Trade Shows » Country » Australia » Adelaide

History & Evolution
South Australia was officially settled as a new British province on 28 December 1836, near the The Old Gum Tree in what is now the suburb of Glenelg North. Adelaide City at the time of European settlement, the area that is now Adelaide, was occupied by the Kaurna people, a peaceful group numbering around 300. Their territory extended south towards Cape Jervis and north towards Port Wakefield, and they had close ties with the Narungga of Yorke Peninsula. The capital's growth has reflected the state's cycle of boom and bust.

A wheat boom in the 1870s and 80s set off a building boom, and a lot of the beautiful buildings which still line the city's streets were built during these decades. Rapid expansion also took place during WWI, the 1920s and the busy post-WWII years. After WW II, new migrants arrived from Europe (especially Italy) bringing with them the cafe culture which lends Adelaide its relaxed ambiance. During the late 60s and 70s, South Australia made several ground-breaking political reforms, prohibiting sexual discrimination, racial discrimination and capital punishment, and recognizing Aboriginal land rights (interestingly, South Australia's original settlers had been the first to recognize Aboriginal ownership of land, although it didn't stop them stealing it).

Site-Seeing
Town Hall:
The Italian Renaissance-style Town Hall (by William Wright, 1863) features a handsome clock tower commemorating Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert (1861) which became a city landmark. On the façade are portraits of Italian artists and of Victoria and Albert.

Location: King William Street

Adelaide Botanic Garden:
The spacious Botanic Gardens (established 1855) feature a rich display of subtropical and Mediterranean flora. A particular attraction is the palm house (1871) and the Bicentennial Conservatory which contains plants from the Asian Pacific region.

Location: North Terrace

South Australian Museum:
The South Australian Museum occupies a building with a French-style mansard roof and a tower (1914). It contains a large collection of Aboriginal and Melanesian art and Egyptian antiquities. Of particular interest are the prehistoric and natural history collections.
Location: North Terrace

Adelaide Festival Centre :
To the north of Parliament House is the Adelaide Festival Centre (opened 1977), a modern cultural center with a tent-like roof structure slightly reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House. Here in alternate years is held the highly regarded Adelaide Arts Festival (theater, opera, ballet, exhibitions, readings by writers, lectures). It contains a large theater (2000 seats), a smaller one (600 seats) which is the home of the South Australia Theatre Company, the experimental Space Theatre (380 seats) and an amphitheater (800 seats) for concerts and recitals. The sculptural decoration of the South Plaza was the work of the German sculptor Otto Herbert Hajek.

Location: King William Road