Adelaide Events
- Overview
- Attractions
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Events
Early
February
Adelaide’s Big
Day Out
Australasia's huge touring music festival, Big Day Out, hits Adelaide at the
Royal Adelaide Showground.
While the
northern hemisphere endures the big freeze in January & February, the countries
in its southern counterpart enjoy summer. Australia celebrates with its annual
Big Day Out music festival, which begins in Auckland, New Zealand then transfers
to Australia over the following three weekends.
+61 (0) 8
8210 5211
Early
February
Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
Australia's
premier short film festival, is an Oscar Academy accredited festival which tours
the country after being seen at Sydney's Bondi Beach Pavilion. Here it makes its
annual visit to Adelaide's Mercury Cinema.
+61 (0) 2
9365 6877
Late
February-Early March
Adelaide Fringe
The
biennial Adelaide Fringe is one of the world's biggest and most vibrant arts
festivals, attracting many of the finest independent artists from Australia and
all over the globe. The city is overrun by performers of every kind, and the
programming policy is non-exclusive, so all are welcome to register.
+61 (0) 8
8100 2000
March
Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts
The
Adelaide Festival of Arts brings hundreds of thousands of spectators to Elder
Park and is one of the world's great arts Festivals. It has created a strong
tradition of innovation since 1960 inspiring celebration and presenting diverse
art from across Australia and around the world. Held in the warm South
Australian autumn in every 'even' year, this is a large-scale multi-arts event
of extraordinary richness and diversity.
Each
Festival program includes opera, theatre, dance, classical and contemporary
music, cabaret, new media events, Adelaide Writers' Week (the largest literary
festival in the world), outdoor entertainment, visual arts exhibitions, master
classes, forums, a late night club and much more.
Early
March
WOMADelaide
First held
in 1992 at the biennial Adelaide Arts Festival and, since 2000 an annual fixture
presented by Amnesty International, WOMADelaide welcomes the world of music, art
and dance to Adelaide's Botanic Park. It's a three-day, child-friendly
celebration of multicultural artistic endeavor.
Respected
artists from around the globe perform on six stages and also discuss, teach and
share their music and art, giving the audience a unique insight into their work.
+61 (0) 8
8222 9311
Early-mid-March
Adelaide Cup
Carnival
The
popular Adelaide Cup horse racing carnival is now held in March each year.
There are
two weeks of horse-racing festivities both on and off the track.
The
biggest names of the turf vie for a place in Australian equine history when they
tackle events that include the Adelaide Cup and the Malaysia Airlines Magic
Millions Two-Year-Old Classic. The nation’s premier jockeys and trainers arrive
in Adelaide, all with a common goal “to prove themselves the best of the best”.
The Adelaide Cup is the pinnacle of racing in South Australia, attracting racing
enthusiasts and party goers from around Australia.
Late
March
Clipsal
500 Adelaide - A 4 Day Major Adelaide Event
The
Clipsal 500 Adelaide is recognized as a top event on the Australian motor sport
calendar. The 4 days of racing end with celebrations and great race concerts.
(08)8212
8500
Early
September
Royal
Adelaide Show
The Royal
Adelaide Show is South Australia's biggest annual event and features everything
from carnival rides and attractions to handicrafts, cookery and a wide variety
of champion livestock and animals. Almost half of the State's population makes
the annual trip to Adelaide Showground, making this an important social event as
well as a chance to appreciate all that South Australia has to offer.
Taking
center stage is the grand parade, where the champion livestock is proudly shown
off. Entertainment includes dance and gymnastics displays, daredevil motorbike
riding, precision driving teams, pig racing, sheepdog trials and plenty of
fireworks.
Visitors
can also take part in avocado tasting, cake decorating, chocolate competitions
and indulge in hot chips, donuts and fairy floss, or just have a nice cup of tea
in the Country Women's Association café. Enjoy evening entertainment every night
with performing sheepdogs, funny clowns, precision driving and a fireworks
display.
(08) 8210
5211
November
Feast
Since 1997
Adelaide's Annual Feast has served up a smorgasbord of over 100 cultural and
social activities for its gay community. Feast claims to be "very Adelaidian
with a focus on arts and culture, easy living, good food, fine wine and quality
of life in a city which has long been proven as ideal for festivals".
Living up
to its title, the organizers provide a feast for ears and eyes as well as taste
buds, kicking off with an opening night party at the Adelaide Festival Center.
Music always plays an important part, whether it is the massed choirs of
Australia's Gay Choruses or Overdrive, where 15 acts appear on three stages over
eight hours. (08) 8231 2155.
Arts
and Entertainment
Adelaide
Entertainment Center
Adelaide
Festival Center
King
William Road
Adelaide
Ph: 08
8216 8600
The
Adelaide Festival Centre was built in 1974 and is Adelaide's major performing
arts complex. It includes a multi-purpose concert hall and lyric theatre, two
drama theatres, and an open-air amphitheatre. The centre sits on the banks of
the River Torrens adjacent to the city centre and Casino.
Her
Majesty’s Theatre
58 Grote
Street
Adelaide
Ph: 08
8216 8600
Lions
Art Centre
Corner
North Terrace and Morphett Street
Adelaide
Ph: 08
8231 7760
Adelaide Repertory Theatre
53 Angas
Street
Adelaide
Ph: 08
8212 5777
State Theatre
South Australia
The
Playhouse Adelaide Festival Centre
King
William Road
Adelaide
Ph: 08
8231 5151
Adelaide Town
Hall
128 King
William Street
(08) 8203
7203
Designed
in Italianate style by Edmund Wright in 1866, it became the most significant
structure on King William Street. It soon became the city’s premier venue for
concerts and civic receptions. It is still used for such today.
Sports
Australian football,
which is also known as
Australian rules football, or less formally as "Aussie rules" or simply as
"footy" is a code of football which originated in Melbourne, Australia.The game
is played between two teams of 18 players (plus interchange players), on cricket
ovals or similar-sized grassed arenas which vary in size and may be up to 185
metres (200 yards) long; these are much larger than those used by other codes of
football.
The game
is also distinguished from other games by the fast, relatively free movement of
the ball (partly due to the absence of an offside rule) and the awarding of a
free kick for any clean catch – known as a mark – of a ball which has been
kicked more than 15 metres.
Spectacular high marks, or "speccies", tackles and fast, fluid play are the
game's main attributes as a spectator sport.
Despite
the game's sometimes rough physical nature players do not usually wear
protective clothing. Although it is a winter sport, pre-season competitions
usually begin in late February (that is, in the Australian summer); the football
season proper is from March to August, with finals being held in September.
Cricket
Adelaide Oval
(08)8300
3800
Dominating
the parklands between Torrens lake and St Peter's Cathedral lies the Adelaide
Oval, often described as the most picturesque test cricket ground in the world.
The first test match played there was against England in 1884. Since that time
the ground has been used for other sports such as rugby league and Australian
rules football. The distinctive Victor Richardson and Clarrie Grimmett gates add
special character to the ground, while the splendid old scoreboard dates back to
Edwardian times. Public tours of the Oval and Museum are conducted every Tuesday
and Thursday, and on Sundays during the cricket season.
