South Australia has long been known as 'The Festival State', and during the months of February and March, Adelaide comes alive with two major festivals, Adelaide Fringe Festival and Adelaide Festival. Together, these festivals draw hundreds of thousands of local, national and international visitors into the heart of Adelaide and provide a month-long moment for brands to capitalise on this increased foot traffic and take centre stage in Rundle Mall.
For six decades, Adelaide Fringe Festival and Adelaide Festival have presented impressive line-ups of internationally acclaimed shows for all five senses across hundreds of Adelaide venues, and in 2020, both festivals celebrated their 60th birthdays. Rundle Mall's celebrations stretched from one end of the Mall to the other, with entertainment and experiences for everyone, young and old.
A Doll's House
As part of Adelaide Festival's birthday celebrations, Rundle Mall partnered with City of Adelaide and Adelaide Festival to commission a very special gift for the city. Since 2000, visionary Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi has been transforming public spaces in jaw-dropping ways in different cities across the world and in 2020, it was Adelaide's turn.
Nishi built a life-sized, three-storey Doll's House right in the middle of Rundle Mall — providing the perfect photo opportunity inside and out. The masterpiece was free to explore and saw over 29,000 visitors in just over two weeks.
The Yard
A life-sized house in the middle of Rundle Mall wouldn't be complete without a backyard. Rundle Mall teamed up with Australia's leading food and beverage brands to create 'The Yard' — a pop-up space to hang out with friends under the Gawler Place canopy.
Hoy Pinoy dished up Filipino street food, Gelato Messina brought their crowd-favourite frozen treats back to Rundle Mall for the second time and Archie Rose Distilling Co. — Australia's most highly awarded distillery — served a selection of one-off and classic cocktails.
On Friday nights, The Yard stepped up a gear with the addition of 'Festival Fridays', with DJs playing hits from the 70s, 80 and 90s.
Adelaide gave us such a fantastic welcome at the 2019 Vogue Festival, and we keep hearing how incredible Adelaide is during festival season, so we just had to come back.
It's Festival Time
During the Festival season the east end of the city is a hive of activity as festival-goers head to Fringe’s Gluttony and the Garden of Unearthly Delights as well as Rundle Street, which becomes the hub for outdoor dining and entertainment every night during the festival season.
To connect the east and west, a 4m high lantern installation was positioned at the east end of Rundle Mall at Pulteney Street to welcome visitors to the Mall. This stunning entry statement adorned the Mall with colour and light with lanterns hung overhead, creating an impactful moment and the perfect photo opportunity for those entering and leaving Rundle Mall during the festival period.
Fringe Box Office
Each year, the Adelaide Fringe Festival positions one of its box offices in Rundle Mall, capitalising on the high foot traffic and its ideal, festival-central location in the heart of the city.
Here's what our partners had to say about working with Rundle Mall
The Rundle Mall team are one of the most organised, responsive and helpful teams we've organised events with. They respond quickly and are able to action suggestions within a few hours. Highly recommend working with them.
The Rundle Mall team were the best team I have worked with so far. So accommodating, so professional, so helpful. This was the largest interstate activation Archie Rose has ever done and I could not have done it without the support from Nicky, Abby, Angelica and Dani. They were amazing! From the get-go, the Rundle Mall team were not only professional and helpful but also kind and nurturing. They know their Mall inside out and were quick to respond to any logistical or operational questions I had. The marketing team were also so supportive with producing and sharing content across their channels and helping to create a fun space for people to enjoy. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Rundle Mall and would definitely do it again!
