The results are in. Following another exceptional season in 2025, Illuminate Adelaide has catapulted into the ranks of Australia’s fastest-growing events – tripling its annual total attendance and more than doubling annual economic activity generated for South Australia, since the inaugural event in 2021.

This year’s fifth edition saw the talents of 173 artists featured across a massive line-up of 134 free and ticketed events that included 58 new commissions from local and overseas technology and creative industries. The program resonated with both new and returning audiences, with attendances soaring to 1.5 million – 98,368 of these by visitors from interstate and abroad – and $74.7 million in economic activity generated for the state.

South Australian Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison said: “Illuminate Adelaide has had a truly astounding state-wide economic impact over its first five years. Since 2021, a remarkable 20,000 employment opportunities have been generated, annual interstate visitation has increased sixfold – driving up hotel occupancy with the creation of 141,600 total bed nights, and the annual economic impact and new income generated for South Australia has grown by 95%.

“Creative celebrations like Illuminate Adelaide, alongside our many major sporting, arts, multicultural, and community events, continue to prove themselves integral to the state’s visitor economy. Recently, South Australia was named Best Event State at the 2025 Australian Event Awards, recognising our delivery of the nation’s largest number of high-quality events. Our non-stop events calendar is now unparalleled, and Illuminate Adelaide remains a winter headliner, returning in 2026 from 01 to 19 July.”

Throughout 17 days of Illuminate Adelaide in July this year, the night-time vibe was nothing short of supercharged. From a blockbuster start to an epic closing weekend that included the wildly popular Night Visions in Adelaide Botanic Garden, the drone spectacular Horizons, an electric performance by Kiasmos, and the debut of mobile music marathon, Supersonic, the city was visibly teeming, with restaurants, bars, cafes and pubs, brimming with patrons.

Illuminate Adelaide Co-founders and Creative Directors Lee Cumberlidge and Rachael Azzopardi said: “We’re thrilled that, through the support of the State Government and South Australian Tourism Commission, we could create an event magical enough to break winter’s sleepy spell and entice people into town for an after-dark adventure under the stars.

“Alongside the significant economic returns to the state, Illuminate Adelaide’s social impact continues to grow with our culturally and linguistically diverse audience share increasing by 17% since 2021 – reflecting the inclusive and accessible nature of our programming approach. Data collected at this year’s event has also been incredibly positive. 84% of visitors said they’d visit South Australia again because of their Illuminate Adelaide experience and 96% would recommend the festival to their family and friends.”

Other 2025 highlights included the nightly free City Lights program along North Terrace which brought interactive roving performances into the mix for the first time, Unsound Adelaide’s two pulsating evenings of experimental sound headlined by John Cale of The Velvet Underground, the prehistoric puppet giants of Universal Kingdom: The Next Era at Adelaide Zoo, and Base Camp at Lot Fourteen, which attracted big numbers with its cosy fireside atmosphere.

Illuminate Adelaide returns 01 to 19 July 2026 with an all-new program celebrating art, light, music and technology.