Shining the light on Illuminate Adelaide

Still in the dark about Illuminate Adelaide? We turn the spotlight on this year’s event.

Illuminate Adelaide is back this year, lighting up city streetscapes with a range of free and ticketed events encouraging visitors to rekindle a sense of winter wonder.

The festival, which runs throughout the month of July, will feature a program of hundreds of installations and projections from over 140 local, national and international artists, creating a masterpiece of art, music, technology and innovation.

Curated by Creative Directors and Co-founders Rachael Azzopardi and Lee Cumberlidge, the state’s premier winter event, Illuminate Adelaide knows no creative bounds, and pushes the limits of artistic expression and technological originality.

One of the festival’s centrepieces has already taken Montreal, Canada by storm. Mirror Mirror is a multimedia meets light experience created by Moment Factory, the brains behind the popular Light Cycles, held in the Botanic Gardens for the past two years. The show will be hosted in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga and uses interactive installations and multimedia art to allow participants to delve into the depths of self-reflection and question the nature of reality itself. Mirrors act as portals to alternate dimensions to force visitors to reflect on the complexity of the human experience.

Moment Factory will also play host to a second experience in Adelaide’s Botanic Garden, lighting the paths with Resonate. The 1.7km walk will feature six immersive pieces that promise to captivate fusion of light and sound in audio-visual displays from renowned local and international artists, creating a symphony of colours and melodies.

But Illuminate is more than just a light show.

Music takes centre stage with ARIA Award winners Yothu Yindi filling Hindley Street Music Hall with the rhythms of the Yolngu rock pioneers, supported by the soulful Emma Donovan. Tahlia Petrosian’s KLASSIK Underground will return this year for two Australian-exclusives, while electronic artist Tourist will be ‘drapping’ (a combination of drumming and rapping) while sensational music artist DOBBY will add a beat to the month-long festival.

And if that’s not enough, 40 free public artworks will be installed across the city as part of City Lights.

The festival has become a beacon for SA winters, captivating audiences with its mesmerising blend of art, light, music and technology.

In its inaugural year in 2021, Illuminate Adelaide faced the daunting challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. With resilience and a dash of creativity, it emerged successful. But it was in 2022 that the festival surpassed all expectations, transforming the city into a breathtaking kaleidoscope of wonder, light and sound.

More than 1.2 million people descended upon the festival, eager to be immersed in the magic crafted by local, interstate and international artists. The streets were filled with light and sound as breathtaking installations added colour to the streets. From Light Square to the picturesque North Terrace precinct, the entire city became a canvas for artistic expression and technological marvels.

The economic impact of Illuminate Adelaide in 2022 was staggering, injecting $44.8 million into the local economy. Interstate and overseas attendance was up by 40 per cent from the previous year.

But Illuminate Adelaide’s impact extended well beyond the city limits, with regional events also attracting more than 50,000 attendees.

In a city that is renowned for its festivals and art culture, Illuminate Adelaide is turning up the heat on winter events from 28 June to 30 July.