The Port Festival runs every two years and the whole of Port Adelaide comes alive with…read moreperformances, exhibitions, artist market and free entrance to all museums in the surrounding areas. A perfect festival for family and anyone young and old. It's a brilliant initiative by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield in discovering the charm and beauty of this historic port. I took my kids here last year and it was a full day affair of free balloons, dancing to open air bands, indulging in Australian made ice cream and seafood galore, perusing the creative products by various artisans and taking full advantage of the free entrance to the SA Maritme Museum, National Railway Museum and the Aviation Museum. Expect lots of fun, giggles and huge smiles from all family members! Check out their website for the next Festival in 2013.

The best thing about living in Adelaide is embracing the multitude of cultural events throughout…read morethe year. With a rich and diversified community here, you don't need to leave the city to partake in the international flavour. Dozynki festival is a celebration of harvest amongst the Polish community in Adelaide. The national costumes is colourful and absolutely pretty. When the festival kicks off, a huge wreath filled with wheat and rye and decorated with flowers, ribbons, hazelnuts and the fruit of the mountain ash tree makes its way through a procession. Later cultural performances, songs and dancers liven up the Festival whilst the crowd enjoy Polish food and Polish beer and vodka. I love sampling international cuisine and if you're like me, you'll dig in the cabbage rolls, Zurek (sour soup), goulash and more! It is truly a colourful event and exudes the charm and beauty of the Polish community.

Celebrate the multicultural Malaysia in Malaysia Fest or popularly known as MFest…read more Held at Victoria Square, the festival brings together the beautiful culture, cuisine and arts and crafts of everything Malaysia. With cultural performances representing the various states across Malaysia, be in awe as you witness performances from the Dayak, Iban, Indian and Chinese community. There is also the silat performance, which is Malaysia's traditional martial arts which interest many. I haven't met anyone in Adelaide who doesn't enjoy a good plate of Malaysian food. Come here hungry and feed your gastronomical senses as you dig into the nasi lemak, murtabak, popiah, ayam goreng (fried chicken) and more delightful bites. Very much a family friendly festival for all to partake.

Hosted by the Australian Indonesian Association of SA, the Indofest is one of my favourite Asian…read morefestival as I get to savour all the delicious Asian food. As all cultural festivals, the Indofest aims to promote dance, culture, music, arts and craft and food of Indonesia to the South Australian community. If you are familiar with batik, you will find some lovely batik fabrics, shirts and tops for sale here. For a nonprofit organisation, the Festival organisers work hard in bringing in famous band and singers from Indonesia much to the delight of the Indonesian community. All in all, it's a fun and family friendly festival for all to enjoy. Note: Free entrance.

Held once a year last Sunday in November…read more The Semaphore Street Fair has successfully been running for the past few years but its future is in doubt and may or may not be around next year according to the Semaphore Road Traders Association, due to the local Council pulling the plug on funding. Considering it draws 15,000 to 20,000 people from all over Adelaide to the yearly event, it's a big decision. Without going into the politics and for those of you interested readers wishing to delve deeper, go to their website www.semaphoresa.com.au for full information. Purely as an independent visiting the most recent Fair held on Sunday November 27th 2011, every person and their dog was there on the glorious spring day that it was. Spanning from The Esplanade and 'sort of' spreading all the way down to Military Road, canopies flanked either side of the grassy median strip. A good variety of stall holders displaying their wares for sale, some quality handmade goods and quite a few non handmade as you get at every market, their products being browsed, stroked, admired and sometimes purchased. The atmosphere was buzzing as the day progressed and got hotter with more and more people arriving creating a river of bodies walking up and down the avenue of stalls. Spoiler AIert! I must point out at this stage the centre of the market spread simply disappeared, rather than having a continuous wall to wall of market stalls up and down Semaphore Road, there was a break separating the market atmosphere into two sections! A peculiar marketing decision with the massive gap in the middle of Semaphore Road compared to previous years and it gave an appearance of less stall holders. To get from one section of the market to the other was a disheartening walk to what seemed like a mirage in the distance on a hot day. Shop owners were having a field day especially food vendors and cafes as customers spilled out from their premises and after speaking with some stall holders not everyone was receiving market share. There was a handful of incidental stall placements in awkward spots receiving only a trickle of walking traffic come past their sites, compared to the hoards of passersby down the two main strips. On the day it appeared to be a success but market organisers need to ensure a fair and equitable event for all participants.

