AUSTRALIAN TRAVEL EVENTS

Jazz it up in Victoria

2007-10-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Jazz fans will want to be at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz from November 2 – 5, an event that will see leading Australian and international jazz performers take the stage.

Included in the international line-up at what is one of Australia's premier jazz festivals are the Dave Holland Quintet from the United States; American jazz guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel; Nils Wogram’s Root 70, one of Germany’s hottest young bands; Belgium’s Pascal Schumacher Quartet; and Danish jazz saxophonist, Jakob Dinesen.

Among the Australian line-up are the saxophone icon, Don Burrows; New Zealand-born and Sydney-based pianist Mike Nock; and jazz singer, Vince Jones.

The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz will also boast a blues programme, with performers from the United States and Australia.

The festival, which dates back to 1990 and has built a reputation for uncompromising artistic excellence, takes place among the fine wine and food districts of sunny Wangaratta, just two and a half hours from Melbourne,

The atmosphere is relaxed and casual and you can stroll from one venue to another. Typically, several venues are playing at any one time including a tented blues stage , hotels, the town hall and the cathedral. In between, you can wander through Reid Street and check out the local food and wine.

Red Bull Air Race returns to Perth

2007-10-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

There is now less than a month to go until the Red Bull Air Race returns to Perth for the finale of the 2007 World Series.

Last year more than 300,000 spectators flocked to the Swan River to see world-class pilots perform impressive gate crossings and turning manoeuvres, with even larger crowds expected in 2007.

This year’s event will take place over the weekend of November 3 and 4

To get a taste of this top class event watch the exciting footage of last year’s Red Bull Air Eace at Tourism Western Australia’s online television website.

Carnival comes to Cairns

2007-08-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

Cairns takes centre stage in Tropical North Queensland from Saturday August 25 when the region’s largest annual community event kicks off for 22 days of action, culminating in a 24-hour finale on Saturday September 15.

Festival Cairns is now in its sixth year, and each year the event adds even more spice to the city’s natural ambience, beautiful scenery and balmy spring weather.

Making its debut in Festival Cairns’s 07 programme, Sportsfest will start in adrenalin-charged style as athletes take their marks on the Esplanade in a contest of the fittest.

Across town at Cannon Park Racecourse, another event newcomer, the annual TimeOut Concert promises a rather large dose of music including Aussie hip-hop crew, the Hilltop Hoods and Melbourne funk outfit, The Cat Empire.

And while all this is going on, the good life crowd will be gathering on the northern end of the Esplanade — at this year’s Food, Wine and All That Jazz event.

For those who enjoy a flutter on the horses, the Cairns Amateurs Spring Race Carnival is part of the festival, and takes place on September 7 and 8. It's popular for the highly contested Fashions on the Field, socializing and celebrity spotting – and, of course, the horses.

Darwin is set for the big festival

2007-07-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

The Darwin Festival is the 'big one' when it comes to cultural events in the Top End of the Northern Territory -- and it kicks off this year on August 9 with the Santos Concert on the Esplanade, featuring some of the country’s most talented Indigenous musicians.

The popular Indigenous Saltwater Band will headline the concert, which is a free event set to attract a vibrant crowd as it gets the show on the road. The band is made up of eight young musicians from remote Elcho Island off the coast of North East Arnhem Land.

The performances move into the open-air Star Shell Amphitheatre with Nabarlek, a well-known indigenous band from Western Arnhem Land. This 12-piece group has toured extensively around Australia and will be performing songs from their new album Manmoyi Radio.

The fusion of Japanese art styles and Aboriginal stories from the Yirrkala community (near Nhulunbuy in North East Arnhem Land) will be the feature of this year’s Galuku Gallery, where the art works are suspended on palm trees in the Botanic Gardens.

This year’s Indigenous Dance Program features three renowned Top End dance groups and will be held from August 11-19. The highlight for 2007 is the North Central Arnhem Land group, White Cockatoo, who have an extensive international reputation. Their international touring schedule is such that this will be only their second performance in Darwin.

Taste of the Top is a one-night, silver-service, multi-course dinner held under the stars in the Botanic Gardens -- with a menu that features world-renowned chef Jimmy Shu’s reputable Indian/Thai and Nonya cuisine.

