Adelaide, South Australia — Events
Carnevale
South Australia’s Italian community come out in force to demonstrate and share their vibrant culture, traditions and delicious cuisine at this annual event. Revellers can enjoy cooking demonstrations, Italian fashion on show, admire cars and motorbikes, watch music and dance shows, and fill up on Italian food.
Adelaide's Big Day Out
Each year Adelaide rocks to the tune of some of the world’s top popular music bands, when the traveling smash music festival, The Big Day Out, hits town. Adelaide is an important stop on the famous festival tour, which begins each year in Auckland, New Zealand and then transfers to main centers in Australia over the following three weekends. Star attractions in previous years have included Metallica, The Strokes and The Black-eyed Peas. The festival, first organized in 1992, also showcases Australia’s home-grown talent and is regarded as the country’s biggest music event.
Credit Union Christmas Pageant
The streets of Adelaide come to a standstill on pageant day in November each year, when hundreds of thousands of people converge on the city to watch a procession of fairytale floats weave their colorful and magical way past, heralding the start of the Christmas season. Father Christmas has arrived in Adelaide in this traditional manner since the first pageant in 1933, helped along by South Australia’s credit unions and the state government. The pageant is now the largest of its kind in the world.
Schützenfest
The South Australian German Association’s incarnation of Schützenfest (originally, a marksman’s festival held in Medieval Germany) is the largest folk festival in the southern hemisphere, and has been run on an annual basis since 1964. Although the shooting competition is still a central event of the festival, over the years, a wealth of diverse cultural fare has also been included in the program. Visitors can observe Bavarian dancing, fencing and even Japanese swordsmanship demonstrations, as well as take part in the Coopers Strong Arm beer stein lifting challenge!
Adelaide Festival of Arts
The splendid Adelaide Festival of Arts has become one of Australia’s (and even the world’s) top cultural events, with its epicenter at the Universal Playground venue. The bi-annual festival draws about one and a half thousand artists in all categories, mostly Australian but also guests from around the world. The packed and exciting program features everything from circus performances and symphony concerts to serious drama and ethnic art exhibitions. On alternate years the Adelaide Festivals of Ideas is held, providing a platform for research and debate on numerous world topics.