It is great to see a design market that brings a range of Australian designers into the Adelaide…read moremarket. These markets are held bi-annually and bring together a range of high quality stationary, clothing, jewellery and some small homewares items. There is also always a lovely selection of organic and fair trade food, coffee and drinks - normally including Let Them Eat and Red Door Bakery. My biggest challenge is that I would have to mortgage my house to be able to afford any of the items at this market. I can tell the quality of everything on offer is incredibly high end and that screen printing leggings or making jewellery takes time, but I guess I am more an online Etsy or op-shop girl where I know that my budget can afford a purchase. This year the range was good but not as broad as I remember from the previous year as I did get a bit of jewellery fatigue after about the 15th stall. It would be also good to see a better range of both middle and high end priced items. Overall I look forward to seeing this market continue to grow and flourish as it is continually getting more and more popular each time they run!

Bowerbird Bazaar. Where have you been all my life. Or, pardon me, I should truly say -- where have…read moreI been... Waiting outside for my friend to arrive did not prepare me for the awesomeness that awaited inside. Mummies and babies strolled past with bags and eatables, hip couples in beanies and mocassins stole my street cred, and trendy older ladies appeared to be seriously focussed on getting in to where the action was. And then it happened. The moment I walked in, I felt UNDER dressed - or could that be dressed in the dark dressed. Not at all one to shy away from a splash of wildness, I was wearing cool high-top shoes and sneaking a splash of fluro yellow under my khaki jacket. By the by - totes not saying that you needed to be having a wild outfit to walk in there, but --- there was a lot of cool dressed ladies, cool haired grannies, cool bearded blokes. I had to shove my hands in my pockets just to prevent myself from the want to un-creepily stroke a pleasant face-warmer* - or hundred. It was bearded man heaven, with a sneaky short-back-and sides gelled crop to boot. Moving right along the tripled isled cosy room, and beyond my initial shock of my personal presentation, was that comforting feeling that you are amongst a bunch of cool folks. Many of the wares and skills on display I had the pleasure of knowing from Instastalking fabulous artists -- like Gretel Girl -- and seeing her gorgeous creations in the uber fabulous and my favourite cafe E for Ethels (Melbourne Street). Getting to tell these creative folks "Hey, I know your stuff, I've seen it ...a) b) c)" hopefully was as much of an encouragement as their faces looked like that would be to hear. Whoever says that Melbourne is the hip and cool capital of the known Australian land needs to take off their shoes and eat their own socks. No offence if anyone does think that - because Melbourne is truly a cool place - but Adelaide is bringing its quirky charm to the surface and we are exhibiting greater quirky cool cafes and more awesomener cool artists and creators. So - if you are pondering the possibility of storming the Bazaar tomorrow, DO IT. You will regret it if you don't and you want to. You wont get to have a change of mind until the next one in November, so I suggest getting in tomorrow. Last day Sunday, if I had a free day schedule - I, too, would be back. *pleasant face-warmer = beard.

What more could you ask for than wine-ding down on a Sunday afternoon on the streets of Adelaide…read morewith 20 wine producers showcasing "their best" from around SA? #EastEndWineDown gathers 400 people into a laneway of Adelaide for $30 each, gives them a glass and says "go for your life" (but of course drink responsibly) over 5 hours in the sun. You won't have slim-pickings to find a squashed grape or two that takes your fancy amongst the line up of producers. And your munchies will strategically be cured by food trucks like Little Big Cheese Co, La Cantina and TacoCat who were there this year. Quaff a few wines, buy a bottle of your favourite that you have tried that day from East End Cellars in the same laneway and sprawl out on Splash Adelaide deck chairs, fake lawn, crates and tables in the shade for the rest of the afternoon. This quirky event brings out such a diverse blend of young and old from Adelaide to appreciate our local talent and produce. It has smacks of great organising with an undertone of good behaviour for most of the day and a lingering flavour at the back of your mouth that makes you want this event to run more than once a year!