A brand new event for 2007 is 24-Hour Art’s Interpositions. This event is about bringing Asian artists to Darwin in a dramatic display of performance art on the streets around the city.

The Darwin Festival will be held over the 18 days from August 9 – 26 at various locations around Darwin, including Browns Mart, George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens and Darwin Performing Arts Centre.

Time out at the Birdsville Races

2007-07-16T02:14:00.000-07:00

August sees one of Australia’s most famous horse race meetings taking place: no, not the Melbourne Cup (that’s in November), it’s the Birdville Races in Outback Queensland.

This year the races will be held on the weekend of August 31.

The motto of the Birdsville Races is "the dust never settles" and last year, after years of drought, not a living thing seemed to grow from the red dirt of the race track, surrounded by sand dunes.

Things should be different this year: good rains have greened the Outback. There are now wildflowers, waterholes and breeding birds all around the region.

So how do get to the Birdsville Races? You can get there by car, but you really need a 4WD vehicle. Tank up whenever possible and check your oil and water. Be sure your spare is pumped up and you know how to change a tyre. And don’t forget: mobile phones will not work in much of the Outback.

If you decide to drive to the races,remember that the legendary Birdsville Hotel does not offer accommodation during race week. And the Birdsville Caravan Park does not take bookings for race week, operating on a first-in, first-served basis. It has powered and unpowered camping sites, toilets, showers and washing facilities.

Visitors to the races are free to camp between the outskirts of Birdsville and the race track and along the banks of the Diamantina river. Only limited toilet facilities are available: there are businesses in town that offer showers for a fee.

The easiest way to enjoy Birdsville for the race weekend is by taking an all-inclusive tour.

From Brisbane, Greyhound has a six-day Birdsville Races coach trip for AUD 789 a head departing Brisbane on August 29. It includes tented accommodation in Birdsville.

Mick Hanslow has been going to the Birdsville Races for more than a quarter of a century. In 1994 he started Birdsville Race Tours from Brisbane and the Gold Coast so he could share the fun and excitement he has enjoyed with people from all over the world.

Mick’s seven-day tours offer plenty of stops along the way at authentic Australian attractions (such as the Windorah Yabbie Races), and a weekend at the races.

This coach trip includes overnight accommodation in a country hotel. Meals and tents are included in Birdsville.

For visitors to Sydney who want to hop up to Birdsville for the races – and do it is style, Centre One Tours has a three-day Birdsville Races fly-in tour departing Sydney on August 31.

The cost is AUD 2595 a head and includes flights, tent accommodation at the Birdsville caravan park, a tour of Bourke, meals and race-track entry.

Gourmet weekend in the Barossa

2007-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wine lovers visiting South Australia are in for a treat in late August when this year’s Barossa Gourmet weekend offers an array of culinary and wine treats along with some great entertainment.

The event will be in full swing from morning till night on Saturday and Sunday on August 25-26.

Visitors can choose from traditional Barossa Gourmet experiences that include great food, wine and music with no prior bookings at Whistler, Kaesler, Elderton, Peter Lehmann and a host of other Barossa wineries, or book into a number of very special experiences.

The Gourmet programme will include international food styles matched with the region’s wines. The music too will stretch from blues and jazz to tango, flamenco, country and rock ‘n’ roll. And the grand piano at Richmond Grove winery will delight classical music lovers.

You can also book a special Gourmet experience and stay overnight in the Barossa -- special Saturday dinners are being staged by Turkey Flat, Barossa Valley Estate and Gomersal Wines. On Sunday afternoon, Ross Estate will match their wines to the flavours of Spain.

Krondorf Road will be a hub of activity with Rockford hosting a Krondorf Farm Breakfast each morning, Villa Tinto firing up the Argentine BBQ and Barossa Vines providing traditional Gourmet Weekend fare.

Special features this year include a comprehensive designated-driver scheme providing free non-alcoholic drinks for registered designated drivers and a shuttle bus service operating between participating wineries.

The 2007 Barossa Gourmet programme will be on the Barossa website from July 20.

The Territory is ready to party

2007-07-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

The Darwin Beer Can Regatta will be held in the Northern Territory capital on July 29 -- an event that started as an unusual by-product of the devastation caused to Darwin by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

The inaugural beer can race in 1975 was an instant success and has developed into a major event with boat entries ranging from one to 12 metres, some with fire hoses and ‘top-secret weaponry’.

