Bourdain, Lush Long Lunches and Picassos: 10 Essential Events Happening in Adelaide This August

In the mood for a holiday? No need, Adelaide offers enough escapism this month to get you through the last few stretches of winter.

Monet to Matisse, AGSA’s winter show stopper, opened its doors last month with a substantial number of modernist masterpieces from the gallery’s permanent collection and from Ohio’s Toledo Museum of Art. It’s the perfect opportunity to get a glimpse of Monet’s Waterlilies without hopping on a flight. So that’s Europe sorted. Yakisan brings Asia’s late-night dining culture to the city. Tony transports us to Cape Cod for a chaotic summer. And Anastasia takes us on a Journey to the Past with its run at Festival Theatre.

Here are 10 things to do in Adelaide this month – and all the food news you need to know.

Jump to:

• Festivals

• Theatre

• Art

• Food and drink news

Festivals and events in August 2026

• Tony screening with Pantry on Prospect and Palace Nova Prospect, August 13: The highly anticipated Anthony Bourdain biopic is coming out this month. Guests at this preview screening will score a glass of sparkling, oysters (key to the film) and a charcuterie box from Pantry on Prospect’s Callum Hann. Tickets are available online.

• Fleurieu Food Festival, all month: For the entire month, the peninsula will come to life with special classes, lunches and workshops. Highlights include a hot winter lunch at Pearl in Aldinga, a long lunch – with a mystery guest – at Our Place, and a series of crafty workshops at The Salopian Inn. The full program is out now and tickets are available.

• Smoke on the Water, Place Dining on Kangaroo Island, August 29, $110: Place Dining, Kane Pollard’s roving degustations, are must-book events. In August, Pollard is cooking on Kangaroo Island on the banks of American River. He’ll be serving a meal of Kangaroo Island oysters, miso-grilled squid, seafood chowder, and a honey and saltbush s’more. Tickets include two glasses of paired wine.

• Yakisan Nightcha, every Fri & Sat, 10pm–midnight: This high-energy supper club brings a whole new vibe to North Adelaide. The late-night menu is casual but indulgent: there’s champagne and caviar, sure, but there are also cheeseburgers and hand rolls. It’s a party.

Theatre in August 2026

There’s a great collection of theatre and musicals coming to Adelaide in 2026. These are the shows you can check out this month.

• Logan St

Conceived by award-winning theatre maker Jacob Boehme, Logan St is set to be State Theatre Company South Australia’s first mainstage production by a Kaurna playwright. It’s inspired by the history behind Adelaide Mosque, built by migrant cameleers in the 1800s, and it follows an unlikely union forged between an Afghan caretaker, Goolie, and an Aboriginal woman called Dulcie. As their friendship grows, the story of another young Kaurna girl, who lived in 1836, surfaces. Boehme’s tale of resilience and quiet revolution features Aunty Lynette Crocker, Uncle Lewis O’Brien, Alexis West and Elyas Alavi.

Logan St runs until August 8 at Space Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

• Anastasia The Broadway Musical

Faithful to the 1997 animated film, Anastasia The Broadway Musical is touring Australia for the first time with Georgina Hopson (Titanique) in the lead role. Hopson honours the magic of the movie, especially in her renditions of Journey to the Past and Once Upon a December. Joining her on stage is Robert Tripolino as Dmitry. There’s romance, adventure and sparkle, and just a sprinkle of deception, rebellion and defiance.

Anastasia The Broadway Musical runs until August 23 at Festival Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Art in August 2026

The Adelaide art scene is chock-full of great exhibitions this year. Here’s what you can see this month.

• Two Islands, One Thread: Textiles of Lombok & Bali

Woven, embroidered and tie-dyed textiles – including previously unseen items from AGSA’s collection and loans from Lombok’s West Nusa Tenggara State Museum – will be on display in an exhibition that explores the artistic exchanges between two Indonesian communities. Artworks by the Sasak people of Lombok and people of Bali show how each respected their ancestors and their spiritualities. Two Islands, One Thread: Textiles of Lombok & Bali runs until October 11 at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

• James Tylor: Turrangka...in the shadows

Mildura-born artist James Tylor uses his art to explore his Kaurna, Māori and European heritage. Over the years, his practice has spanned photography, video and sculpture, often drawing on the language of the Kaurna people. Turrangka...in the shadows will be the most comprehensive display of his art yet, including his hand-tinted daguerreotypes (images created on mirrored or copper plates), as well as re-created Kaurna artefacts and digital photography.

James Tylor: Turrangka...in the shadows runs until November 1 at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

• Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition

See world-famous impressionist, cubist, surrealist and abstract expressionist works by master artists, including Cézanne, Monet, Matisse, Picasso and Renoir, in AGSA’s major winter exhibition. The Adelaide exclusive features 57 masterpieces from the 19th and 20th centuries, all on loan from Ohio’s Toledo Museum of Art. There are select works from AGSA’s collection too, showing how artists transformed modern art during this radical era.

Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition runs until November 8 at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

• Beginnings

Imagine if, when you shopped for groceries, you could see the whole cost of buying, say, a punnet of blueberries. Not just the dollar amount, but the labour of growing and picking them, the environmental costs of transporting them, preserving them and keeping them cool until they reach your basket. Adelaide University’s Mod gallery has created a convenience store where you can do just that.

Beginnings runs until November 20 at Mod.

Food news and new openings:

What we’ve covered recently:

• Alessandro Huerta’s new Mexican restaurant Barro has opened.

• Gang Gang has opened a new CBD location in the Market Shed.

• People are queuing for cult-fave ramen joint Toriok.

• Masa Bakery has opened a permanent location in the CBD.

You might have missed:

• Acclaimed chef Ryan Clift returns to Australia to open Skillogalee Restaurant in the Clare Valley next year.

• Hardy’s Verandah head chef Alessandro Mangione shares his favourite places to eat and drink in Adelaide.

Additional reporting by Emma Joyce.

This article was originally published in February 2026. It is updated every month.