🍂 Hills Happenings | Dec 17 - 23

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all surviving the mad rush to the end of the year and the general chaos that comes with Christmas.

First up this week, I’m very excited about a competition giveaway. But with all the running around, we all need a bit of downtime too. If that’s you, this week’s edition might be just the thing.

A huge thank you to everyone who has bought a roadside stalls tea towel, tote, or print. We’re nearly sold out of the tea towels. If you’re still shopping for Christmas presents you still have time to place an order —> Pantry Shop

Let’s get into it.

Okay, Hills lovers, you’re going to love this.

We’ve teamed up with the much-loved A Taste of The Hills Festival, and if you’ve ever wandered through that weekend with a drink in hand thinking yep, this is my happy place, you’ll know exactly why we’re excited.

Now in its fourth year, A Taste of The Hills is run and funded by a little Adelaide Hills family, and it shows. It grew from a simple love of where we live and a deep passion for supporting the local businesses and producers that make this region so special. Think local food, wine, spirits, brews and live music, all coming together for a feel-good festival under the gums at Lenswood Memorial Park. It’s back on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March, and it’s one of those weekends that really shows off what the Adelaide Hills does best.

To celebrate our partnership, we’re giving away one of our limited-edition Adelaide Hills puzzles.
To enter, simply make sure you’re following both of us on Instagram:
👉 Follow Adelaide Hills Pantry
👉 Follow A Taste of The Hills Festival

That’s it and you’re in the draw. The winner will be drawn December 24 at 6pm AEST. 18+ entries only. Good luck! We can’t wait to see who the lucky winner is 🧩✨

For festival details, tickets and all the good stuff, head to www.atasteofthehills.com.au.

If you love a good movie night but prefer grass under your feet and a drink in hand, this one’s for you.

LOT.100 is hosting their very first outdoor Christmas movie night this Friday, and honestly, it sounds like the kind of evening we all need right now. Relaxed, festive, and just a little bit magical.

Set in their natural amphitheatre, the big screen will light up with Elf from 8.45pm. It’s a classic for a reason. Funny, familiar, and perfect for watching under the stars on a warm Hills night.

The gates open from 6pm, so you can make a night of it. Grab food and drinks from the container bar, let the kids get their faces painted, pick your spot on the lawn and have a picnic. Bring a rug, bean bag or chair, get comfy, and settle in as the sun goes down.

With warm weather forecast, it’s shaping up to be one of those easy nights where everything just feels right. Laughs carry across the grass, the pace finally starts to feel slower, and Christmas suddenly feels more joyful than hectic.

Tickets are $12 per person and include the movie, with food and drinks available to purchase on the night.

Perfect for families, friends, or a low-key end-of-year catch-up. Sounds like a plan, right? 🎄✨ BOOK YOUR TICKETS

If you’ve been craving a creative night that’s more about feeling good than getting it right, this one’s calling your name.

This relaxed life drawing session is designed to gently ease you into creativity. No pressure, no expectations, just a welcoming room filled with charcoal, paper, and a mix of familiar faces and first-timers finding their groove.

Local artist and art teacher Rebecca Prince guides the evening with light, playful exercises that help loosen your hands and quiet the inner critic. The early sketches move quickly and feel freeing, more about warming up than creating anything perfect.

After a short break to stretch, snack and chat, the pace slows. Longer poses invite you to settle in, accompanied by the soulful live music of Jamie Lena. Her soft alt-folk sound drifts through the space, making it easy to relax and let time slip by.

All materials are provided, though you’re welcome to bring your own. This isn’t about what you take home. It’s about how you leave. Reconnected to that part of yourself that loves to create, for the joy of it. Bring along your own nibbles or dinner, arrive from 6.30pm, and let yourself settle in. BOOK YOUR TICKETS

Woodhouse Unplugged School Holiday Drop & Go Day Camps:
A great options after the fun and festivities are done and work is back. The kids come home tired, grubby, and full of stories. The UNPLUGGED program runs daily from 9am–5pm (drop-off from 8:30am) with new adventures each day like survival skills, science experiments, laser tag, Challenge Hill and the tube slide. It’s more than care – it’s adventure, fun and new friends. 👉 Book the kids in for a day.

