SA Great: The annual South Australian events which help form our state’s cultural fabric

Did you see Cher at the Grand Prix in 1990? Did you jump off the Glenelg jetty dressed as a flying pig in the Birdman Rally? Take our quiz to find out how South Australian you really are.

• Bay to Birdwood 2020: See every car in our interactive guide
• Vintage crop: Inside SA’s long-running love affair with historic cars
• The latest deals for Advertiser subscribers

This weekend’s Bay to Birdwood is recognised as one of the great historic car events in the world. It’s also one of the great, quintessential SA annual events. With that in mind, here’s a list, in no particular order, of 13 South Australian calendar favourites.

WHICH ONES DID WE MISS? Add a comment at the bottom if you can think of event which deserves to be in this list

HOW SOUTH AUSSIE ARE YOU? Take the poll at the bottom of this story to find out your SA credentials

CITY-BAY FUN RUN

It’s the annual fun run for anyone ranging from serious fitnophiles to very occasional joggers, which (in non-COVID years) attracts up to 40,000 entrants. The event started in 1973 and offers distances ranging from 12km to 3km. The 12km run takes entrants south from the Festival Centre on King William Street, then onto Anzac Highway, and the final 10km are nearly all downhill - the perfect kind of run. Spectators lining the streets often include bands and musicians, and competitors in fancy dress costumes add to the party atmosphere.

TOUR DOWN UNDER

For one (in?)glorious week each January, the MAMILs come out to play on the streets of Adelaide. They’re the Middle Aged Men In Lycra, and they come out of hibernation to ride their pushbikes, sip lattes and join the atmosphere as the world’s best cyclists lock horns in the first event of the UCI World Tour. The then Liberal Opposition once labelled the TDU, which started in 1999, a B Grade event but it has now established itself as THE premier cycling race on the Australian calendar. And South Australians flock to it in droves - ostensibly to cheer the sparkling peloton, but really we’re all just hoping to score a discarded drink bottle or some of the sponsorship garb thrown out from support cars.

BAY TO BIRDWOOD

Aaah, those magnificent men (and women) and their driving machines. According to the good people at Birdwood’s National Motor Museum, South Australia has the highest percentage of historic car owners in Australia. So it’s no wonder we’re home to one of the best historic car runs in the world. Up to 90,000 people traditionally line the streets on the last Saturday in September, but it’s the thrill of getting up close and personal with the cars and their owners - at the West Beach start line or Birdwood finish - which has left a lasting memory for South Australians since its inception in 1980.

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

“Dad, why aren’t those people behind the blue line.” It’s a question hundreds of thousands of parents have had to answer over the years as they patiently wait for the floats to drive by. The pageant dates back to 1933 and, if official crowd estimates are anything to go by, has been attended by an aggregate of 7.43 billion people. Well, not quite, but it’s very popular and some mums and dads are even sent to camp out in the CBD the night to get the right spot for their children to see Santa come past.

SA VARIETY BASH

What better way to explore our great state than in a beaten up old car, dressed in wacky costume (which might or might not get a bit dirty and stinking by the end of the trip) over sometimes dodgy dirt roads to towns often well off the beaten track? Oh, and while you’re at it, you can make some terrific money for charity, catch-up with the same friends you’ve been sharing the trip with for years and inject some much-needed cash into rural communities. It’s Australia’s longest-running and most famous charity motoring event, and if you’ve ever been on one, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.

BIRDMAN RALLY

Novelty costumes were a theme also explored with gusto from 1975-1986 when intrepid South Aussies would line up to throw themselves off the end of Glenelg jetty. The aim of each competitor was to fly as far as possible before splashing into the ocean, so they fashioned homemade devices to help them go furthest. Of course, most of the contraptions didn’t fly at all, but the creative efforts of the entrants provided ripping entertainment for the thousands of spectators who lined the beach.

MILK CARTON REGATTA

Adelaide’s answer to Darwin’s Beer Can Regatta was first staged at the Patawalonga River in 1980. Like the Birdman Rally, the Milk Carton Regatta was broadcast live on Channel 10 into SA households, but thousands also lined the banks of the Pat to check out the milk carton creations on show. Many of the vessels sunk or broke apart on their way across the river, and crafts came in all shapes and sizes, some held together by tape and string. The Regatta only lasted seven years before it was canned because the Patawalonga was deemed to be unsafe for recreational use.

ADELAIDE TEST MATCH

Anyone who thinks the annual Adelaide Test match at Adelaide Oval is all about the cricket either never been to one or a complete cricket nuffy. England defeated Australia by eight wickets in the first Test at the Oval, way back in 1884 and boy have there been some highlights ever since. The Bodyline series, Shane Warne spinning the Aussies to victory in 2006 and the first day/night test are just the tip of the on-field highlights iceberg. But the match is equally renowned for the shenanigans of the hooligans making cup snakes on the Hill and the boat-shoe-wearing members sipping Pimms behind the grandstand - and both groups rarely see a ball bowled.

TUNARAMA FESTIVAL

You know that Olympic sport where competitors swirl around and around in a ring before launching a cannon ball tied to a chain into the air? It’s called the hammer throw. OK. Now, instead of the hammer, imagine competitors are throwing a 10-kilogram southern bluefin tuna. Welcome to the central attraction of Port Lincoln’s Tunarama Festival, an event which dates back to 1979. Like the Adelaide Test though, the Tunarama is about much more than just the one competition - boat building, sack races and a keg roll are among other activities on show.

LOBETHAL CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Try and stick to the speed limit driving through the Adelaide Hills town of Lobethal just after sunset in late December. Go on, I dare you. It’s impossible. And not because it’s all downhill and your brakes don’t work, but because you’ll be lucky to get above 10km per hour, because EVERYONE in Adelaide is also there, checking out the residents’ magical Christmas light creations. The lights show is an evolution of the town’s 60-year-old Christmas festival and is sold as “the largest community Christmas light display in the South Hemisphere”.

WOMADelaide

Families, grandparents, teenagers, hippies and ex-hippies alike all flock to this annual parklands festival where it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the music. Actually it’s probably better that you don’t. After its first staging in 1992, WOMAD became biennial from ’93, occurring in alternate years from the Adelaide Festival, and then shifted to an annual cycle from 2004 as part of the Adelaide Festival program. Patrons say the music and vibe of the four-day event are unlike any other festival and the music ranges from hard rock to pop to African to guttural Tibetan chants.

ADELAIDE FRINGE

When South Australians talk about Mad March, they are mostly talking about the Adelaide Fringe. Even though it starts in February. They’re talking about wandering through “The Garden” and catching a show in the Spiegeltent, of rushing from tent to tent to make the most of their night out, and kicking on in Gluttony or at the RCC. Since its inception in the mid 1970s, the Fringe has undergone various transformations and has grown into a month-long entertainment extravaganza featuring more than 7000 artists, more than 1300 events and generating millions of dollars for the local economy.

ADELAIDE GRAND PRIX/ADELAIDE 500

“ADELAIDE ALIVE” screamed the posters promoting the first Adelaide Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1985, and alive the city did come. For 10 years the glitz and glamour of the Formula One season culminated in an often title-deciding race on the Adelaide street circuit. The race shifted to Melbourne in 1996 but it wasn’t long before the Adelaide 500 (aka Clipsal, aka Superloop) V8 Supercar race took its place, and revheads across South Australia rejoiced. High-octane post-race entertainment over the years has featured stars including Cher, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Daryl Braithwaite and INXS.

HOW SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ARE YOU?

Take our poll