Things to do in Margaret River

See some of the best contemporary artwork from throughout Western Australia and vote for your favourite piece for the People’s Choice Award. The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, printmaking, drawings, textiles and photography. 5 December to 27 January, open daily 10am to 4pm, free entry.

Howard Park Cellar Door’s signature outdoor event, Oysters & Riesling, is back in January 2021!

Now in its 7th year, the summer weekend is always circled on the calendar by locals & visitors alike for celebrating one of the culinary world’s most decadent pairings. Citrusy, crisp rieslings with salty, rich Australian oysters will be the stars of the show from 12pm to 4pm on Saturday & Sunday, January 09 & 10.

At this steamy time of year, the winery grounds turn into an oasis of greenery – lush vines & cool shady lawn – for an afternoon of relaxing & unwinding with delicious seafood & perfectly chilled wine.

The weekend will proceed with the usual free entry & festivities, with the oyster bar up & shucking, more substantial seafood & tacos on offer for a long & lazy picnic lunch, while local favourites Kachina DJs return to spin chilled-out tunes from 1pm.

As for Riesling? Expect the usual selection of renowned classics from Howard Park as well as some cracking back vintages brought out from our museum cellar for the occasion.

Bring your friends, borrow a bocce set & lay back on the lawns to while away a summer afternoon.

The SunSmart Busselton Jetty Swim 2021 event will be the 26th year and they are planning to celebrate over 2 days with entertainment, activities and family-friendly fun, with the swim taking place on the morning of Sunday 14th February 2021. 

Solo and Teams: The course is a swim of 3.6 km around the Busselton Jetty, solo swimmers and relay teams of two and four are welcome.  The swim starts on the eastern side of the Jetty, heading out and around the end, and back to shore on the western side.

One Mile - Swim to Shore:  There wouldn't be many swims anywhere that you could start at 1 mile out to sea to swim back to the beach, that's jumping in at the deep end!  Swimmers will enter the water at the end of the Busselton Jetty on the western side and swim to shore, a distance of 1.6km or 1 Mile.

SunSmart Busselton Jetty Kids Swim. Junior swimmers can participate in the 222 metre Kids Swim for 8 to 12 year olds around the outside of the Swimming Jetty. This will be held at 11:30 on Sunday 14 February 2021 (after the main swim).

Be a part of the atmosphere and enter the best jetty swim in the world.

X-Adventure is the ultimate mix of triathlon and adventure racing featuring an ocean swim in the clear waters of Geographe Bay, trail run along the stunning granite coastline and mountain bike through the single tracks of Meelup Regional Park.

After the 2020 version of the event was cancelled earlier this year due to COVID-19, organisers Rapid Ascent are calling on triathlete and adventure racing enthusiasts along with Dunsborough locals to make up for lost time and get behind the 2021 event.

“We genuinely love what we do here at Rapid Ascent – conducting events that put smiles on people’s faces in some beautiful parts of the country,” said Sam Maffett, Rapid Ascent’s General Manager. “To have had to cancel this fan-favourite event three weeks out from the 2020 race was devastating; not just for us as a business, but for the participants who put their heart and soul into training and planning their weekend away. We could not be happier to see events going ahead in Western Australia and we can’t wait to deliver an even bigger and better X-Adventure next April!” said Maffett.

Conducted in a friendly and welcoming race atmosphere, the weekend features five different off-road races attracting more than 1,500 competitors and many more spectators. Athletes of all abilities are welcome with a race to suit everyone.

Held over two days, the premier Long Course race is included in the 2021 Triathlon WA State Championships.

The X-Adventure Long Course includes 34 kilometres of action with a 1500m ocean swim, 12km trail run, and 20km mountain bike ride. The course attracts racers from corporate relay teams through to weekend warriors and elite athletes.

Frenchman, Simon Billeau, a renowned triathlete and multiple X-Adventure competitor has nothing but praise for the course. “This is a fantastic course, even though it is tough. It’s a great race in such a stunning location like Dunsborough. We are very lucky to have this race here,” Billeau said.

The weekend also includes a Short course option (700 metre ocean swim, 6km coastal trail run and 11km mountain bike), an Aquathlon-X (1km swim, 5km trail run) event and other events designed especially for kids. This ensures sporting stars of tomorrow have a chance to join in the fun.

Located in the majesty of Geographe Bay, Dunsborough is renowned for its stunning coastal trails, beautiful blue water and awe-inspiring scenery. The courses stretch into the sacred Meelup Regional Park with all races taking in sculpted granite coastline, running tracks peaking with wildflower and free-flowing single-track for the mountain bike leg.

Entries to the 2021 X-Adventure Dunsborough are OPEN ONLINE at XAdventure.com.au.

Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival is the biggest regional literary event in Western Australia (WA). Each year it brings an array of thought-provoking writers to the region including novelists, journalists, academics and established and emerging storytellers from WA, interstate and overseas.

Themed ‘Future Tense’, the festival will look at both possible and highly imagined futures through a literary lens, to explore and share visions for the future from some of Australia’s most renowned writers, speakers and thinkers.

One of WA’s most popular arts events, Margaret River Region Open Studios, returns in September following the popularity of a Springtime event in 2020.

Open Studios promises to be more vibrant than ever, capturing the colours of spring and wildflower season and providing an opportunity for you to enjoy the Margaret River region in all its glory.

More than 100 artists from Busselton to Augusta will be opening their studio doors to welcome in art lovers and share their passion.

The event, marking its eighth year, features painters, sculptors, illustrators, jewellers, printmakers, glassblowers, ceramicists, potters, photographers, furniture makers, woodworkers, textile artists, metalworkers, mixed media artists and upcyclers who share a love of this beautiful part of the world.

Roadtrip to the region and make a holiday of it, going off the beaten path to visit studios of artists you know and love, and some new talent who might just be the next big thing! Renown artists who regularly participate include Leon Pericles, Rachel Coad, Lauren Wilhelm, Ian Mutch, Rebecca Cool, Mary-Lynne Stratton and Christian Fletcher.

In a play between fiction and reality, the black swan is traced throughout the history of the colonisation of Western Australia up to the present day. From historical to contemporary artworks, the exhibition explores how WA was presented to potential settlers, how its landscape was impacted and has changed over time and how the swan stands as emblem of WA against this tide of changes in its real environment.

JahRoc Galleries invite you to join the gallery in celebrating the opening of this breathtaking exhibition of realism coastline paintings of the South West by Leigh Hewson-Bower.

Sunday 27th December from 5-7pm.
Enjoy fine wine and live music. All are welcome.
 

“For this show I have chosen locations from the South West of the state, an area of unparalleled natural beauty. After sifting through many of my photographs in search of references I settled on the scenes that best express the grandeur of the ocean in this part of the world. I guess you could say that water flows through my work. I will rarely create a painting that does not include a representation of it. The first time I visited Rottnest back in the nineties was the beginning of my involvement with realism as an artist. Prior to that I was working in a more abstract fashion…the legacy of my art school years where realistic representation was not at that time the current approach. And so it was a liberating experience to simply try my best to represent something in paint. And I shall continue to do exactly that.”

Leigh Hewson-Bower 2020

Exhibition continues until 17th January. View exhibition artworks online: www.jahroc.com.au/

JahRoc Galleries, 83 Bussell Highway, Margaret River, WA.