Barossa Vintage Festival 2027 (21–25 April): Program, Tickets, Tours and Where to Stay

What is the Barossa Vintage Festival?

It is a five-day community festival that marks the end of the grape harvest (“vintage” in Australian wine terms), held in the Barossa since 1947. Unlike a ticketed wine show in a single hall, it spreads across the whole region: wineries host long lunches and masterclasses, towns hold “town days”, and the Lutheran churches, brass bands and heritage societies all take part.

Three things set it apart from other wine festivals:

1. The locals run it for themselves first. In the organisers’ words, it is “a special kind of event, where the locals put on a party and invite visitors to join in the fun”. You will find volunteer-run markets and school floats alongside the polished winery dinners.
2. The German heritage is real. The Ziegenmarkt (“goat market”), a revived 1800s live auction in Tanunda, brings back rote Grütze (red berry pudding) and Barossa smallgoods. Brass bands and church choirs are part of the week.
3. It follows the harvest. Picking usually wraps up in March or April, so you will see the vines turning gold and red more than harvest in full swing. Our best time to visit the Barossa guide covers the vintage months.

For German-speaking visitors: Prussian and Silesian Lutherans settled the Barossa from the 1840s. Seppeltsfield, for example, was founded in 1851 by the Silesian merchant Joseph Ernst Seppelt. Festival traditions like the Ziegenmarkt and the brass bands come straight from that line.

When is the Barossa Vintage Festival 2027?

From Wednesday 21 April to Sunday 25 April 2027. The dates appear on the official festival site, Barossa Australia’s events listing and the South Australian Tourism Commission’s listing. A few third-party festival sites show other dates (23–27 April 2027, for example); trust the official ones.

Key dates around it:

What’s on? The Barossa Vintage Festival program

The 2027 program is due in mid-December 2026, and we will update this page that week. Until then, the 2025 and 2023 programs are the best guide. The festival repeats its “hallmark events” each time, and the official site lists the Parade, Ziegenmarkt, Scarecrows, Parade After Party, Grapestomp, Club Vintage and the Barossa Big Sing among them.

The signature events

Details are from the 2025 program unless marked; every 2027 time and price is still to be announced.

Price check (approximate conversions at A$1 ≈ US$0.65 / £0.49 / €0.57; check current rates): A$35 ≈ US$23 / £17 / €20; A$99.95 (the TrailHopper) ≈ US$65 / £49 / €57; A$425 ≈ US$276 / £208 / €242.

Do you need tickets for the Barossa Vintage Festival?

There is no festival pass. You buy a ticket for each event you want. In past festivals the parade, Ziegenmarkt, town days, Scarecrows and the After Party were free, while food and wine events were ticketed one by one. In 2019 the festival director said “nearly half of the events are free or less than $20”, and that “many events [were] already sold out” before the festival began. Plan around that pattern: the free events are easy, and the best lunches and dinners go fast.

How to buy: only through the official site, barossavintagefestival.com.au/events, once the program is live in mid-December 2026. Skip third-party “festival packages” that do not name the event.

The 2027 parade: what’s changed?

The parade moves from the morning to the afternoon. In recent festivals it started at 10am; for 2027 the organisers’ statement says it is planned to depart Tanunda at about 3pm and arrive in Nuriootpa around 5–5:30pm, with sunset at 5:40pm.

What is known so far:

• The time and direction. About 3pm from Tanunda to Nuriootpa, according to the organisers’ parade time change statement on the festival site. It is a plan until the program is published.
• The day. Saturday 24 April 2027, as reported by the Barossa Leader on 7 October 2026. The organisers’ statement does not name the day.
• The reason. Organisers told the Barossa Leader (21 October 2026) that the move “was informed by strategic reviews and recent feedback provided by community and stakeholders”. They also point to a 1950 festival program showing a 3:30pm parade, so the change is partly a return to tradition.
• Not yet confirmed: the exact route, the finish point in Nuriootpa and what happens afterwards. In 2025 the parade ran about 8 km from Coulthard House in Nuriootpa along Murray Street and Barossa Valley Way to Tanunda Recreation Park; in 2021 it ran the other way, from Tanunda to Nuriootpa.

What it means for you:

• Your Saturday morning is free. A sunrise balloon flight, a morning cellar-door tour or Seppeltsfield’s Centennial Cellar fit before the parade.
• The late-afternoon light is better for photos, but the parade ends around dusk. Plan your ride home before you arrive (see the transport section below).
• If you are coming from Adelaide for the day, pick a tour that stays late or book a bed for Saturday night.

History: how did the Barossa Vintage Festival start?

