Latest news with #IlluminateAdelaide
Time Out
07-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Time Out
Ranked: These Aussie capitals are the happiest places to be in 2025
It's happy days in Adelaide right now! The latest Happy City Index has dropped, and our South Australian capital just ranked as the happiest place to be in Australia right now. It's not hard to see why either. From world-class festivals and wineries to beautiful beaches and parks, Adelaide is built for good vibes. Plus, with less traffic and crowds than the bigger capitals, there's more time to spend doing the things you love. They don't call it the 20-minute city for nothing. Now in its sixth year, the Happy City Index ranks 200 cities around the world using 82 indicators across six categories: governance, environment, economy, mobility, citizen wellbeing and health. These cities are then awarded gold, silver or bronze status based on their overall ranking. While no Aussie cities cracked the top five (those went to Copenhagen, Zurich, Singapore, Aarhus and Antwerp), every single Australian capital city made the top 200 – and that's definitely something to smile about. Topping the list in Australia was Adelaide, coming in at 29th place globally. The report lauds Adelaide as 'a city that seamlessly blends tradition with modernity,' praising its high quality of life, strong economy, highly accessible public transport, diverse labour market, and deep commitment to renewable energy and CO2 emission monitoring. We particularly love the city's scenic parks, bike-friendly paths, underrated restaurants and fabulous festival scene, including Illuminate Adelaide, the city's spectacular winter festival coming up in July. Five Aussie cities landed in the silver tier, including Canberra (51), Melbourne (67), Sydney (75), Brisbane (78) – last year's happiest Aussie city – and the Gold Coast (88). The final two Australian cities to crack the top 200 were Hobart (135) and Perth (165). While happiness is subjective, this report is a good reminder that we have lots to smile about in Australia. You can check out the full report here. Here are the happiest cities in Australia Adelaide (29th globally) Canberra (51st globally) Melbourne (67th globally) Sydney (75th globally) Brisbane (78th globally) Gold Coast (88th globally) Hobart (135th globally) Darwin (146th globally) Perth (165th globally)
Time Out
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Adelaide's largest light festival has unveiled a dazzling 2025 program that rivals Vivid
One thing's clear about Adelaide lately: the city is gunning to equal Melbourne and Sydney's status as year-round cultural capitals of Australia. And what better way to cement that status than by hosting an after-dark winter festival to rival those on the East Coast. Illuminate Adelaide is set to literally and figuratively light up the South Australian capital from July 2 to 20 in its fifth year, with 134 free and ticketed events. The 2025 program features nine world premieres and 23 Aussie exclusives, including a new immersive journey at Adelaide Botanic Garden, a debut drone show over Adelaide Oval, an electrifying 12-hour music festival and an all-new culinary program. If you're after some free, after-dark fun, Illuminate Adelaide has got you covered with its annual City Lights display. More than 40 projections and installations will light up the CBD from July 4 to 20, switching on at 5.30pm every night. Each large-scale projection will showcase the talents of local and international artists, brightening landmarks like the Art Gallery of South Australia, State Library and Adelaide Railway Station. Once you've worked up an appetite, head over to Base Camp at Lot Fourteen, the festival's central hub, where you can hydrate, refuel and enjoy family-friendly performances. Or enjoy winter warmers at Adelaide Central Market, which will also come alive with immersive art installations and fresh acts. What has us most excited in 2025 is Horizons, a one-night-only world premiere that will transform Adelaide Oval into a living canvas using hundreds of glowing drones. Taking place on the banks of Karrawirra Parri / River Torrens, Horizons will take you on an incredible 60,000-year journey through South Australia's past, present and future. Another Illuminate Adelaide exclusive is Night Visions, a brand-new, multi-sensory light trail in Adelaide Botanic Garden, featuring cutting-edge lasers, projections and sound. Other ticketed highlights include 10-Minute Dance Party – an immersive, DJ-powered experience inside a shipping container; Universal Kingdom: The Next Era – a prehistoric after-dark adventure at Adelaide Zoo; Offline Club – a series of Dutch digital detox experiences; and Unsound Adelaide – the Southern Hemisphere's only outpost of Europe's cult experimental music festival, featuring legendary Velvet Underground founding member John Cale and more. Debuting in 2025, Illuminate Adelaide will unveil a brand-new culinary program, offering exclusive dining experiences at Adelaide's top restaurants and bars, including 2KW, Aurora, Station Road and NOLA. The festival will also launch Supersonic – a fresh, 12-hour music festival taking over the city's West End for one night only. And that's just a taster of the music program this year... Illuminate Adelaide draws millions of people out of their winter hibernation each year, and we suggest you join them in 2025. Tickets go live at 9am on Wednesday, April 30. You can explore the full program here.