This was the first event I've ever attended as part of the Adelaide Food and Wine Festival and I…read morehave to say I was impressed. Hundreds of wine enthusiasts got together in a back laneway of the city along with lots of wine producers from all around Australia, and we sampled, sat and sipped to our heart's content. There was a great set up of deck chairs, stools and milk crates and plenty of areas to sit and relax in. It wasn't hard to find a seat (apart from the first few people I asked that were saving every seat near them!). The food selection was good and there were a few different types of food available. Special mention goes to the free fairy floss!! I think it would be great to have some kind of food included - maybe a voucher or something with your ticket that gives you some olives and bread or something like that. For the ticket price it seems like that would be doable and also promotes responsible drinking. It was very helpful to have a list of all the wineries represented so you could mark off as you tasted. The specials offered on the day were also extended to the end of the month with a order form included in the brochure. Why not 5 stars? A bit picky but I was a bit disappointed that they felt they couldn't trust me with a glass made of glass. Since it was an inclusion of the ticket price i was expecting something more 'collectable.' Overall a great event and I plan to attend if it's on again next year!

It was the first time I attended this festival and it was kinda cool! I must admit it was the…read moreprospect of Japanese street food that drew me in the first place. Held at the primary school it was organised and set up by so many volunteers who have done a good job. Once inside there were stalls selling Japanese origami goods, plush toys, books, manga, anime culture collectibles, Japanese arts and craft and displays. There were three areas which had music and Japanese martial arts demonstration running throughout the day. Rather interesting. In terms of food, we indulged in some very delicious and popular Okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakitori chicken skewers and Tteokbokki (Korean). Special Japanese buns were also on offer along with sushi, onigiri, sweets, Japanese curry and bento sets. Something for everyone. There were kimonos to hire and classes for kids and adults alike too.

Sparkling wine, crispy calamari, chicken tacos, beer & fries... the ultimate combo for a fun night…read moreout at @norwoodhotelsa_ Atmosphere was buzzing and the vibes were just right. Can't wait to come back! #NorwoodHotel #AdelaideEats #PubVibes #SouthAustraliaEats #FoodieAdelaide

May is Oyster month it seems. So, we gathered our oyster-loving mates to take advantage of the…read moreOyster Fest that is sweeping participating eateries across the nation. We decided on visiting this particular pub to feast on oysters to our hearts' content. Upon arriving, there was no staff to greet us. In fact, we walked around looking for one and hoping for a menu. We made our way to the counter, which is situated in front of the kitchen, high in hopes that a staff member will pass by this direction. One emerged, finally. We enquired about the oysters. She responded with uncertainty about it being on, but will check and get back to us. That never happened. Basically, to keep the story concised, they had no oysters, citing having had a busy weekend that resulted in them running out. They had also had ran out of pulled pork. Clearly annoyed by the lack of communication, one of our friends decided to expressed her grievance with the manager. When he finally came over (it appears they are also understaffed this particular night), his attitude was rather non-chalant. To his credit, he did offer us a round of drinks. Fast approaching 8pm, we decided to dine there anyway, thus taking up on the drinks offer. We made our selection and placed our orders. Drinks arrived in a timely manner. Food did not arrive together, which saw one member with food waiting for the rest to arrive. We tucked in like hungry neanderthals once it arrived. From the $10 fillet to my mixed grill, every dish looked deceptively tasty and good value. In reality, the steaks were burnt, my mixed grill consisted of low quality meat. The chicken was dry, the ribs was bland and lacked flavour. The egg was not appealing and my sausage was below par. The only dish without criticism was the paella, which was complimented. I didn't try it, so will withhold my comments. It is my first time here and I'm sad to say that I will not return in a hurry. The lack of communication between kitchen and staff is evident. The indifference attitude from front of house is problematic. The quality of meals is generally lacking. I would like to come back when these issues have been addressed.