30-04-2025
South Australia's History Festival to reflect on decisions that shaped the state
From a late-night "conversation" with Don Dunstan to a documentary about the country's oldest German settlement and a pub celebrating 175 years, South Australia's History Festival launches today with nearly 600 events.
It is a far cry from more than 20 years ago when it first began as History Week.
"It proved so popular that after about three years it became the history festival and it was extended to run for the entire month," History Trust of SA chief executive Greg Mackie said.
Greg Mackie is looking forward to this year's festival.
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Supplied: History Trust of SA
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He said this year's iteration would be the last he led after finally achieving his goal to establish a festival "hub" at the heritage-listed Ayers House in Adelaide.
Called the House of History, Ayers House will have multiple venues and host 26 free evening talks across 13 evenings during May.
"Ayers House lends itself perfectly to this," Mr Mackie told
"It's in a sort of saloon setting so people can go to the bar, buy themselves a drink, even a cheese platter, come into the ballroom, sit down and continue to partake while the talks are going on."
It will also host performances of An Audience with Don Dunstan, which Mr Mackie described as a "thoroughly enjoyable trip down memory lane" about the late former state premier.
Ayers House on North Terrace will feature as a festival hub, with a bar and free evening talks.
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Supplied: Ayers House
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"We probably remember most visually Don Dunstan wearing pink shorts on the steps of parliament," he said.
"The production is set in a bar in 1996 in Adelaide.
"It's the end of the night and Don Dunstan is there on his own and the venue manager, who is also a singer, is tidying up and they strike up a conversation.
The late Don Dunstan wore pink shorts in a statement about appropriate dress for our climate.
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Supplied: Flinders University Library Dunstan collection
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"It's a wonderful take on the life of an extraordinarily accomplished and colourful man whose name defined a decade."
The festival's theme, Decisions, reflects how they have defined the state's history — for better or worse.
"Like life, history is full of decisions," SA's History Advocate, Keira Lindsey, said.
"Some lead on to greatness; others to disaster.
"Let's reflect upon the good, bad and ugly of past decision-making and make great decisions about our future."
Doco to premiere
Down the road at The Mercury cinema, a documentary about Australia's oldest surviving German settlement, Hahndorf, will premiere.
Made by local tour operator Sharon Pippis, it features descendants of the town's 1839 founding families, interviews, archive material, and SA history enthusiast Keith Conlon.
"The folk that came here were Prussians but they had German ethnicity," Ms Pippis said.
Keith Conlon and Sharon Pippis will present on Hahndorf's history.
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Entitled Hahndorf: Echoes of the Past, it also discusses the era's British settlers and features the region's original Indigenous inhabitants, the Peramangk people, who named the area Bukartilla, meaning "place of much water".
"They all got along very well here, which is a good news story,"
Ms Pippis said.
"As they do their interviews, the story of Hahndorf is woven through the whole thing, so when people come away from the documentary they are going to know a lot about the Prussian Lutherans, the immigrants that came out, and also other people."
Other features of this year's festival include the historic front bar of the Sir John Franklin Hotel in Kapunda, which is celebrating its 175th year, and the city's so-called malls balls, which are captured in author Paul Flavel's talk about the history of Rundle Mall's former department store, John Martin's.
The Malls Balls feature in the festival in author Paul Flavel's talk on the history of John Martin's.
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Supplied: History Trust of SA
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There are guided tours around the state's modernist architecture and workshops, including on making traditional cheese and butter.
There is also a retrospective about the dramatic 2002 state election, presented by former premiers Rob Kerin and Mike Rann with former political journalist and ABC broadcaster David Bevan in the House of Assembly at Parliament House.
"That election was a cliffhanger and Mike Rann ended up forming a minority government with the support of an independent, Peter Lewis," Mr Mackie said.
"And there is a WEA [Worker's Educational Association] bakery tour of the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley, which, for my money, would be an amazing thing to do.
"There's all sorts of things across the state."
South Australia's History Festival runs until May 31.
