What's on in Adelaide, Australia through the year

Peak crowds — Santos Tour Down Under, Summer holidays in Australia

• Festival

  Santos Tour Down Under

  14–25 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A week of road racing based in the city in the middle of January, with hill stages that close the Adelaide Hills roads for a morning at a time and fill every pub in Willunga. Source ↗

Still on: Heat and fire danger season (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Busy — Adelaide Fringe

• Festival

  Adelaide Fringe

  15 Feb – 22 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A month of open-access shows in tents and temporary venues around the East End. With the Festival and WOMAD running alongside it, this is the one stretch of the year Adelaide is short of beds. Source ↗

Still on: Heat and fire danger season (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Adelaide Fringe, WOMADelaide

• Festival

  WOMADelaide

  5–9 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Four days and nights of music from everywhere under the old figs in Botanic Park, walkable from the centre, at the tail end of the hot weather. Source ↗

Still on: Adelaide Fringe (15 Feb – 22 Mar (usually)), Heat and fire danger season (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Busy — Autumn / Easter break in Australia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Winter (July) break in Australia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Southern right whales

  1 Jun – 15 Oct · usuallyWhale season

  Southern rights calve in Encounter Bay off Victor Harbor, an hour south. The headland at the Bluff and the whale centre do the job from land, without a boat. Source ↗

Busy — Winter (July) break in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Southern right whales (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Southern right whales (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Spring break in Australia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Southern right whales (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Spring break in Australia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Southern right whales (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas Pageant, Adelaide Supercars finale

• Festival

  Christmas Pageant

  14 NovChristmas & New YearCrowdedClosures

  A century-old parade of floats through the centre on a Saturday morning in November. Families take the kerb from dawn and the city grid closes to traffic for it. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Heat and fire danger season

  15 Nov – 15 Mar · usuallyExtreme heat

  A run of hot northerlies can put the Hills and the Fleurieu on catastrophic fire danger and bring a total fire ban; the country fire service rates each district a day at a time. Source ↗

• Festival

  Adelaide Supercars finale

  26–29 NovMotorsport weekendCrowdedClosures

  The season ends on the parklands street circuit: four days of engines from mid-morning, concerts at night, and rooms in the East End booked out months ahead. Source ↗

Busy — Summer holidays in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Heat and fire danger season (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), Adelaide Supercars finale (26–29 Nov)