Illuminate Adelaide: The festival giving Vivid a run for its money

Illuminate Adelaide is lighting up Adelaide until 30 July 2023.

Illuminate Adelaide is known across South Australia for its jaw-dropping art installations and performances. We headed to the City of Churches to explore the state’s premier winter event – one of the best events happening in July – that encompasses art, light, music and technology.

Now in its third year, the event is stepping up and offering a better-than-ever experience across the city, inviting everyone to discover something new. From interactive installations to vibrant venues and awe-inspiring performances, here’s your guide to the very best of Illuminate Adelaide.

Wander through Resonate

Sprawling across the stunning Adelaide Botanic Garden, Resonate is broken down into six installations that spread out across a two-kilometre trail. Beginning at the Main Gate off North Terrace, the self-guided walk weaves past ponds, native plants and ancient Moreton Bay figs after dark.

Each light installation focuses on a theme (from beginnings to transformations), and immersive technology and perfectly timed original soundscapes bring them to life. We wandered along at our own pace, pausing where needed to admire pieces that spoke to us.

The light show was designed by Canada-based Moment Factory, who are responsible for a number of Illuminate’s installations. Resonate runs for the entirety of Illuminate Adelaide and tickets are priced at $42 each.

Interact with Mirror Mirror

Another incredible Moment Factory installation, Mirror Mirror is located in the heart of Adelaide in Victoria Square. Concealed within the Illuminate Pavilion, Mirror Mirror is a maze of light installations that pop with colour and sound.

Each installation is interactive in its own way. Pose for a series of photos that are added to an ever-growing artwork that tells of the future. Share a memory and watch AI write a poem about it. Jump across a light stream to send ripples along its surface with your movements.

This choose-your-own-adventure installation invites you to awaken your senses and uncover a labyrinth of light, colour and sound. Fun for all ages, Mirror Mirror is priced between $39 and $49 and is fully wheelchair accessible.

Get lost in Architects of Air: Arborialis

Unleash your inner child at Architects of Air: Arborialis, created by Alan Parkinson and Architects of Air in Adelaide’s Rymill Park. After entering via a windy airlock, you’ll leave the world behind and step into somewhere excitingly alien.

This vibrant installation is divided into a series of colour-coordinated Luminaria, making up an illuminated and inflatable structure that feels part jumping castle, part maze. Hide behind colourful columns. Sit in saturated, bubble-like pockets. Lie down and stare up at mandala-like ceilings.

Open from 11am from 1 July to 23 July, Architects of Air was definitely one of our favourites. The structure is fully wheelchair accessible, with tickets priced at $18 per person.

Get wild with Light Creatures

Explore Adelaide Zoo after dark with Light Creatures, one of Illuminate Adelaide’s most family-friendly installations. Wander along well-lit paths to meet giant, illuminated wildlife, from bamboo-munching pandas to ready-to-pounce tigers.

We adored the radiant floating jellyfish, which fluttered in the breeze as passers-by wandered underneath. Another favourite was the majestic golden falcon, the newest member of the Light Creature family.

A rare opportunity to explore the zoo at night, Light Creatures has a special kids’ zone perfect for little ones to get interactive and imaginative. Hungry? Grab churros and a doughnut from stalls scattered around the zoo, or head to the onsite restaurant for a family feed.

Light Creatures is fully wheelchair accessible, with Auslan interpretation at each installation available via QR code. It runs from 29 June to 23 July, with tickets priced from $31 and children under four free.

Follow the City Lights

Although we didn’t make it to City Lights, it is definitely a must when exploring Illuminate Adelaide. It’s the city’s biggest free program of art, light and technology: family-friendly, fun and completely free!

Running every night from 7 July, City Lights is perfect for those short on time or exploring with bigger groups. It is fully self-guided and can include as little or as many artworks as you desire. Make a game of it and see how many you can fit into one night!

Open-air artworks and interactive sculptures will overtake Adelaide’s most beloved cultural institutions and heritage buildings across the north, east and west terraces of the city. And this year is promising the city’s best program yet.

Catch your breath at Base Camp

Need a break from all the excitement? Head to Base Camp in Rundle Park for music, food and drinks from some of the state’s best. Completely sheltered from the cold winter outside, Base Camp offers a free, city-centric refuge where you can warm up and chill out.

Located close to many of Illuminate’s best installations, you won’t have to head far for a place to rest. Head inside to grab a bite to eat or sit outside to enjoy the well-tended fire pits. Base Camp is a great place to recharge before going home or heading out for more; Resonate is just across the road, as is Architects of Air.

Boogie with Yothu Yindi

Yothu Yindi are stalwarts of the Indigenous music scene in Australia. The band is known for their rocking Yolŋu beats, powerful vocals and hefty rock vibes, making each gig an unforgettable experience.

This year, Yothu Yindi are performing at Illuminate Adelaide as part of NAIDOC Week. Head to Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall to witness the band ignite new fire into their classic songs. Yothu Yindi will also be supported by award-winning Indigenous singer and songwriter Emma Donovan.

General admission tickets to the show are priced at $69, a seemingly small fee to pay for a priceless performance. Hindley Street Music Hall is fully wheelchair accessible.

Immerse yourself in KLASSIK underground

Enter a world of music and light at KLASSIK underground, back for another year of concerts encompassing classical sounds, visual art and alternative spaces. Renowned violinist Tahlia Petrosian is behind the event, coordinating local and international collaborators to curate a two-part series of awe-inspiring concerts.

This year, KLASSIK will be held at Adelaide’s Dom Polski Centre, running on 21 and 22 July. Tickets are priced between $50 and $60.

Friday promises to wow the audience with Reverberating Rhythms, which features a seven-piece team of Australian talent. Saturday is all about Shifting Sounds, in which select members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra will perform in a tailored string quartet.

Learn about Augmented Revolution

Making its first appearance ever at Illuminate Adelaide, Augmented Revolution will reimagine our devices as a powerful tool to express ways of knowing and being.

Contemporary First Nations artists take control of the emerging technology of augmented reality as a storytelling platform. Each will traverse themes of identity, connection to Country and disruption.

Augmented Revolution has been curated by First Nations Advisory Committee member Dearna Newchurch and brought to life by Monkeystack. The free interactive interface will be available across the city, featuring artists Carly Tarkari Dodd, Jaydenlee Tong and Temaana Yundu Sanderson-Bromley.

Be wowed by Shifting Perspectives

Let local studio Restless Dance Theatre unlock new perspectives for you through light and darkness, shape and movement, perception and reality with Shifting Perspectives. The work, led by artistic director Michelle Ryan, is a combination of dance performance and installation art.

Watch on as performers from Restless Dance interact with inventive light-and-mirror set pieces designed by artist Matthew Adey. The piece pirouettes around the themes of bodies of light and the lightness of the body, adding a new art form to Illuminate Adelaide’s repertoire.

Shifting Perspectives will be held from 27 to 30 July at Queens Theatre, with both matinee and evening performances. Tickets are priced between $20 and $25.