Public Realm Opens
Festival Plaza’s reimagined public realm has officially opened to the public, giving families and festival-goers a visionary new space to spend time in as they converge on different parts of the city for Adelaide’s biggest entertainment month.
Construction hoarding that previously masked significant features of the new public realm has now come down, revealing a 20 metre long interactive water feature and six 11 metre wide arbours.
Bougainvillea and ornamental grape vines have been planted at the base of each of the immense, architecturally-designed arbours to create a stunning shade canopy over time.
The transformed plaza, has been rebuilt on one of Adelaide’s oldest plaza grounds but is now significantly redesigned and ready to delight. It also boasts refurbished artworks from the original Hajek Plaza, new establishing trees, expansive lawns for picnicking and 8,600m2 of paved, event-ready space.
From pop-up cafes, bars and food trucks to live local bands and night-time light shows, the plaza is also set to become a place for children’s water play, street theatre, interactive art experiences, markets and roving performers.
Moving forward Festival Plaza will play host to future major events in the South Australian cultural calendar and provide the ideal meet-up place for friends before seeing a show or a game, as well as being a relaxing setting for a long lunch on the weekend and a hub of family-friendly fun during the day and throughout the school holidays.
The completion of the largest section of public realm coincides with the re-opening of the refurbished Adelaide Festival Theatre, heralding a new chapter for our city and re-establishing the plaza as Adelaide’s holy ground of the arts.