The festival began in 1947 as a single event: a thanksgiving ball celebrating the end of the harvest and the end of World War II. Winemakers Bill Seppelt (Seppelt) and Colin Gramp (Orlando, the forerunner of Jacob’s Creek) organised it, after Seppelt saw harvest thanksgiving festivals in Europe. Growers had long gathered at Seppelt’s, and later at Gramp’s Orlando winery, for the post-vintage “payday”, and the ball made that tradition formal. Colin Gramp later recalled the first ball being held at the Nuriootpa War Memorial Institute.

Over the decades, the Vintage Festival Queens gave way to today’s Young Ambassador Program, a nine-month leadership program for 18- to 26-year-olds, with one Barossa Young Ambassador named on festival weekend.

Is the festival worth planning a trip around?

Yes, if you want atmosphere and are happy to plan ahead. You see the Barossa as a working community, not only a string of tasting rooms, and a Thursday breakfast at the Ziegenmarkt only comes round every second April.

Go in knowing the downsides:

• Crowds. The organisers’ latest figures show 54,901 total attendance. Tanunda and the parade route get busy, and popular cellar doors are fuller than usual, especially as the 2027 festival falls inside the SA school holidays.
• Sell-outs. Headline lunches and dinners sell out. If you want a particular one, be online on program-launch day.
• Cost. The free events cost nothing, but a festival long lunch plus accommodation at festival rates adds up quickly.
• Getting around. Taxis are limited and nobody should drive between tastings, so transport needs planning (see below).

For most visitors we suggest one ticketed event you care about (a long lunch), one free hallmark event (the Ziegenmarkt or the parade), and a guided tour on another day so nobody has to drive.

Sample plan: how to spend 21–25 April 2027

This plan follows the rhythm of the 2025 program. Swap in confirmed 2027 events once they are released.

Wednesday 21 April: arrive and settle in. Drive or transfer up from Adelaide (about an hour). In 2025 the opening day included the Angaston Town Day, so expect a similar community start. Spend a relaxed cellar-door afternoon in Tanunda, then have dinner in town.

Thursday 22 April: heritage morning, winery afternoon. If the Ziegenmarkt keeps its usual Thursday slot (8am to noon in 2025), have breakfast there, bid on preserves and try the rote Grütze. In the afternoon, join a small-group tour so you can taste properly: the Barossa Valley Small Group Wine Tour (Includes Lunch) runs inside the valley, from US$136, 4.9/5 from 59 reviews.

Friday 23 April: the long lunch, or the Hills. Book your main festival lunch. Or spend the day at A Taste of the Hills in the Adelaide Hills (see the combination below).

Saturday 24 April: parade day (as reported).

• Sunrise: a hot-air balloon flight over the valley (A$395–410; weather-dependent), booked direct with Barossa Valley Ballooning or Barossa Balloon Adventures.
• Late morning: Seppeltsfield’s Centennial Cellar tasting, or a short cellar-door hop on the TrailHopper.
• 2pm: claim your spot in Tanunda.
• About 3pm: the Vintage Festival Parade.
• Evening: any after-party or dance event in the 2027 program (Club Vintage cost A$35 in 2025).

Sunday 25 April: Anzac Day and the finale. An optional dawn service (see the Anzac Day section), then a slow breakfast. The final day has traditionally been relaxed, such as the 2025 Great Vintage Picnic in Lyndoch. Head back to Adelaide in the afternoon.

One day from Adelaide: the best festival day trip

Go on parade day. Take a full-day tour or the TrailHopper in the morning and early afternoon, then stay for the parade. Standard day tours usually head back to Adelaide before an afternoon parade ends, so check return times when you book, or book a Saturday night in Tanunda and make it an overnighter. Our top guided pick is the Premium Barossa Wine tasting, Lunch & Chocolate tour (A$189 direct or from US$132 on GetYourGuide, 4.8/5 from 1,580 reviews); more options are in our Barossa wine tours from Adelaide guide.

A three-day festival weekend (Friday 23 to Sunday 25 April)

• Friday: a festival long lunch, then dinner in Tanunda.
• Saturday: a balloon flight, Seppeltsfield, then the parade.
• Sunday: an Anzac dawn service (optional), a Barossa farmers’ breakfast, Eden Valley Riesling and back to Adelaide.

For more ways to split your days, read how many days to spend in the Barossa.

Barossa Vintage Festival plus A Taste of the Hills

A Taste of the Hills runs from 17 to 25 April 2027, so it overlaps the whole Vintage Festival. The Adelaide Hills festival has moved from a single March weekend (its 2026 edition was 28–29 March at Lenswood) to a nine-day format with a Festival Village, Signature Experiences and “Around the Hills” events. Its 2027 program and ticket release have not been announced.

