The West Australian’s travel editor Stephen Scourfield leads a Gala Dinner at Albany’s Maritime Festival

Albany’s Maritime Festival is returning for its second year in July, with the addition of a special West Travel Club Gala Dinner of local food and travel stories hosted by The West Australian’s travel editor Stephen Scourfield.

After the inaugural Maritime Festival last year, Albany will again host a range of maritime-themed events from July 2.

This year, the festival has the addition of a new premium event, hosted by travel writer and author Scourfield.

The Maritime Festival West Travel Club Gala Dinner will be held on July 16 at the Albany Entertainment Centre from 6.30pm to 10pm.

Guests will be treated to a three-course meal by Costa Simatos, executive chef at the University Club of WA, who will be preparing a bespoke menu of local produce, paired with Plantagenet Wines.

“The dinner is designed to bring the world to life in food and stories, words and music,” Mr Scourfield said.

Scourfield will perform a spoken word story tailored to each course, based on his world travels and his connection to Albany.

Each story will be accompanied by an original score written specifically for each tale and played live by composer Steve Richter.

The event is a one-off, from the menu to the stories and the score accompanying them.

“It’s a unique evening for Albany, and the stories will have a south coast flavour to them, but also there will be stories about the world,” he said.

It will be the first time West Travel Club has held a gala dinner event outside of Perth, and Scourfield said the Albany Maritime Festival was a fitting place for their first regional event.

“I’m a sailor and I sailed quite a bit out of Albany,” he said.

“I know that area in a maritime sense, I’ve sailed in there on the Leeuwin and I’ve paddled down there on kayaks, so I’m very familiar with the ocean down there.

“I love the Maritime Festival, it’s fantastic.”

Mr Scourfield will also be leading two PhotoWalks with Phones events along with The West Australian photographer William Yeoman on July 15 and 16.

The maritime-themed photography course will teach guests how to take better photos with their smartphones, with each event focusing on photography tips for iPhone and Android systems.

Tickets to the Maritime Festival West Travel Club Gala Dinner can be purchased at bit.ly/39WKv9E.

For details on the PhotoWalks with Phones and other events throughout the Albany Maritime Festival, visitbit.ly/3wmSrtC.