Then from August 9-26 the Darwin Festival comes to town, including everything from free outdoor events to theatre, dance, music, cabaret, films, workshops, comedy and sensational cuisine.

Running for 18 nights with more than 1,000 international, national and Territory artists and cultural groups, the Darwin Festival reflects the indigenous, Asian and Pacific cultures of the region.

Meanwhile, on August 25, there is action in Alice Springs with the annual Henley-On-Todd Regatta, a day of fun where teams and individuals race ‘boats’ along the dry bed of the Todd River

Coming to Melbourne

2007-06-20T02:20:00.000-07:00

Sheep have played a big role in Australia’s history, so you might want to find out a bit more at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, which is being staged at Bendigo, within easy reach of Melbourne from July 20 to 22.

Featuring more than 28 breeds of sheep, goats and alpacas, this is the largest sheep and wool show in the world, incorporating a wool craft competition, an international fleece competition, wool fashion parades, sheep dog trails and some 150 stalls.

The Australian Sheep and Wool Show takes place at Bendigo’s Prince of Wales Showgrounds.

If design is more your thing, the Melbourne Design Festival takes place from July 5-15. at Melbourne's Federation Square. Celebrating the achievements of Australian design, the festival features exhibitions, events and seminars looking at graphics, fashion, multi-media, interior and architectural design, jewellery, furniture and landscape design. The festival brings together industry, designers and business.

And for film fans, the annual Melbourne International Film Festival, runs from July 25 to August 12.

The Melbourne International Film Festival, regarded as the most significant film event in Australia, presents the largest and most diverse programme of screenings and special events in the country, including the screening of a number of films that might not be screened in commercial cinemas.

Melbourne dives into festival mood

2007-03-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

A fantastic free festival is set to attract even more people to Melbourne during the upcoming 12th FINA World Championships in March.

The main focus of the FINA Festival will be the weekend of March 23, 24 and 25, when the area around Federation Square and the nearby Birrarung Marr riverside park will come alive with music, street theatre, spectacular light shows and roving circus acts.

The festival will start with a live concert to be held straight after the FINA opening ceremony at Rod Laver Arena on March 17 and then fire up again on March 23 when more than 60 local and international performing arts companies descend on the city to entertain crowds.

More than 180 free events will include world music concerts, striking street theatre performances, dramatic flame and fire shows along the Yarra River. The BMW Edge theatre at Federation Square will host late-night cabaret, circus and DJ acts.

Food and wine will also feature prominently during the main festival weekend as organisers are working closely with the Melbourne’s Food and Wine Festival (March 16-30) which coincides with FINA.

Australia's biggest wine festival

2007-01-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

The annual Barossa Vintage Festival is Australia’s largest and longest running wine festival, with more than 100 events and activities spreading over a whole week between April 7 –15.

This year the event is celebrating its 60th anniversary: what started in 1947 as a vintage Thanksgiving Ball has become a nine-day celebration of the Barossa: an enjoyable blend of top class food and excellent wine – and a lot more as well, including jazz concerts, fashion parades and even an air show.

With more than 200 different events the Barossa Vintage Festival is a must for any visitor to South Australia over the Easter period.

Advance bookings are essential for many of the festival’s events, and these can be made through Adelaide-based VenueTix

Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

2007-01-16T02:55:00.000-08:00

The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is a major event that attracts more than 250,000 foodies from around the world. They come to the Victorian capital to take part in a full calendar of food and wine events – more than 150 happenings across two weeks.

If you’d like to join their ranks, the dates to remember for this year’s festival are March 16-30.

Highlighting Melbourne as a culinary hot spot, the programme will include events such as the World’s Longest Lunch (March16) where 5,000 people will sit down to lunch at 25 scenic locations across Victoria; and the Cellar Door at Southgate (March 24-25), showcasing some of the state’s finest wines on the banks of the Yarra River.

The Original MasterClass Series is also back on the with a star-studded line-up of international chefs and wine experts.

One of the hot new events this year is the International FLOUR Festival (March 24 celebration of multicultural Melbourne, with the state’s best pizza, bread, naan, roti, noodles, pasta, piadina and gozleme on show.