How to combine them:

• Hills first: Saturday 17 to Tuesday 20 April in Hahndorf, then Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 in Tanunda. You avoid backtracking and catch the best days of both festivals.
• One Hills day trip from the Barossa: drive the scenic route via Williamstown and Chain of Ponds (about 1.5 hours), or base yourself in Adelaide and do one festival day each. Without a car, the Barossa to Hahndorf Wine Tasting and Lunch tour (from US$125, 4.6/5 from 987 reviews) covers both regions in a day from Adelaide.

Where to stay for the Barossa Vintage Festival

Stay in Tanunda if you can. The 2027 parade starts there, it has the most restaurants within walking distance, and it hosted the 2025 hallmark events (the Ziegenmarkt, the After Party and Club Vintage). With a five-day festival, school holidays, the Anzac Day long weekend and A Taste of the Hills competing for the same rooms, we recommend booking four to six months ahead, which means by November or December 2026. Choose free-cancellation rates so you can adjust once the program is out.

Sold out? Look in Lyndoch, Angaston or Gawler, or stay in Adelaide and come up on a tour. Our where to stay in the Barossa guide compares every town.

How do you get to and around the Barossa during the festival?

Do not plan on driving between tastings. South Australia’s legal limit for fully licensed drivers is 0.05 BAC, and you should expect a visible police presence around festival events.

• Driving from Adelaide: about an hour to Tanunda via the Northern Expressway, or 1.5 hours on the scenic route.
• Public transport: the train from Adelaide Railway Station to Gawler Central, then the LinkSA bus (route 1110) through Lyndoch and Tanunda. It takes about two to two and a half hours each way and the buses are infrequent, so it works for getting there but not for winery-hopping. Our Barossa wine bus vs private driver vs self-drive guide compares the options.
• Hop-on hop-off: the TrailHopper Barossa Valley Hop-On Hop-Off Tour costs A$99.95 from the city or A$89.95 from Tanunda, 4.7/5 from 83 reviews. Its A$10 public holiday surcharge is likely to apply on Anzac Day (Sunday 25 April), so confirm when booking.
• Guided tours: the easiest option. Taste the Barossa’s Premium tour (A$189, 4.8/5 from 1,580 reviews) is our top pick. Book festival dates early, because Saturdays fill first. If you are unsure which format suits you, read which Barossa wine tour is right for you.
• Taxis and rideshare: local taxis are limited, and in our experience most finish around 5pm; Uber is patchy. With an afternoon parade, pre-book your evening transfer or sleep within walking distance.
• E-bikes: the sealed Barossa Trail links Gawler, Lyndoch, Tanunda, Nuriootpa and Angaston. It is lovely in autumn, but do not ride after a long lunch. The Gourmet Food and Wine E-Bike Tour starts in Angaston (from US$233, 5.0/5 from 14 reviews).

What’s the weather like in the Barossa in late April?

Late April is mild autumn. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Nuriootpa station (1996–2026 averages) records an April average maximum of 22.1°C (72°F) and an average 3pm temperature of 20.7°C, with cool nights of about 9–11°C (48–52°F) and occasional showers. Other climate summaries for Nuriootpa vary: Climate-Data.org gives a 20.8°C average April maximum and 31 mm of rain, and Weather2Visit gives 21.9°C and 42 mm over about six rainy days. Early April can still be warm: the Bureau recorded 25.1°C and 27.1°C at Nuriootpa on 1–2 April 2025.

What to wear: layers. Bring a warm jacket for the parade’s finish around dusk and for pre-dawn balloon starts, comfortable shoes for standing kerbside, and something light for a sunny long lunch. The vine leaves are usually turning gold and red, the best time of year for photos.

Fire danger: The Barossa Council says the 2026–27 Fire Danger Season “is expected to start 1 December 2026 to midnight 30 April 2027” in its area (the Mount Lofty Ranges fire ban district), so it will probably still apply during the festival. The CFS has not yet published the official dates, and the 2024–25 season was extended from 30 April to 14 May. Restrictions can affect outdoor cooking.

Anzac Day: what you need to know (Sunday 25 April 2027)

Anzac Day falls on the festival’s final day, Sunday 25 April 2027. It is Australia and New Zealand’s national day of remembrance, and the Barossa towns hold dawn services.

