Early summer’s a great time to get out and enjoy Western Australia’s wonderful outdoors, and the growing number concerts and wine and food events are a highlight of the season. Among these is Wignalls Winery’s Vintage Blues Music Festival, held at the Albany winery recently. The concert series, one of Albany’s biggest, was first held in 1996 and now attracts about 4,000 people.
Symphony at Sandalford has again lured the services of Marcia Hines, this year to be backed with a full symphony orchestra.
Sandalford Estate in the Swan Valley will host its symphony on January 21.
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Busselton’s food heroes get a moment in the sun with the annual Petticoat Lane stall event, to be held this year on January 25.
The annual street market extravaganza is one of the town’s major tourist drawcards, with the main streets cleared of cars and made welcome to foot traffic.
The event forms part of the week-long Festival of Busselton.
Petticoat Lane is similar to community events such as the Darlington Craft Fair, only on a grander scale. More than 200 market stalls gather together to sell their wares, with most, if not all, home made specialities of the stall operators.
The event attracts more than 7,000 people, drawing crowds to the diverse range of foods and gifts available. However it is the local produce – mostly organic and pesticide free – which sets the event apart.
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For those with a preference for all things gourmet, and who are travelling the breadth of this vast state of ours, never fear, relief is at hand. Country centres have been quick to pick up the pace set by Perth foodie hotspots of late, with some new arrivals making quite an impression on Perth’s food community. For example in Esperance, a new gourmet store called Onshore Traders has just opened on Dempster Street.
And Deckchair Gourmet on Blackwood Avenue in Augusta has made a significant impression since opening late last year.
A traditional corner store with a contemporary twist, the emporium offers local and internationally products, as well as its own products made on premises.
Joining these two new arrivals have been Drummond Catering & Fine Foods on Hay Street in Kalgoorlie and Somoré Gourmet Foods in Safety Bay.
