks, a shuttle bus to Lake Dobson, the Lazy Sunday lunch, family activities and local craft and produce on show. And while we're on the subject, the fagus is a small humble tree, two metres in the making and Australia's only cold climate winter-deciduous tree. You'll only find it in Tasmania, showing off its superb autumnal display of colour.
Find out more about the Fagus Weekend and other celebrations at www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/tasmanian-parks-centenary

Agfest

Celebrating all things agricultural? We like the sound of that. Agfest is an agricultural field day bringing together fascinating machinery and vehicles, an equine expo and sheep dog trials, giant fish tank, timbersports, a fine food pavilion, craft pavilion, an AgArtwear design competition and a 4WD test track…seriously! Organised annually by volunteers from Rural Youth Tasmania from 5 – 7 May at Carrick, Agfest promises to be another jam-packed event this year.
More information at www.agfest.com.au

Tasmanian Red Wine Weekend

In what promises to be a true celebration of everything superb about red wine down south, the Tasmanian Red Wine Weekend returns for another year on 21 - 22 May. Hobart's waterfront playground, PW1, puts a roof over an extensive selection of boutique and big name winemakers from around the state, showing everything from our renowned Pinot Noir to Shiraz, Merlot and exciting red blends. Talk to the people who know Tasmanian reds from the vineyards to the barrels and everything in between.
www.winesouth.com.au

For a full and up-to-date listing of Tasmanian events, and information on travelling to Tasmania, visit the Discover Tasmania website www.discovertasmania.com.au.

No comments:

Post a Comment