And if that is not enough to make you break with dieting, Wicked Sunday on March 25 will be a day of decadence where everything from boutique chocolates and Victorian sticky wines to award-winning cheeses and “the best darned coffee on the planet” will be on offer.

Tasmania's Targa for April

2007-01-04T01:02:00.000-08:00

Tasmania has some of the best touring roads in the world – which makes Targa Tasmania one of Australia’s top car events.

Targa Tasmania loops around the island state in April each year. Held over six days, the 2007 event from April 17-22, will get under way with an expected field of around 300, including Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches.

The event runs over 2,000 kilometres on roads, that wind through a diverse range of landscapes, including coastal roads and mountain passes.

Targa passes by, or close to, some of the very best of Tasmania's natural wonders, including the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and an east coast touring route where, if the drivers weren't racing they would surely stop at some of the charming fishing villages to sample the fresh local oysters and crayfish.

An estimated 200,000 people turn out along the various stages of the Targa to see this multi-million dollar motor show -- making it a major tourism event for Tasmania.

Of course if you can't make it to Tasmania in April you could take your own Targa --and tour the very best of Tasmania at a pace where it is okay to linger over fine food and wine, and wonderful World Heritage wilds.

*Selling Down Under keeps you up-to-date with Australian travel product with a bi-monthly turn-the-page on-line publication for the travel industry. Make sure you get your online edition by going www.sellingdownunder.com or sending an email to register@sellingdownunder.com

Victoria for music fans

2007-01-04T00:37:00.000-08:00

The annual Sidney Myer Free Concerts – a popular event presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in association with the University of Melbourne, will take place on February 14, 17, 21 and 24 at the city’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

The 2007 Bowl season opens on February 14 with an exhilarating all-Russian programme, featuring soloist Caroline Almonte in Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 1.

On February 17, the tempo changes to a powerful programme of Verdi arias, ensembles and choruses -- four young Australian soloists joined by the voices of the Melbourne Chorale.

Mendelssohn's violin concerto features one of Australia's most accomplished violinists, Sophie Rowell, as soloist on February 21 – and at this concert, you'll also experience the timeless power of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 comes to the Bowl to wind up this year’s Sidney Myer Free Concerts on February 24 -- fresh from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performances of this work with Maestro Caetani on the Orchestra's 2007 European tour of Spain, Paris, Berlin and Milan.

Gates open at 16.00 and shows start at 19.00

Meanwhile, if you enjoy jazz, you will want to head out to Halls Gap in the Grampians National Park on February 9 –11 for the Grampians Jazz Festival.

And there is also the annual Echuca-Moama Riverboats, Jazz, Food and Wine Festival taking place from February 16-18. Highlights of this three-day festival along the banks of the mighty Murray River include the Riverboat Ramble – with jazz on board paddlesteamers, a jazz concert and a jazz picnic in the park.

*Selling Down Under keeps you up-to-date with Australian travel product with a bi-monthly turn-the-page on-line publication for the travel industry. Make sure you get your online edition by going www.sellingdownunder.com or sending an email to register@sellingdownunder.com

Women's Golf Tournament for Perth

2007-01-03T23:53:00.000-08:00

Perth is to host the Lexus Cup, a top international women’s golf tournament in 2007. This new major sporting event for Western Australia is expected to attract many of the world’s leading female golfers.

It will be played in December at the Novotel Vines Resort and Country Club in the Swan Valley, just a 35-minutes drive from downtown Perth.
Western Australia has also secured the first option to host the Lexus Cup again in 2010 and 2013.

The new event will follow a team match format, similar to the Ryder Cup, fostering the development of top-level women’s golf.

The inaugural Lexus Cup was held in December 2005 in Singapore. An LPGA Tour-sanctioned ladies team event, it puts 12 international players against 12 leading players from Asia. Team members are selected based on their rankings and season earnings, including two captain’s picks and two sponsor’s exemptions.

The Novotel Vines Resort, which is surrounded by wineries, hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic last year, and was home to the Heineken Classic for nine years up until 2001.

Selling Down Under will be featuring Australia’s top golfing resorts in the February/March edition. Make sure you get your online edition by going to register@sellingdownunder.com