This weekend, get your tastebuds ready for Tasting Australia, head to the Showgrounds for Bowerbird, or enjoy fast-paced sport at the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships.

Words Charlie Gilchrist

Get your tastebuds ready

Tasting Australia, presented by RAA Travel, kicks off on Friday across Adelaide and regional South Australia with more than 150 deliciously different experiences that will feed your curiosity. A highlight of Tasting Australia is Town Square in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga – a free, family-friendly place to meet for a drink, stay for a meal and explore. The new-look festival hub offers eating and drink experiences made for sharing. Meet friends for lunch, spend the afternoon, pop in for a pre-dinner drink or join the dance floor. Town Square takes place at 11am daily from May 3 to 12.

Designers assemble

Adelaide’s premier design market, Bowerbird, returns to the Adelaide Showground from May 3 to 5. Bringing together more than 100 designers and makers from across Australia, there will be an abundance of fashion and accessories, crafts and toys, and furniture and homewares on offer. Between shopping, treat yourself to artisanal food and drinks as you soak up the atmosphere and enjoy live music, or you can sign up for a workshop and learn a new skill directly from the makers themselves. The design market is open 4pm to 9pm on Friday, May 3 and from 10am to 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Evocative children’s theatre

Are humans alone in the universe? Is there an afterlife? How did we end up on this planet? These and other existential questions form the basis of Creation Creation, a 50-minute comedic theatre production by Adelaide-based Windmill Theatre Company. Described as “brave and brilliant”, this family-friendly show is based on six months’ worth of interviews with South Australians aged eight to 102, asking them to reflect on life’s big questions and what the future holds. Relying on their imaginations, the creators use a minimalist set design to answer some of life’s mysteries, as cardboard boxes become battleships and ping pong balls planets. Creation Creation runs at Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre from May 3 to 11.

Learn to cook in Rundle Mall

Sumptuous aromas will be wafting through Rundle Mall this weekend with the return of Urban Kitchen. Head over to the Gawler Place Canopy for 40 individual live cooking demonstrations and masterclasses. Highlights of this year’s expanded program include cooking classes from Sprout and Koko Black’s master chocolatier Remco Brigou. Urban Kitchen runs until May 12 with tickets starting at $12.

Wheelchair rugby

Head to the Netball SA Stadium this weekend for the 2024 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships. Bringing together the best players from around Australia and New Zealand, along with international stars, this fast-paced, full-contact sport will keep you on the edge of your seat. This tournament takes place from May 3 to 5.

Get on your high horse

The Adelaide Racing Carnival returns with the glamorous SA Derby Day at Morphetville Racecourse this Saturday. The tradition dates back to 1860 and is a great testing field for three-year-old stayers across 2500m. While watching the race, why not enjoy something off the Kentucky Derby-themed menu, with fried chicken, blackberry desserts or a Kentucky whisky? Race-goers purchasing the Champions Balcony package will also be offered an exclusive experience with the Derby Day Fashion Curator Chris Kontos in the new Wolf Blass Event Centre. The Adelaide Racing Carnival takes place until May 11.