Adelaide is full of festive cheer this Christmas and there’s plenty to see and do. The lights are sparkling, the ornaments are on display, and the tree is up. And there are Christmas events as well to help spread the joy around so if you’ve got a minute to take it all in, spend some time in the street and catch some of that Christmas spirit that’s in the air with these Christmas events in Adelaide.
1. Giant Christmas Tree
Adelaide’s Giant Christmas Tree truly is an icon, you really can’t miss it; soaring at 25 metres into the sky. The Christmas tree will be lit up with 13,616 individually programmable LED lights in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga with the lighting loops lasting approximately ten minutes. The fountains below will also be on so that the kids can cool off throughout our hot summer nights. The Giant Christmas Tree will be lit up from 8:30pm to 2:30am every night from Friday 18 November toSunday 4 January.
Location: Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, Adelaide
Price: Free
2. Love Actually In Concert
This year, instead of watching this festive favourite on Netflix, do yourself a favour and check out Love Actually In Concert, one of the hottest Christmas events in Adelaide. The live orchestra will perform the hit soundtrack live with the film being projected onto a huge screen so you can laugh, cry and cheer alongside the Richard Curtis-directed and written film that we all know and love. Love Actually In Concert is heading for the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday 16 December – find out all the relevant information and ticketing here.
Location: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Hindmarsh
Price: $100 – $151
3. Moonlight Cinema
While not strictly Christmas, Moonlight Cinemas always delivers the Christmas film-goods leading up to the big day. This year, the run-up to Christmas will feature a bunch of our favourite seasonal films including The Grinch That Stole Christmas, Love Actually, The Holiday, Elf, and Home Alone. See the program here for all the films screening this December.
Location: Botanic Park, Adelaide
Price: $15 – $60
4. Dining In The Dark Christmas Edition
On Thursday 8 December from 6pm until 7:30pm, experience a culinary adventure like no other and an unforgettable Christmas event in Adelaide. The lights will be well and truly absent; blindfolds in action and all for the Dining In The Dark Christmas Edition. The idea is to focus on taste, smell, mouthfeel and sound, all while enjoying a menu with a Christmas flare. The night includes a two-course meal and a drink and will have you dining like it’s the year 1601.
Location: Jack & Jill’s, Adelaide
Price: $99
5. Rundle Mall’s Christmas Windows
If all things Santa float your boat, then you’re going to love the return of Rundle Mall’s iconic Christmas windows. The one and only Christmas Pageant window, featuring the much-loved rocking horse Nimble has made a return this year to help celebrate the Pageant’s 90-year anniversary while the other seven showcase brand new displays along the 520-metre span on the mall. Read all about the Christmas windows here.
Location: Rundle Mall, Adelaide
Price: Free
6. Christmas Wonderland Festival
On Friday 9 and Saturday 10 December from 5:30pm until 10pm, Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga in the heart of the city will be host to Christmas Wonderland Festival. The evening will see the square transform into a magical locale brimming with colour, live music, food trucks and a sleigh-load of merry-making performances to put smiles on any face that doesn’t mind some Chrissy shenanigans.
Location: Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, Adelaide
Price: Free
7. Christmas Cracker Trail
The city is full of surprises and this Christmas there are a bunch of vibrant and mysterious looking boxes scattered about Adelaide which utilises a free app so you can go on a digital adventure. The Adelaide Christmas Cracker Trail activity pays tribute to the festive tradition of gathering around the table with loved ones, and participants can go in the running to win one of 1,000 crackers containing all sorts of delightful surprises in the lead up to Christmas.
To be involved, just head to your app store and search ‘Adelaide Christmas Trail’ and go on your merry way, scanning to QR codes on the numbered Christmas Craker boxes around the city. By doing so, you’ll go in the draw to win a family city staycation valued at $1,500.
Location: Multiple sites
Price: Free
8. Christmas Markets
If you’re into the festivities that complement the silly season, then Christmas markets are the place to be for the whole joyous kit and kaboodle. We’ve put together a list of ten poppin’ Christmas markets in and around Adelaide that might just be up your alley. From the Glenelg Sunset Markets Christmas Edition to the Hahndorf Christkindlmarkt, there’ll be something new to discover at one of these ten Christmas events in Adelaide. Check out our list and get all the details here.
Location: Multiple sites
Price: Varying
9. Riverbank Christmas Display
From Saturday 27 November, the City of West Torren’s annual Riverbank Christmas Display will return in all its festive glory. The official lighting ceremony will take place on the Saturday from 6pm until 8pm, and then every day from 3pm to midnight, running until Saturday 2 January 2023. The Riverbank Christmas Display has been gracing the River Torrens for over 60 years, and this year it will coincide with the West Torrens Christmas Fare. Find the display at the corner of Port Road and Adam Street in Hindmarsh.
Location: Corner Port Road and Adam Street, Hindmarsh
Price: Free
10. Bauble Canopy
Christmas is baubles and these giant bauble-like bubbles by Sydney-based design studio have been the talk of the town (and not just in Adelaide) thanks to the magical and wondrous feeling they radiate. There are 159 of these Dichroic Bubble-texture baubles handing in the air in Peel Street and Vaughan Place. During the day, the sun lights them up in different colours as it moves across the sky, but then at night, the lights transform them into an incredible and dynamic lighting display. Well worth a visit more than once and at different times of the day and night. They’ll be on display until 2 January.
Location: Peel Street and Vaughan Place, Adelaide
Price: Free
11. State Library of South Australia’s Christmas Tree
For the first time, the mammoth greenery will light up the Mortlock Chamber in the hidden crux of the historic North Terrace library. Standing at a whopping seven metres tall, the tree spans to the height of the first level of the Mortlock in a glorious display which exudes some sort of Oxfordian atmosphere in the wintertime.
To complement the tree, a Christmas-themed display from the State Library’s Children’s Literature Research Collection consisting of over 70,000 items from around the world will reflect past Christmas traditions in different countries. The collection features traditional Christmas games, toys and books, including a moveable pop-up book Father Christmas (1961) by famed Czechoslovakian paper artist, Vojtěch Kubašta. But there’s also a whole bunch of other festive activities going down beneath the tree, read all about them here.
Location: State Library of South Australia, Adelaide
Price: Free
