SALA Festival: McLaren Vale Alive With Creativity
Each August, the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival brings a new layer of creativity to the McLaren Vale wine region, transforming cellar doors, restaurants and unexpected spaces into galleries celebrating local talent.
Set among rolling vineyards, historic buildings and the rugged coastline, this month-long festival invites you to experience the artistic heart of our wine region. Expect colour, thoughtful expression and stories revealed through painting, sculpture, photography, film and printmaking.
SALA celebrates creativity rooted in place, shaped by community and expressed through art. Like wine, art rewards curiosity and attention - and is best appreciated in the moment.
Read on for our guide to the SALA exhibitions and creative experiences across the McLaren Vale wine region this August.
Wilderness at Berg Herring Wines
Artist: Emma FÄLT
Exhibition | Artist talk | Workshop
Wildflowers emerge through translucent tissue paper, paint and line in Wilderness, a layered body of work by Emma Fält. Moving between control and unpredictability, the exhibition invites visitors to look beyond the landscape and into a feeling.
Presented in Berg Herring Wines' cellar door, housed in a converted heritage church with views across the rolling hills to the ocean at Sellicks Beach, the exhibition offers a quiet place to slow down, take in the work and enjoy a wine tasting.
Visit at 6pm on opening night for an artist talk, or book Intuitive Bloom, Emma Fält's signature mixed-media workshop.
Date: 31 July–31 August
Time: Monday and Thursday–Sunday, 12–6pm
Address: Berg Herring Wines - Lot 21 Sellicks Beach Road, Sellicks Beach
Forget-me-not at Bosworth Wines
Artists: Melanie LES and Daniel LES
Exhibition | Workshop
Frolic among flower-inspired paintings at Bosworth Wines' historic cellar door. For a more immersive experience, head into the vineyard for a plein-air painting workshop on 9 or 30 August. Workshops are $90 per person and include a glass of Bosworth wine and a seasonal platter. Booking is essential.
Date: 1–31 August
Time: Monday–Saturday, 11am–5pm; Sunday, 12–5pm
Address: Bosworth Wines - 92 Gaffney Road, McLaren Vale
Artists: Various
Lovers of food, wine, art have another spot to explore at the d’Arenberg cube this August. Discover winemaker Chester Osborn’s sculptural artwork collection alongside artists, Greg Johns and David Archer. A journey of intrigue awaits.
Date: 1–31 August
Time: Monday–Sunday, 10.30am–4.30pm
Address: d'Arenberg - 58 Osborn Road, McLaren Vale
For the Joy of It at DogRidge Cellar Door & Art Gallery
Artist: Karen FORREST
Karen Forrest's joyous debut exhibition explores the emotions and experiences behind the paintbrush. Expect to find colourful and curious representations of Karens life that jump out at you. From still life to wildlife and landscapes, follow along for the journey.
DogRidge Cellar Door & Art Gallery has long supported the SALA Festival. Visit seven days a week to experience the exhibition alongside a wine tasting.
Date: 2–31 August
Time: Monday–Sunday, 11am–5pm
Address: DogRidge Cellar Door & Art Gallery - 129 Bagshaws Road, McLaren Flat
Reprise at Hither & Yon
Artist: Thomas LING
Examining our connection to the ocean, Reprise is grounded in South Australia's coastal environments. The body of work considers the ocean's cultural and emotional significance.
Amid concern for environmental vulnerability, human impact and uncertainty, it reveals a place of gathering and belonging.
Shown at Hither & Yon, a former butcher shop built in the 1860s, Reprise unfolds through black-and-white film captured over the past year. Take time to experience the work alongside a tasting of Hither & Yon's wines.
Date: 1–31 August
Time: Monday and Friday–Sunday, 11am–4pm
Address: Hither & Yon - 17 High Street, Willunga
Layered Impressions at Oliver’s Taranga
Artist: Bridget MCARTHUR
Bridget McArthur's Layered Impressions explores colour, pattern and the interpreted world through layers of tissue and textured paper.
The work sits naturally within the warm, family-led hospitality of Oliver's Taranga.
Date: 1–31 August
Time: Monday–Sunday, 10am–4pm
Address: Oliver's Taranga - 246 Seaview Road, McLaren Flat
Charcoal & Light at Paxton Wines
Artists: Kaitlyn MOWAT and Grier NEILSON
A collaboration between two distinct artistic voices, Charcoal & Light brings together a shared fascination with the human form.
Emerging McLaren Vale artist Kaitlyn Mowat works in charcoal, creating intimate, highly realistic portraits that celebrate the quiet power of the human face. Her work is patient and precise.
Adelaide photographer and creative Grier Neilson brings more than 30 years of experience across beauty, editorial and film. Known for revealing qualities people may not yet see in themselves, her work is intuitive, warm and quietly transformative. Feathered, presented as part of Charcoal & Light, explores the female form within the Australian landscape through layered, hand-embellished photographic works.
Together, the artists invite us to slow down and look more closely at one another. Charcoal & Light is showing at Paxton Wines, where a warm fire awaits.
Date: 27 July–31 August
Time: Monday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
Address: Paxton Wines Cellar Door - 68 Wheaton Road, McLaren Vale
Inn Print at Salopian Inn
Artist: Gail KELLETT
Exhibition | Opening dinner | Workshop
Gail Kellett's hand-painted linocuts reflect the character of the Salopian Inn and its productive kitchen garden - a story best experienced in person.
Opening night on Thursday 30 July brings together dinner by chef Karena Armstrong and insights from Anna Small of Fleurieu Arthouse. This is the first exhibition created specifically around the Salopian Inn. Book the opening dinner directly with the Salopian Inn on 08 8323 8769.
On 20 August, join Gail Kellett for a creative day of printmaking inspired by the Salopian Kitchen Garden. During this immersive 4½-hour workshop, participants will develop and carve their own designs to create a series of striking black-and-white linocut prints, with one finished work framed to take home. Suitable for participants with drawing skills, the workshop includes all materials, coffee and a dumpling lunch, and is limited to 10–15 people. Booking is required.
Date: 27 July–31 August
Time: Monday–Sunday, 10am–12pm; Thursday–Sunday, 4–6pm
Address: Salopian Inn - Main Road, McLaren Vale
Wine and art are a natural pairing. Both ask us to pause, pay attention and savour something made with care. They engage the senses, spark curiosity and celebrate the people and craft that shape a place.
This August, follow the SALA trail through the McLaren Vale wine region and discover creativity in cellar doors, restaurants and unexpected spaces.
In addition to artists at our region's wineries there are over 150 artists displaying at 30+ venues throughout the McLaren Vale wine region, explore the full program on the SALA Festival website.