Bright Autumn Festival 2014

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Posted 2014-03-19 by Lorraine A ⇒ follow

Fri 25 Apr 2014 - Sun 04 May 2014

If you're looking for a great excuse to get away for a week or a weekend then I think I have found the perfect excuse with the upcoming annual Bright Autumn Festival. The festival is all about the colour of the beautiful trees mixed with the best food, wine and entertainment for 10 days starting from the 25th of April through to the 4th of May with the gala day being on the 3rd of May. The festival is famous within Australia and well worth the visit if you enjoy majestic countryside and seeing autumn colour at its best.

So what's there to do at the festival I hear you say? The festival runs for ten days in total and offers a full program for each of the days. Most people come to the festival for the atmosphere and the beauty but there is much more to do and see, such as 11 open gardens, markets, autumn art show ( art works for sale), evening entertainment with bands and comedy acts, wine tours, farm tours, even country pub tours, pony club show jumping displays and so much more.

On Gala day the 3rd of May you can expect to find a kids corner with free face painting, puppeteer, story telling, circus and more. Gala day incorporates a market and street entertainment, classic and vintage car display with sausage sizzle, grand parade at 1:45 with floats from local businesses and community groups, brass and pipe bands. Entertainment in Howitt park from 3pm will feature Victoria's best A grade brass bands. Fabulous foliage tour and dinner with Angus Stewart at Boynton Feathertop costs $115 pp including a 2 hour foliage tour and a three course dinner at the winery. Alpine actors - A night of comedy starts at 7:30 pm and costs $15pp.

I also noticed a photography masterclass tour with Meike Boyton between 10-4pm on the 4th of May for $115 with lunch packs included. With Bright being such a stunning area, what better place to learn to perfect your photography skills.

Make sure you have a look at the full program of the Bright Autumn Festival here to find all the free events, tours ( which are available to book via the links on the program ) and the nightly entertainment acts.

For accommodation you will need to book early as it's one of Bright's busiest times of the year. If you want to stay somewhere in the centre of town that is a little bit fancy then take a look at the Centenary Peaks apartments which are literally a stones throw to Howitt Park, though priced at $330 per night it's on the pricey side.

The Evening Star at Bright looks like an amazing place to stay if you are after pure luxury, I will keep dreaming of staying here (no kids allowed). Take a look at their website for prices and pictures.

Okay back to reality, there are a few great caravan parks in Bright including the Riverside Holiday Park , Pine Valley Park , Bright Holiday Park is fantastic, it's right on the river and if you have kids it offers plenty of space for them to run around. There are also 3 caravan parks at nearby Porepunkah including the Big 4 Park , Bridge Park and the Porepunka Pines tourist resort (pets are allowed here if you want to bring the entire family).

There are so many accommodation options in Bright and surrounds, for a full list click here . Remembering that many options are also available on Stayz , Booking.com and Wotif if you want to search for a bargain.

With accommodation and the festival covered all that is left to discuss is food and with many renowned chefs in Bright, which is the best place to eat at?
Well from my research Simone's restaurant is a long time favourite, Thirteen Steps restaurant is considered one of the best if not the best in Bright. Poplars for French inspired food and the Alpine Hotel Pub is popular. Do you have a favourite restaurant in Bright to share with us all?