The Tour VIP Experience at Marshi’s Kitchen:
Indulge yourself with a front row VIP experience at Marshi’s Kitchen for the men’s final race, the biggest day of the Santos Tour Down Under in Stirling. This all-inclusive VIP experience puts you right on the Tour Down Under race track and just 400 metres from the start and finish live, right in the heat of the action. Come for the race. Stay for the feast. Limited to just 100 tickets. Secure you spot today. Book Your Spot.

🛍️ Late Night Shopping | Birdwood | 📅 17 Dec | 10 AM – 7 PM
Experience a beloved Hills tradition as Lobethal transforms into a sparkling Christmas wonderland filled with lights, markets, and festive cheer. INFO

🎄 2025 Twilight Christmas Market | Mount Barker | 📅 18 Dec | 4:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Mount Barker’s biggest festive market returns with Christmas carols, family-friendly entertainment. INFO

🛍️ Stirling Christmas Shopping Night | Stirling | 📅 18 Dec | 5 PM – 8 PM
Enjoy a festive evening of late-night shopping, carols, kids’ activities and village cheer as Stirling comes alive. INFO

🛍️ Mount Pleasant Farmers Market | Mount Pleasant | 📅20 Dec | 8 AM – 12 PM
Browse fresh local produce and handmade goods at this warm and community-driven weekly farmers market. INFO

🧺 Woodside Market | Woodside | 📅 20  Dec | 8 AM – 1 PM
Browse local produce, homemade treats, arts, crafts, and more at this friendly community market. INFO

🌽 Adelaide Hills Farmers Market |   Mount Barker | 📅 20 Dec | 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Meet local growers and makers while enjoying fresh seasonal produce and a warm community atmosphere. INFO

🎄 Handmade Christmas Market | Lobethal | 📅 20 Dec | 11AM – 9 PM
Wander a festive market filled with handcrafted gifts, local food and drinks, live music, kids activities and creative workshops. INFO

🎨 Stirling Laneways Glitter and Gold | MARKET | Stirling | 📅 21 Dec | 9 AM – 3 PM
Follow your feet through Stirling’s colourful laneways as local artists, performers, traders and pop-up stalls transform the village. INFO

🧺 Uraidla Market | Uraidla | 📅 21 Dec | 10 AM – 3 PM
Browse a cosy local market filled with fresh produce, handmade crafts, plants and artisan goods. INFO

🛍️ Stirling Market | Stirling | 📅 21 Dec | 10 AM – 4 PM
Enjoy a relaxed, family-friendly Hills market day with live music. INFO

🎄 2025 Twilight Christmas Market | Mount Pleasant | 📅 23 Dec | 5 PM – 9 PM
Celebrate the festive season with a lively twilight market. INFO

🌿 Flow with the Bees (Morning Flow Class)
| WELLNESS | The Hahndorf Lavender Estate, Paechtown
📅 Wednesday, 17 December | 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
Start your day with a gentle 60-minute yoga flow among blooming lavender fields, connecting breath, movement, and the calming presence of bees. INFO

✨ Christmas Craft with Aunty Ros
| WORKSHOP | Flaxley Woven, Flaxley
📅 Wednesday, 17 December | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Get hands-on making felt ornaments, paper chains, and painted baubles with Aunty Ros in a fun, festive workshop for all ages. INFO

🌙 Womban's Circle
| COMMUNITY | The Farm For Wellbeing, Flaxley
📅 Wednesday, 17 December | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Gather in a sacred, heart-centered space for connection, guided meditation, and sisterhood with like-minded women. INFO

🌏 Asian Adventure
| FOOD & WINE | Stirling
📅 Friday, 19 December | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Travel through Southeast Asia with chef Yukiko Anschutz as you cook dishes from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. INFO

🎬Christmas Movie Night
| FAMILY | LOT.100, Hay Valley
📅  Friday, 19 December | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Lot.100 is getting festive with a big outdoor cinema night on the lawn featuring Elf, with twelve dollar tickets, tasty eats and bevs from the Lawn Bar, and all the Christmas cheer you need for a fun, easy start to the holidays. INFO