• Dawn services: 2027 times are not published yet. In past years Angaston’s service was at 6am (War Memorial, 2019), Tanunda’s at 5:30am (Memorial Gardens, 2023) and Nuriootpa’s at 6:30am (RSL, Memorial Avenue, 2023). Visitors are welcome; stay quiet and respectful. Check with RSL SA closer to the date.
• Shop trading: SafeWork SA lists non-exempt shops as trading from 12 noon to 5pm on Anzac Day. Cafés, restaurants and smaller exempt shops are largely unaffected. The rules for large retailers have been changing (2026 coverage reported suburban supermarkets allowed to trade from noon to 9pm), so check before you plan any shopping.
• Cellar doors and alcohol: SBS reports that SA has “no specific Anzac Day alcohol restrictions”. Wineries and festival events set their own hours, and some open later out of respect, so check each one.
• Public holiday surcharges may apply to tours, cafés and taxis.

Can you do the festival from a cruise ship?

Probably not in 2027. The City of Port Adelaide Enfield’s 2026–27 schedule ends the cruise season with Celebrity Edge on Monday 12 April 2027, nine days before the festival opens. One third-party tracker lists Holland America’s Westerdam calling on Sunday 26 April 2027, the day after the festival, but the official schedule does not show that call.

Is the Barossa Vintage Festival good for kids?

Yes. It is one of the most family-friendly wine festivals in Australia, and in 2027 it falls entirely within the SA school holidays (10–25 April). The best picks for children are the parade, the Ziegenmarkt, spotting scarecrows, Grapestomp (for older kids) and the parade after-party, which in 2025 had kids’ activities and a Teddy Bear Picnic. Balloon flights take children from about 10 years old (a child fare of A$335 with Barossa Balloon Adventures).

Booking timeline: when to book what

Which famous wineries should you visit during the festival?

• Seppeltsfield. Founded in 1851, it celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2026. The Centennial Cellar holds a barrel of Tawny from every vintage back to 1878; the Centennial Cellar Experience is booked direct with the winery.
• Yalumba (Angaston), Henschke (Eden Valley; book ahead) and Jacob’s Creek (Rowland Flat; a 2025 festival venue).
• Hentley Farm won a star in the first MICHELIN Guide South Australia, announced in Adelaide on 14 October 2026. Glam Adelaide reported it “earned a star for its vineyard dining experience, led by executive chef Kyle Johns”, and the restaurant calls itself one of “Australia’s first 11 MICHELIN-starred restaurants”. It serves lunch only, Thursday to Sunday, so book months ahead.
• Penfolds no longer has a Barossa cellar door. Its Nuriootpa cellar door at 30 Tanunda Road, a 2025 festival venue, closed in June 2025; visit Magill Estate in Adelaide instead.

For a longer shortlist, see the best Barossa wineries for wine tasting.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Barossa Vintage Festival 2027?

Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 April 2027. The parade is planned to leave Tanunda at about 3pm; the Barossa Leader reports it is on Saturday 24 April.

How often is the Barossa Vintage Festival held?

Every two years, in odd-numbered years. It has been biennial since 1965; before that it was planned as an annual event.

When does the 2027 program come out?

The organisers say the program launch is scheduled for “mid December 2026”, with tickets sold at barossavintagefestival.com.au/events.

Is the Barossa Vintage Festival free?

Partly. Hallmark events such as the parade, the Ziegenmarkt and the town days have been free. Lunches, dinners and masterclasses are ticketed one by one (up to A$425 in 2025).

What time is the Barossa Vintage Festival Parade?

In 2027 the organisers plan for it to leave Tanunda at about 3pm and reach Nuriootpa around 5–5:30pm, a change from the 10am start in 2025. The exact route will be in the program.

Why is it called the Vintage Festival?

In Australian wine terms, “vintage” means the grape harvest. The festival celebrates the end of each year’s harvest.

How old is the Barossa Vintage Festival?

It dates back to 1947, when a thanksgiving ball marked the end of the harvest and of World War II. It is billed as Australia’s longest-running wine festival.

Where should I stay for the festival?

Tanunda, for walking to dinner and the parade start. Book four to six months ahead and choose free cancellation.

Can I get to the festival without a car?

Yes. Use a guided tour or the TrailHopper, or the train to Gawler plus the LinkSA bus. Taxis are limited, so pre-book evening rides.

Is the festival on Anzac Day?

The final day, Sunday 25 April 2027, is Anzac Day. Barossa towns hold dawn services, and non-exempt shops cannot open until noon.

Is it suitable for children?

Yes. Many events are free and family-friendly, and the 2027 festival falls during the SA school holidays.

What’s the weather like?

Mild autumn: the Bureau of Meteorology’s April average maximum for Nuriootpa is 22.1°C, nights are around 9–11°C, and there are occasional showers.

Book the bed first, then the day: compare transport in our Barossa wine tours from Adelaide guide, because Saturday seats in festival week fill before the program is even out.