How To Spend a Weekend in Adelaide During Illuminate

Illuminate — Adelaide's winter festival of art, light, music and technology  — isn't just about seeing light spectacles. It's about visiting alternative worlds.

In one weekend, we travelled back in time to when dinosaurs ruled the earth, walked through a light tunnel where we lost all sense of space, and danced under a sky that followed our moves — all in downtown Adelaide. 

Over dinner in the Botanic Gardens, festival co-director Rachael Azzopardi told us Illuminate's goal was "total immersion" of the audience. Here's how we spent a weekend getting gloriously lost.

WHERE TO SEE THE LIGHTS

As the sun set, we wandered north of Adelaide's CBD to Adelaide Zoo, bats flapping overhead. 46,000 of them live among the parklands that encircle the city.

Beyond the gates, a tunnel of giant, glowing teeth whisked us away to the prehistoric era. We came face-to-face with a life-sized triceratops, cowered under a flying pterodactyl and felt the earth move as a T-Rex roared towards us. Somehow, the tigers slept through it all, not moving an inch as we passed.

A brief stroll back toward the CBD brought us to Adelaide Botanic Gardens, 51 hectares of water lilies, roses, natives and more, founded in 1855. Illuminate took over after dark for the first time this year with Night Visions: a series of monumental, moving light sculptures that seemed to carry us into another dimension. Craig Walsh transformed towering trees into shifting, haunting, penetrating faces of First Nations leaders and artists. Robin Fox turned a walk through a rainforest canopy into a laser-pierced, electronica-soundtracked, sci-fi adventure. Chris Petridis recreated the first sunrise.

The final stage of our journey was City Lights, which takes over the city every year with stunning projections, interactive experiences and roaming artworks. We danced under hundreds of lights that moved when we did, watched hypnotising games of kick tennis with balls made of glowing light and visited a garden dotted with 19 moons.

All in all, Illuminate offered 134 unique experiences this year, created by 175 artists (both local and international) and including nine world premieres, plus 23 Australian firsts and exclusives. Also on the program were the two-day Unsound Festival headlined by John Cale, the 12-hour Supersonic Festival, a one-night-only light spectacular on Adelaide Oval powered by hundreds of illuminated drones, digital detox sessions at the Offline Club, 10-minute dance parties, a bunch of one-off dining experiences and plenty more.

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK

In the Botanic Gardens, surrounded by Night Visions, lakeside restaurant Botanic Lodge served a native-spiked, Illuminate-inspired menu throughout the festival. Zucchini with grilled grapes and tarragon chased kingfish crudo with citrus and lemon verbena, followed by beef with Dorrigo pepper sauce and a super-cute take on the Golden Gaytime dished up in a cup.

Among City Lights, New York-style Italian eatery Fugazzi was our pick. Decked in electric-red paint, bronze curtains and curved boots, it's a fun, warm escape from the cold. We'd return just for the crunchy, salty gnocco fritto with whipped ricotta and honey with a 2021 Paracombe 'V.5' Gruner.

But, with time on our we side, we settled in for a tasting menu. Mini-mortadella sandwiches, and yellow fin tuna-and-seaweed-crackers topped with citrus cream and Davidson plum kicked off the feast. Next came comforting bowls of fusilli with pork sausage, cavolo nero and crunchy black garlic, followed by sirloin swimming in marsala-green onion jus with buttery potato mash, alongside a 2024 Cirillo Grenache — then gelato encased in crostoli with strawberry and pistachio. "This is one of the best restaurants in Adelaide now," says our waiter, who's lived in the city for years. "And I'm not just saying that because I work here."

Other spots to check out in and around Illuminate include Room 19, Cherry and Exchange for coffee; Table on the Terrace for a casual brekkie or lunch; and Mother Vine and NOLA for drinks. For more tips, see our Food and Wine Lover's Guide to Adelaide.

WHERE TO SLEEP 

After losing ourselves among the lights, we soared above them on the 20th floor of the Crowne Plaza on North Terrace. Through vast glass walls, the city was a haze of blues, purples and greens — and most of Illuminate was just five-ten minutes' walk away.

Apart from the incredible views, the hotel has other attractions: a divine outdoor infinity pool with a bar on the 10th floor, a 24-hour gym and a co-working space. Also sharing the 10th floor is Koomo Restaurant. Wake up to an epic buffet brekkie, then return at dinner for Japanese-inspired dishes. Our favourites included charred zucchini with tofu and miso topped with crunchy candied pepitas, Atlantic salmon with bonito-chive cream and garlic chips, and the bonsai: a magical chocolate-raspberry mini-tree.

WHERE TO KEEP GETTING LOST AFTERWARDS

After escaping the constraints of time, space and reality for two days, we weren't ready for the constraints of the desk. So, we headed for the hills. 

A 45-minute zoom down the highway to the south landed us in the green hills of McLaren Vale — world-famous home of big reds. First stop? The Wonder Room at Dandelion Vineyards. So-called for its high ceilings, glass walls and infinite vineyard views, backdropped by the still blues of Gulf Saint Vincent, 15 minutes' drive away.

"In summer, we put on picnics outdoors," said our host. "But, it's cold, so we put on an indoor picnic for you. Eat the bread now — it's straight from the oven."

We did. Lots of it, with cheese, and jars of house-made delights: garden pickles, pumpkin hummus, lyutenitsa. They're all made in the kitchen by Dani Golakova, mother of Dandelion's winemaker, Elena Brooks. The family moved here from Bulgaria in the early 2000s. Our tasting of Brookes's excellent wines ranged from a delicious, dinner party-friendly Riesling to an explosive Shiraz-Grenache-Petite Syrah.

A 10-minute drive through late afternoon sun put us at Beresford Estate, Frankfurt International Trophy's Best Producer in 2023. A row of roomy studios overlooks 70 acres of 60-year-old vines covered in Grenache, Shiraz and Chardonnay. They're among the most thoughtfully designed stays we've visited — decked with luxe queen beds, giant rainforest showers, spacious kitchenettes and private patios.

Come dinner, McLaren Vale offers loads of choice. They range from fine dining in an underground limestone cave at Maxwell Wines or on a 19th century verandah at d'Arry's, to pizza and pasta at Down the Rabbit Hole. We dropped into the McLaren Vale Hotel, on the village's main street, for 12-hour-braised lamb with potato puree and Dutch carrots, and fettuccine with Spencer Gulf prawns swimming in Woodside Sauvignon Blanc cream sauce — alongside a solid local wine list. 

With flights to catch, we didn't have much time to explore McLaren Vale by morning. We heard there are top-shelf brews at the Daily Grind, Dal Mare, Kicco and Manna. We dropped into the Cottage Bakery to grab a few old-school goodies for the road — including an enormous, piping hot spinach pie and a cracking custard tart. Not bad company for the long journey back to reality.

Illuminate takes place in Adelaide every July. The Concrete Playground travelled with the support of the South Australian Tourism Commission.

First and second images: Tyr Liang Xplorer Studio
Third image: Frankie The Creative