🎨 Life Drawing with Live Music by Jamie Lena
| ART | Crafers Institute Hall, Crafers
📅 Friday, 19 December | 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Unwind and explore your creativity with a relaxed life drawing session accompanied by the soothing live music of Jamie Lena. INFO

🎺 A Triumphant Christmas
| MUSIC | Lobethal Lutheran Church, Lobethal
📅 Friday, 19 – Sunday, 21 December | From 6:45 PM
Enjoy a magical evening of brass, percussion, and pipe organ bringing festive favourites to life in a warm, joyful celebration. INFO

🎨 Paint & Sip
| WORKSHOP | LOT.100, Hay Valley
📅 Saturday, 20 December | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Sip a 78 Degrees Sunset Gin while you learn to paint gin-inspired botanicals in a relaxed, beginner-friendly class in the LOT.100 Greenhouse. INFO

☀️ Summer Solstice Gathering
| WELLNESS | The Farm For Wellbeing, Flaxley
📅 Saturday, 20 December | 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Celebrate the peak of summer with meditation, movement, reflection circles, and community connection in a serene outdoor setting. INFO

🎨 Festive Colour-Pop Earrings
| WORKSHOP | Fabrik Arts + Heritage, Lobethal
📅 Saturday, 20 December | 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Create vibrant, eco-friendly earrings in a hands-on workshop with artist Sue Garrard during Fabrik’s Handmade Christmas Market. INFO

🎶 Carols Under the Candlebarks
| MUSIC | Sinclair's Gully, Norton Summit
📅 Saturday, 20 December | 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Enjoy a magical evening of carols with Emma Knights as you picnic beneath the candle barks and soak up the forest’s festive atmosphere INFO

🍷 Sunday's on the Hill at Nepenthe
| FOOD & WINE | Balhannah
📅 Sunday, 21 December | 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Enjoy live music, curated picnic boxes, great wine, lawn games, and family friendly fun in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. INFO

🎄 Family Christmas Party
| FAMILY | Meadows Hotel
📅 Sunday, 21 December 2025 | 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Enjoy live music from Mike “Lionheart” Loy, kids’ activities including a jumping castle, petting zoo, face painting, a mechanical bull, delicious food, and a special visit from Father Christmas at 3 pm at this festive family celebration. INFO

🌿 POP UP Native Botanical Christmas Wreath Workshop
| WORKSHOP | Karkoo Nursery, Oakbank
📅 Sunday, 21 December | 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Create your own festive Christmas wreath using fresh native botanicals in this relaxed, hands-on workshop surrounded by garden inspiration. INFO

🎅 Golding Twilight Gathering
| FOOD & WINE | Lobethal
📅 Sunday, 21 December | 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Enjoy wood-fired pizzas, live tunes, and festive fun for all ages at this relaxed twilight celebration before exploring the magical Lobethal Lights. INFO

🎄 Macclesfield Carols
| COMMUNITY | Davenport Square, Macclesfield
📅 Sunday, 21 December | From 5:00 PM
Settle in for a joyful family evening with community carols led by the Macclesfield Choir, special guest artists, a visit from Santa, affordable BBQ, face painting and festive fun for all ages. INFO

🌿 Forest Bathing Walk
| NATURE | Rocky Creek Hut, Meadows
📅 Sunday, 21 December | 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM
A slow and grounding guided nature experience inviting you to unwind, connect with your senses, and savour a calming tea ceremony. INFO

🎉 23 December Lobethal Pageant
| COMMUNITY | Lobethal
📅 Tuesday, 23 December | From 4:30 PM
Celebrate the long-awaited return of the Lobethal Pageant with a lively community parade full of festive spirit and local enthusiasm. INFO

Click the button below to check out all upcoming events to help you plan ahead beyond this week…there are so many cool things happening across the Hills this summer!

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the traditional custodians of our land. We recognise Peramangk and Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the place where the content in this newsletter is featured and where the newsletter is created. We pay respect to Elders past, present and future and

to the cultural authority of First Nations Peoples from other areas of this country.