A flock of robotic swans, towering Birdmen and a walk-on piano will transform the city this July – and much of it is free to explore.
This July, a flock of robotic swans will gracefully dance to music on the Rymill Park lake each evening. It won’t cost you a cent to enjoy their performance – and the same goes for a lot of Illuminate Adelaide this winter.
The 2026 free City Lights trail includes a giant piano you play by walking across it and a chess showdown built at city scale. There’s more than 50 works in all, running from North Terrace through Rundle Street to the Rymill Park lake and into the East Park Lands for the first time.
On show from 1-19 July, you can dip in for 20 minutes after work or stay for hours. Stand beneath a glowing cloud of white sheep, or grab a selfie among the neon pups in the dog park.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you think about art – there are no barriers,” says Illuminate co-founder and creative director Rachael Azzopardi. “It’s an experience rather than a financial risk.”
A free night, start to finish
The free City Lights trail has anchored Illuminate from the start, open to anyone regardless of whether they can afford a ticket.
“It’s an open invitation,” says co-founder and creative director Lee Cumberlidge. “The city really comes alive – everyone out in the cold together.”
Rachael walks it with her own family, and her tip for 2026 is to start at the top.
“Government House and Bonython Hall are two of the absolute highlights,” she says. The Governor opens the grounds for a work by French artist Miguel Chevalier, plus Miguel’s work can also be seen inside the hall, where a projection spreads across the floor.
The trail then runs down North Terrace into Rundle Street, where fire pits warm the footpath and the 6m Birdmen, from Dutch company Close-Act, stalk the crowd Thursday to Sunday.
Rachael’s last stop is the Rymill Park lake. “Even if you can only afford a hot chocolate, grab one from the kiosk and sit by the lake,” she says.
“Honestly, it’s hard to do all in one night. Come in two or three times across the festival, and have a great night out every week, for free.”
Winter used to mean staying in
Illuminate started in 2021 to fill a gap. Rachael and Lee – who grew up in the Adelaide arts scene, left, then came back – wanted to create something on the cutting edge of art, light and technology.
“Winter had a few events, but nothing major that took over the city,” Lee says. “We wanted to make it unique to the place and the people – that interesting, innovative personality Adelaide has.”
The first year almost didn’t survive. Storms wiped out opening night, and days later a seven-day COVID lockdown shut everything down.
“We thought we might lose the whole event,” Lee says. “Then we reopened, and it became clear we were the only ones anywhere in the world, in mid-July 2021, doing anything like this.”
“I’d never seen the city in winter, in the dark, feel so warm and bright,” Rachael adds. “Even with everything against us, people came out and embraced it. That’s when I knew it could only grow.”
Last year Illuminate drew more than 1.5 million people, 27,000 of them from interstate and overseas, and poured $61.4 million into the state economy – right when small, family-run businesses need it.
“We’ve had owners in the hospitality industry tell us they’d normally budget for a loss in July,” Lee says. “One told us that thanks to Illuminate, they turned a profit for the first time in the life of their business.”
Eat and drink your way down the trail
That’s the thinking behind this year’s new Illuminate Hosts, which teams up with more than 30 city restaurants and bars to give visitors a reason to stay out – just look for the neon sign.
A few of the Illuminate deals on offer:
- Paper Tiger: $15 prawn toast or fried rice, or $20 with a Tiger beer
- NOLA: Any po’boy and any tap beer for $25, Friday to Sunday
- The Laneway Social: A $25 porterhouse nightly from 6pm, plus mulled wine
- Honeydripper: Two-for-one cocktails for ticket holders, free hot chocolates and babycinos for the kids
- Canopy: From 4:30-6:30pm, Illuminate Happy Hour means 50 per cent off almost all drinks
And the revived Rymill Kiosk will do grab-and-go by the lake, right where the swans are.
Step into the game
The ticketed program’s worth it too. Start with Augmented Games, which puts you inside a giant video arcade.
“Your body is the controller,” Lee says. “You step onto the projected court and you’re inside the game – racing the clock, racing your friends, solving problems, using memory.”
It’s by Moment Factory, the Montreal studio behind Light Cycles and Resonate. This is its first outing in Australia and the largest version staged anywhere – eight games across eight courts, filling almost the whole Ridley Centre at the Showgrounds.
Up to six people play at once, and it’s built for all ages.
If you’re more of a music person
Unsound is where light and sound collide, and Adelaide is the only place in the Southern Hemisphere it lands.
“It’s pushing boundaries – genre, instruments, technology, vocal techniques,” Lee says. “Artists experimenting and doing amazing things. It takes you on a real journey – there’s nothing quite like it, and you won’t find it here any other time of year.”
Over the middle weekend it takes over Lion Arts Factory and Hindley Street Music Hall, with a late kick-on at Ancient World. Polish composer Hania Rani – who scored the Oscar-winning Sentimental Value – brings her Chilling Bambino set, and New York rapper billy woods plays off his 2025 album GOLLIWOG.
Supersonic goes even harder. It’s a one-night electronic lock-in at Hindley Street Music Hall, now in its second year and curated by local producer Motez. Expect techno, house and club energy until late, headlined by South Sudanese artist Skin On Skin, with SA’s own KHUEVO on the bill.
A quieter kind of light
Night Visions is the ticketed cousin of City Lights – a timed walk through the Botanic Garden where light and sound merge with the natural landscape to create something magical. Tickets run $30-$48.
Digital Abyss, from 2026 artist in residence Miguel Chevalier, fills the new light-and-art space off Light Square with an immersive, underwater world of generative light, which responds to your presence.
Bring the dog
New this year is the Illuminate Paws Walk – a dog-friendly walk along part of the City Lights trail, starting in the neon-lit dog park in Rymill Park. Each ticket covers one dog, comes with a glowing collar and supports RSPCA SA.
It was Rachael’s idea.
“I love dogs, and I’d loved watching people wander City Lights with theirs,” Rachael says. “I took my puppy in last year and thought, what a fun thing to do. You never see that many dogs in the city.”
Illuminate Adelaide runs from 1-19 July – see the full program and book tickets here.
