Events around South Australia in 2025
Each month, sa move brings you our pick of SA events that everyone should have on their calendar.
May 2025
Mayday, mayday! It’s an emergency. Have you got these great SA events pencilled in your diary yet? Don’t let them sail on by.
1. South Australia’s History Festival
When: 1–31 May
Where: Various locations
You can’t spell history without ‘story’, and South Australia’s History Festival’s impressive program is filled with nearly 600 events chronicling SA’s past.
Reminisce about your times visiting SA’s beloved department store, John Martin’s, with author Paul Flavel at his talk, Remembering Johnnies. Travel Through Time perusing vintage vehicles like a 1906 steam car, as well as motorcycles and carriages as you discover how various modes of transport were critical to the Mount Lofty Ranges’ prosperity. Put your best high-heel forward at Priscilla: Frock up and Find Out and take a peek behind the curtain of the History Trust’s restoration of the movie’s iconic bus. Check out the full program to find out what curiosities take your fancy.
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2. Chardonnay May
When: 1–31 May
Where: Adelaide Hills
If chardonnay isn’t your usual tipple, then prepare to be gobsmacked. For the whole month, the Adelaide Hills wine region presents Chardonnay May. Kath and Kim approve, it’s nice, it’s different, it’s unusual. It’s chardonnay, but not as you know it.
Cellar doors across the region will be throwing open their fridges and celebrating this varietal with perfect pairings, pantry picnics, a chardy party and more. And as Kim said to Sharon, “If you’re not there, you’ll be out of the loop – and I just cannot have that for you, okay?”
3. Tasting Australia presented by Journey Beyond
When: 2–11 May
Where: Various locations across SA
If you are what you eat, then what’s wrong with being a loaf of warm, freshly baked bread, or a tantalisingly sweet Dulce de leche? Tasting Australia presented by Journey Beyond is bringing a large dollop of flavour to your calendar this May.
There are free food samples, beverage tastings and cooking demonstrations at the Food Secrets at Adey market. You’ll have sweet dreams of Australia’s native flavours at Candyland: Sweet Secrets of the Land Down Under. Taste your way through the alphabet of South Australian wine and celebrate May the Fourth in a cantina with a bottomless barbeque, and so much more. This smorgasbord will have you going back for seconds… and thirds.
4. Old Crock’s Run
When: 4 May
Where: Wigley Reserve, Glenelg
Ready for a ride? A ride back in time, that is. Moving a little slower, but by no means less fabulous, dozens of pre-1935 vehicles, commercial vehicles and motorbikes, alongside their contemporary counterparts, will make their way from the city to Glenelg as part of the 91st Old Crock’s Run.
This year’s event will showcase more than 200 cars and bikes, including a 1904 De Dion-Bouton side-by-side with a 2018 McLaren supercar. Be ready in Wigley Reserve from 9:45am to cheer as the procession arrives, then enjoy food and drink, family entertainment and plenty of activities to keep car enthusiasts amused.
5. DreamBIG Children’s Festival
When: 7–17 May
Where: Various locations
Let your little one’s imagination run wild and go an adventure the whole family can enjoy. DreamBIG Children’s Festival romps into town, bringing a program featuring more than 50 events, shows, workshops and installations dedicated to families and children of all ages.
From much-loved fairytales reimagined for the stage to creative workshops exploring the world of broadcasting, there’s something for the very little ones to secondary-school age. When you dream big, the sky’s the limit.
6. Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival
When: 12–18 May
Where: Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo
Celebrate 50 years of Cornish heritage in South Australia at Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival. The week of festivities across Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo includes everything from pasty bake-offs to guided history tours and a cavalcade of classic cars and motorcycles.
Don your best traditional Cornish attire to be in it to win a prize in the Cousin Jack & Jenny competition, hop on a road tram for a tour of the Moonta township or head to a Cornish pasty-making class. Kernewek Lowender means Cornish happiness, so make your way to the festival to celebrate the traditions, culture, and heritage of the Cornish people.
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7. The JLF Trek SA
When: 16–17 May
Where: Encounter Bay and Myponga region
If you’ve been talking the talk, it’s time to take a step in the right direction and walk the walk. Grab your comfiest walking shoes and your best ‘sole’ mates, and hit the path for the JLF Trek SA 2025.
Organised by the Jodi Lee Foundation to raise awareness about bowel cancer and the importance of early detection, this endurance event is a great way to challenge yourself for a great cause. Money fundraised goes towards helping eliminate bowel cancer for future generations. You have three distances to choose from: the full 67km (you’ve got both Friday and Saturday to go the whole distance), or Saturday’s shorter 32km or 24.5km. Applaud your success with free celebratory drinks at the finish line, as well as food and live music.
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8. Looking for Alibrandi
When: 22–31 May
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Ahh, the early naughties. Killing Heidi is on the analogue car radio as you head to Blockbuster to rent the latest movies, with Looking for Alibrandi among the stack of video tapes you take to the counter. First a book, then a hit movie and now a State Theatre Company South Australia production, the stage show introduces the Aussie classic to a new generation and offers whimsical nostalgia to those who enjoyed the original.
In this iconic coming-of-age story, 17-year-old Josie can’t wait for her future to begin. But the old country world of her Italian-Australian family heritage is standing in the way. Follow Josie’s journey as she discovers love, family and herself. RAA members, take a trip down memory lane with a 10 per cent discount on tickets by following the instructions at RAA Rewards. Feeling lucky? We have two double passes to give away – enter the competition here.