Time Out
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Is the future of Aussie festivals looking brighter – literally?
It's almost time for lights, camera, action as cities across Australia gear up to glow this winter. Each year, millions flock to light festivals across the country, with cutting-edge technology creating bigger and brighter displays. From Vivid Sydney and Canberra's Enlighten Festival to Rising Melbourne, Illuminate Adelaide and Tasmania's Bicheno Beans, it would seem that our nation's love for light is ever-growing. But are these illuminated spectacles the future of Aussie festivals? It seems these events are stepping up to fill the flickering gap left by our fading music scene, blending impressive light displays with top-tier musical performances. Australia's biggest and undoubtedly most popular light display, Vivid Sydney, launched as a humble winter tourism activation in 2009, featuring a projection on the Sydney Opera House sails, in addition to colourful light installations around Circular Quay and The Rocks. What began with 200,000 attendees has grown into a massive 23-night spectacle, drawing more than three-million visitors from around the world. In 2016, the festival expanded to include Vivid Music – a broader program of concerts and gigs across the city – with the 2025 line-up set to feature 23 nights of free music at Tumbalong Park and 50 innovative acts at Sydney Opera House, including Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, and proud First Nations hip-hop sensation Miss Kanina. Like Vivid, Melbourne's flagship winter festival, Rising, bathes Melbourne's landmarks and labyrinthine laneways in a new light. The beloved arts spectacular combines interactive light installations and art with music and food, providing a platform to spotlight 327 of the world's most eclectic talents, including British indie-pop girlie Suki Waterhouse, Brooklyn rap legends Black Star (aka Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli), and Wiradjuri dance artist Joel Bray. Australia's festival capital has its own dazzling light-centric festival to rival the likes of Vivid and Rising, with Illuminate Adelaide also seamlessly blending art and light with music and technology. In 2025, the festival will be headlined by Night Visions – a brand-new, multi-sensory journey through Adelaide Botanic Garden, utilising cutting-edge light, lasers, projections and sound. The accompanying music program is set to be unveiled on April 29, with the first confirmed performance by Icelandic experimental techno duo Kiasmos, who will take the stage at Hindley Street Music Hall for their first Australian performance in eight years. Our country's love for light goes beyond just festivals. From Uluru's famous Field of Light installation to the immersive Moama Lights trail in regional Victoria and the recently launched Illumina light show on K'gari, there are many ways Australia is celebrating light. This year, the Gold Coast's underrated outdoor art spectacle, Wonder at HOTA, Home of the Arts, is embracing the glow with its biggest and boldest artwork yet. Titled 'Cloud Play', the breathtaking 530-square-metre kinetic sculpture by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics will light up the sky above the gallery, complemented by a soundscape that blends ancient Indigenous knowledge with an original score and natural sound recordings by Saltwater man Lann Levinge, operatic artist Jose Carbo, and didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton. Visitors can wander through the outdoor space beneath the colourful canopy of 'Cloud Play', as they enjoy a suite of events, including Strictly Baz Luhrmann: The Concert, a queer celebration headlined by Natalie Bassingthwaighte and The Huxleys, and free concerts by local talents including The Good Band and Sounds Like Gold Coast.
