World-Class Feasts and an Australia-First Light Show: Your Essential Great Southern Road Trip

The Great Southern region in south-west Western Australia is one of those places that truly delivers. It’s home to world-class wineries, pristine turquoise swimming coves and the ancient towering landscapes of the Porongurups. It’s the bucket-list destination you didn’t even know you needed on your list. In 2026, the region’s calendar is stacked with food and arts festivals – making it the ideal time to hit the road.

This year includes the return of Taste Great Southern, with top chefs, long-table feasts and masterclasses staged across dramatic seaside locations. The headline, however, is an Australia-first light installation presented by FORM in collaboration with Finnish artist Kari Kola, whose past works have illuminated the Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge.

The Great Southern invites you to slow down, but you won’t want to sit still. Alongside all the spectacle, you’ll find world-class cellar doors, charming bistros, group-friendly pubs and historic exhibitions honouring millennia of First Nations history. If you’re planning a visit, here is where to eat, drink, hike and explore to make the most of your Great Southern escape.

Taste Great Southern

Plan your trip around Taste Great Southern, Western Australia’s essential festival for food- and wine-lovers. Spanning four days, the event showcases everything that makes this cool-climate area a culinary hotspot – from its verdant vineyards to its pristine produce.

Leading the charge is Tides of Taste x Singlefile at the rarely open Maitraya Private Retreat, where visiting chef Jo Barret (The Age Good Food Guide’s 2024 Chef of the Year and World’s 50 Next – Pioneer) and Western Australian chefs serve canapés crafted from premium local produce paired with premium Singlefile wines, all with uninterrupted views of the Southern Ocean. Elsewhere, the Denmark Wine Hop turns you into your own sommelier, bouncing you between four top-tier local wineries on a continuous loop. With live music, lunch at every stop and transport sorted, your only job is to sip, stroll and repeat. Don’t miss the Taste Market for inventive dishes created by collaborating chefs and local producers, stalls of local wine and beverages and sommelier-led masterclasses. And for those who believe you’ve got to earn your lunch, the Peak to Plate event starts with a guided hike through the Porongurups, finishing with a meal by Bondi chef Guy Turland, set against stunning mountain ranges.

March 5-8. tastegreatsouthern.com.au

Lighting the Sound

 See the south-west in a striking new light at this Australia-first spectacle, presented by FORM Building a State of Creativity. Featuring the world’s preeminent light artist, Kari Kola, this breathtaking installation marks the Finnish creative’s largest work to date. Known for illuminating global landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge, Kola now turns his vision to Albany for an unforgettable experience.

Across three weekends, the free, 12-kilometre-wide lightshow will illuminate  the hills and coastline of Albany. Using 750 LED floodlights and 15 red lasers, the installation will cast a dramatic hue across King George  Sound, the Vancouver Peninsula, the surrounding hills and the Southern Ocean. The scale is so vast it will even be visible from space.

Kola worked closely with local Menang Elders to design the show, incorporating red light to represent the native bloodroot (menang) vegetable, used by Noongar peoples for millennia. To see the spectacle, head to Anzac Peace Park, the Marina, Stirling Terrace, or the Albany Town Centre, and settle in with dedicated food and wine hubs. 

March 13–15, 20–22 and 27–29. form.net.au/lighting-the-sound

Albany 2026

2026 is shaping up to be a landmark year for Albany, the coastal City with a rich and enduring First Nations history. The town will mark 200 years since its establishment, and the millennia of Indigenous history before that, with a year-long program, launching on New Year’s Eve.

From March 6 to 8, catch First Lights Kinjarling, which will use drones to light up the sky with ancient stories narrated by Menang elders. During the day, guided walking tours led by elders will share those stories on Country. From June, visitors can experience Albany Is – a meditative, self-guided soundscape designed to accompany you while exploring Albany’s walking trails.

Later in the year, the Museum of the Great Southern will present the seminal exhibition Kalyagul: Connections to Menang Country (running from July 4, 2026 to February 21, 2027). This free exhibition brings Menang artefacts, detailed paintings and portraits from the 1840s back home to Albany for the first time. The collection celebrates the Menang people’s ancient and continuous connection to Country.

From October 23 to 25, don’t miss The Song Catchers, a new work by West Australian Opera and arts organisation Breaksea. The all-ages performance follows the adventures of a curious fox and echidna, delivering a heartfelt tale inspired by conversations and workshops with Menang Noongar elders. 

albany2026.com.au

What to see and do in the Great Southern region

The Great Southern is an easy place to slow down. But between festival events, you won’t want to sit still. Here’s what to eat, drink and do between Denmark, Albany and the Porongorups.

Denmark

Drive the scenic route between Denmark and Albany, stopping for a quick dip in the sparkling turquoise waters of Greens Pool or Elephant Rocks – where you’ll spot adventurous swim clubs and locals enjoying a float in the salt water. Lace up for a section of the famous Bibbulmun Track or tackle the Monkey Rock trail for jaw-dropping forest and coastal views.

The town of Denmark itself is a haven for food lovers. Start with coffee and a hearty breakfast at The Top Shed, a rustic farmhouse cafe where friendly farm dogs roam. For lunch, get a true taste of the region at farm-to-table restaurant The Dam. Order wild-caught fish from Albany or octopus from Esperance, then sit back and enjoy the sweeping farm vista. Later, head to lively brewpub Boston Brewing for woodfired pizzas and local beers on the lawn. Wine aficionados should pencil in Singlefile Wines for a serene estate tasting, or visit Brave New Wine and Oranje Tractor for unpretentious, small-batch charm.

Albany

Start your Saturday morning like the locals do at the Albany Farmers Market (and yes, you’ve got to order a pile of fluffy soufflé pancakes from Stacks). Then, pivot to Bred Co for loaded ciabatta sandwiches and the best pies and sausage rolls in town – with fun flavours like butter chicken and lamb spanakopita. Pastries in hand, head to Torndirrup National Park for a stroll with epic coastal views, or Emu Point for a picnic and a swim. Then, explore Albany’s history at the National Anzac Centre and Albany Heritage Park.

Dinner options are strong. Liberté, led by chef Amy Hamilton, delivers intimate, Parisian-leaning vibes with French Vietnamese small plates and its cult-favourite “crack noodles”. In the realm of world-class dining, there’s also the charming Majuba Bistro, where a Michelin-trained chef serves impeccable European bistro fare: duck fat-fried pommes frites, three-cheese soufflé and heartier dishes like bouillabaisse. (Hot tip: order a local wine and head upstairs to the balcony to see the sunset.) If you’ve got a group, try the 500-person waterfront pub Due South, which stands out with house-aged beef, puffy pizza and truffle-mushroom loaded fries. And newcomer Kirby’s Atelier de Cuisine serves a seasonal degustation on Friday nights only. You can also step into the kitchen and take a cooking class, with themes like Moroccan feast, seafood, French bistro, decadent desserts and death by chocolate.  

Detour: The Porongurups

Set aside a day for the Porongurups, where cellar doors such as Castle Rock Estate and Duke’s Vineyard offer serious wine tastings paired with calming vineyard vistas. And be sure to pencil in lunch at Maleeya’s Thai Cafe, set beneath the ancient granite ranges, for home-style Thai food bolstered with veggies and herbs straight from the organic garden.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Tourism Western Australia.