For a few days in October, art will turn up just about everywhere across Milton Ulladulla.
It will be hanging in shopfronts and cafés, filling the Ulladulla Civic Centre, appearing in gardens and artists’ studios, and sharing space with live music, workshops, food and performances.
Escape ARTfest returns from 9–11 October 2026, showcasing visual and performing artists from across the Southern Shoalhaven.
For committee member and local artist Nadja Burke, that mix is part of what makes ARTfest special.
She describes it simply as “a packed, full, fun weekend of art” – a chance to visit exhibitions, eat good food, listen to music and perhaps go home with a piece of local art.
But after many years of involvement with the festival and the local arts community, Nadja believes its impact goes beyond the program itself.
“It certainly brings the community together and it also highlights the importance of art in all forms; 2D, 3D, music, dance in everyday life,” she said.
“It’s a cohesive force.”
Art beyond the gallery
One of ARTfest’s defining features is that art doesn’t stay within traditional gallery walls.
Across the festival, local businesses, studios, public spaces and unexpected corners of the community become places to encounter art.
The Milton Gallery Walk returns on Friday 9 October from 5–7.30pm, transforming the Milton CBD with galleries and pop-up exhibitions alongside music, performance, food and wine.
The Open Studio & Exhibition Trail offers another way to explore, inviting people into working studios to meet artists, see where their work is made and discover pieces that may never otherwise make it into a conventional gallery.
For Nadja, bringing art into these everyday spaces makes it more accessible.
“Art is for everyone,” she said. “It’s not just for the rarefied few that go to white cube galleries.”
It also creates connections between artists, businesses and residents who might not otherwise cross paths.
Nadja has watched the creative community grow since moving to the area in 2002 and sees ARTfest as one of the ways local artists find and connect with one another.
“I think there are more and more creatives, and ARTfest is one mechanism that actually connects artists with artists as well.”
A weekend with plenty to explore
At the heart of this year’s festival will be the ARTfest Prizes Expo at the Ulladulla Civic Centre, open from 10am–4pm from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October. The exhibition brings together local art, sculpture and entries in the festival’s creative competitions, with the official launch taking place at noon on Saturday.
There are also workshops, open studios and exhibitions to explore across the region, alongside Meet the Music Makers at Milton Theatre on Friday evening and Art in the Park at Willinga Park on Sunday.
And the art starts even before the official festival weekend.
Sculpture at the Altar Bar will run across three weekends — 2–4, 9–11 and 16–18 October — with works by local sculptors displayed throughout the Altar Bar gardens in Milton.
It’s that exhibition Nadja is particularly looking forward to this year.
“I think the garden at the Altar Bar is just a beautiful setting,” she said. “It’ll enhance the setting, enhance the sculptures – it’ll all go together beautifully.”
Asked what she would choose if she had just one day to experience the festival, Nadja struggled to narrow it down.
She’d try to fit in a workshop, visit the Civic Centre exhibition, wander the Milton Gallery Walk and finish with live music.
“There’s so much on,” she said.
Perhaps that’s the best way to approach ARTfest: pick up the program, choose a place to start and see where the art takes you.
Escape ARTfest 2026
When: Friday 9 – Sunday 11 October 2026
Where: Milton, Ulladulla and surrounding communities
Milton Gallery Walk: Friday 9 October, 5–7.30pm, Milton CBD
ARTfest Prizes Expo: Friday 9 – Sunday 11 October, 10am–4pm, Ulladulla Civic Centre
Sculpture at the Altar Bar: 2–4, 9–11 and 16–18 October
Art in the Park: Sunday 11 October, 9.30am–4.30pm, Willinga Park, Bawley Point
The 2026 program is continuing to be updated, with full details of exhibitions, workshops, events and tickets available at escapeartfest.com.