Mar 26, 2014

March is a Mad, Mad Month


There’s all the talk about March Madness in basketball/NBL. There’s the Mad March Hare in Alice in Wonderland. And then there’s Mad March in Adelaide, South Australia, where I live.

How to explain the concept of Mad March to people who don’t live here without sounding like a tourism commercial?

How can one city have so much happening all at the same time?

Things are going on all year round, of course, but in March there’s such a conglomeration of events and the diversity is astounding, it’s almost too difficult to explain. Massive arts festivals running in parallel with major sporting events. Black tie and black t-shirt events side-by-side, and everyone enjoying the perfect autumn weather. It’s four weeks of over-the top partying in a city that doesn’t sleep.

Starting at the end of February and continuing well into March we have the world-renowned Adelaide Fringe Festival, second in the world only to Edinburgh, with over 4,000 performers and 1.5 million audience members. It’s an open-access arts festival with a 53-year history. Musicians, acrobats, dancers, actors and comedians in every corner of the city. There are film, theatre, puppetry, music, and visual art shows in pop-up venues in parks, warehouses, lane-ways and empty buildings as well as theatres, hotels, art galleries, cafes and town halls.

At the beginning of March Adelaide hosts the Clipsal 500, the four-day celebration of supercar racing that kicks off the V8 season. I admit that I love the noise, the RAAF jet fighter flying low over the city-street track, the support races and the V8s themselves which can be heard from the suburbs. After-race concerts on three nights feature some big names in entertainment.


Into the mix we then add the Adelaide Festival, Australia’s largest multi-arts festival which attracts world-class productions from around the globe. There are music, theatre, visual art, film, and dance shows throughout the city. 150 performances across 50 events and around 1,000 visiting artists.

I can’t forget Writers' Week, the oldest literary festival in Australia. For an avid reader or a writer, this is one of the best free events around and lets the public get up close to well-known authors in a beautiful garden setting. This year there was a panel of romance authors. Yay!

The Garden of Unearthly Delights began with just one Spiegeltent in March 2000. Over the past 14 years it has evolved into a cultural experience like no other, including multiple performance venues, bars, carnival rides, circus events, world foods, market stalls, and sideshows. Last year more than 800,000 people entered The Garden’s gates. 




The name WOMADelaide was coined when it has become part of the local language. In mid-March WOMADelaide brings us performances by artists from around the  well as street theatre.
Two other music events which travel from state to state, but just happen to arrive in Adelaide during March are Soundwave and the Future Music Festival.
Can we fit anything else in? Well, yes, we can. 
There’s the Adelaide Cup. More than a horse race, this is one of the biggest events of the year for many South Australians and it comes with a state-wide holiday. Racegoers dress in their best outfits, take part in fashion shows, listen to live music, socialise with celebrity guests, and indulge in gourmet food and drink.
As if that’s not enough, at the end of March the Showdown, the state’s biggest football game of the year between local AFL teams, Adelaide Crows and Port Power, will be played at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval which was also due this month to hold the largest concert of The Rolling Stones’ Australian tour (now postponed).

So that’s Mad March. It’s exciting, it’s exhilarating, it’s exhausting. A month of eclectic, diverse fun and fantastic action. Yes, it’s mad, but it’s also magnificent, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

(Photos of the jet at the Clipsal 500 and The Garden of Unearthly Delights courtesy of
Anne Oliver, romance author and Adelaide resident.)




16 comments:

  1. Claire

    Sounds like a very busy and exciting month I have visited South Australia once many years ago we drove there on our honeymoon and it is a place I would love to re visit maybe we should make it in March one year

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. If you do come in March, Helen, be sure to book accommodation in advance. :)

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  2. Oooh, it all sounds wonderful! I've never been to Adelaide, but I do attend the NZ WOMAD festival every year. We've been promising that one day we'll make it over the ditch to go to WOMAdelaide instead- but now I'm going to have to make sure I get tickets for some of the other amazing events in town too! Sounds like you're going to need an un-Adventurous April to get over it all!

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    1. Definitely do as much as you can while you're here, Louisa. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

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  3. Claire, how will you get any writing done with all this going on? It sounds wonderful and distracting too! Hope you have a marvellous time.

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  4. Ummm...the truth is...I've done very little writing this month so far. Don't tell anyone!

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  5. I'm exhausted just reading that list, Claire! And I love them all, except perhaps for the V8s, I just don't get the idea of watching noisy cars go around in circles. I've been to Adelaide once and absolutely loved it. Great shopping, gorgeous beaches and beautiful wine.

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    1. I didn't understand the V8s either, Barb, until I went to the first race and heard the noise. I only went along to please the boys in the family, but I was the one who enjoyed it most!

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  6. Talk about spoilt for choice! March in Adelaide sounds exactly like the place to be, Claire. I'd love to go to the Fringe Festival. Hope you have oodles of fun. *michelle says dashing off to check her diary for next March*

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    1. Definitely add it to your list of things to do, Michelle!

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  7. Claire, ever thought of being a travel agent? You have made Adelaide stand out. But then, it does. It's a beautiful city. And now I know you have lots going on.

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    1. I think I'll stick to writing, Sue. Actually, I set "Flirting With Danger" in Adelaide and there was a scene that took place during the Fringe Festival. I'd forgotten about that.

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  8. Wow, March in Adelaide is hopping! Actually, I think it's a gorgeous city and I've spent quite a bit of time wandering around. And a LOT of time in the library doing family history research while my dh was at a conference in town many years ago now. The Clipsal 500 was on and I remember buying my dh a polo team shirt.

    Enjoy your Mad March!

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    1. Oh, I envy you being able to do family history research in an actual library, Sharon. That must be fascinating. I know the on-line research is very convenient, but it's just not the same as a library.

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  9. Wow, Claire - I had no idea that Adelaide had so much going on in March. I've only been to S.A. once before but I'm really keen to go back. Maybe it should be in March!

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    1. It's a well-kept secret, Rachel ;) .

      I've just noticed that the paragraph in my post about WOMADelaide makes no sense with chunks of the text missing!

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