The State Government has granted Rundle Mall and the Adelaide CBD exclusive trading hours during the Adelaide Fringe Festival season which will allow you to keep your business open from 9am to 7pm on the following Saturdays during Festival Season:

• Saturday 18 February 2023
• Saturday 25 February 2023
• Saturday 4 March 2023
• Saturday 11 March 2023
• Saturday 18 March 2023

This is a huge win for Rundle Mall which gives the Precinct a unique competitive advantage over suburban shopping centres.

Feedback from retailers over the Christmas period was that you wanted to trade longer on Saturdays. Rundle Mall now has this exclusive opportunity to do so during Festival Season, when typically pedestrian counts in the city on average are 32% higher on Saturdays between 6pm and 9pm compared to other times of year. On Black Friday, 11am was as busy as 11pm, which proves our customers have appetite for extended early evening trade.

To promote the extended trading hours, AEDA will be supporting ‘It’s Festival Time’ campaign with a new event.

MallFest will help to establish Rundle Mall as a new festival space in the city, encouraging visitors, shoppers and festival-goers to come along and enjoy the excitement of Festival Season.

MallFest will feature a variety of activities designed to bring intrigue, wonder and laughter through a series of pre-scheduled live entertainment and performances, curated busking and of course, delicious food and wine.

MallFest highlights will include:

• A curated program of street performers along the length of the Mall
• Activations under the Gawler Place Canopy with the Coopers Bar, with music Saturday - Thursday to add vibrancy and encourage shoppers to stay longer and later
• DJs on Fridays from 11am to 9pm
• A pre-scheduled entertainment program on Saturdays from 11am to 7pm at the Gawler Place intersection to ensure the Mall is activated during the extended shopping hours.

AEDA will be running a marketing campaign to ensure that the Mall is vibrant and bustling during the entire Festival Season, but also during these additional shopping hours, which will include:

• Strong digital and social media campaign
• On-Mall signage and messaging
• Liaising with carparks to get the extended shopping message out via their eDM database and website
• Promotion within city hotels
• Point of sale materials including countertop cards and window decals to highlight Saturday trading hours.

AEDA encourages all businesses to take advantage of this unique opportunity and stay open until 7pm every Saturday throughout Festival Season.

To receive a window decal or countertop card to promote your 9am to 7pm Saturday opening hours, or to let us know your opening hours during the Festival Season, please email us by COB Monday 23 January.

If you have any other questions, please email us.