The Fleurieu region has a lesson in festival programming that Adelaide and other cities might want to look at.
Heritage Fleurieu Coast Festival Coordinator Emanda Fretwell offers an interesting perspective on how the biennial event fits alongside Festival Fleurieu. She says the big city has become comfortable with its annual Fringe and Festival programming after more than a decade.
Down here, it’s a bit more ‘yeah, nah’. The Fleurieu isn’t overly fussed about that structure — and that’s not a bad thing as it offers opportunities for smart cross promotion.
Emanda points out one of the positives is simply the time involved in organising events. Remaining biennial helps ensure a quality outcome.
“That really works down here — having one year on, one year off. We include an event in Festival Fleurieu and they put an event into ours.”
Another clever innovation, introduced in 2024 and now permanent, is the Virtual Calico Bag — allowing visitors to create their own self-guided tours via the Yankalilla and District Historical Society website.
The differences between the two festivals highlight why the biennial approach works. Each has space to breathe.
“We’re concentrating on history and heritage of our area, presented by the Yankalilla District Historical Society. Festival Fleurieu is arts and culture. There are crossovers — we’ve got art exhibitions in ours, and we do a historical bus trip in Festival Fleurieu.”
The Heritage Fleurieu Coast Festival has been running since 2018 (with a COVID interruption), making this the fourth event. It’s also part of the statewide SA History Festival — what Emanda calls, “a festival within a festival,” — bringing valuable promotional support beyond the local region.
So how does a festival like this come together? Community input is key.
“We ask community groups if they’re willing to put on an event. This year, the sporting grounds memorial park is turning 100, so we said, ‘hey, do you want to do something in May?’ They said sure. That’s how it works. A good community works together.”
The events are coordinated by a Historical Society subcommittee — six members this year. For Emanda, 2026 marks her second festival as Coordinator.
A glance through the program reveals a wonderfully eclectic mix of events. As Emanda puts it, they aim to cover history, “from ancient right through, basically.”
That includes geology walks and farming history, alongside Carrickalinga’s Night Sky event.
“Carrickalinga became a night sky town maybe 3–4 years ago. We’re having a night where telescopes will be available and you can view the sky with a guide who knows all about it.”
On the more recent side of history is Pongy Fest at Myponga — the Myponga Music Festival.
“It wasn’t Woodstock, but it was a big event in its day.”
One standout event is the Welcome Back to Gnomeland Children’s Picnic — a great example of how ideas evolve organically.
“Gnomeland was a big business in the 1990s — full of garden ornaments and statues, one of the biggest in Australia. It also had playground equipment. That’s all gone now.”
The site is included in a historical walk, but when organisers spoke to the current café owner, Ruth, things took a turn.
“She got excited and said she’d run a gnome-themed picnic for preschoolers.”
And just like that, a new event was born.
Planning never really stops. “We start the next festival as soon as we finish one. We have a couple of months off, then we’re straight back into it.”
That process involves reviewing what worked, what didn’t and what’s been missed. Sometimes even mistakes lead to new ideas.
A good example came from a misidentified photo of Yankalilla founder Thomas Wilson.
“We had a photo from the State Library — but it wasn’t him. A descendant contacted us with the correct image.”
That interaction revealed a gap in public information.
“We realised there’s not much out there about him. So that’s why the walk came about — a bit more focus on his story this festival.”
Despite being volunteer-run, the festival has a strong tourism impact.
“It brings in thousands of people. They look at the program, pick what they want to do, and plan a few days around it.”
Support from Bendigo Bank and the local council helps keep the event accessible.
“We aim to make as many events free as possible — probably 90 per cent, maybe a bit more. Some we charge for to cover costs like speakers or setup.”
Looking ahead, there are plans to expand into Indigenous history and built heritage, while continuing to listen for those sparks of curiosity that often lead to the next great idea.
For more information, visit: yankalilladistricthistory.org.au/heritage-fleurieu-coast