Food and partying will return to the Adelaide Festival in March on a giant floating pavilion in Elder Park
FOOD and partying will return to the Adelaide Festival in a big way in March on a giant floating pavilion in Elder Park that will serve as its club and hub for the next three years.
A HUGE, floating entertainment venue will return music and dancing to the River Torrens for the first time in almost 100 years in a plan revealed to The Advertiser by the new directors of the Adelaide Festival.
Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy - directors for 2017, 2018 and 2019 - will today announce that The Riverbank Palais will open in March, and be the heart and hub of their three Festival programs.
It was inspired by the Palais de Danse, a famous floating dance hall and jewel of Adelaide’s nightlife in the 1920s, dubbed the Taj Mahal of the Torrens for its Indian-inspired design.
It sank in mysterious circumstances in 1928.
“The Riverbank Palais is not a reproduction, it’s a modern interpretation of that idea,” said Armfield.
“But it will be moored at exactly the same spot as the original Palais de Danse, just down from the Rotunda in Elder Park.”
Created by set designer Robert Cousins, the new Palais will be the largest single construction in the Festival’s history.
It is still being tweaked but will be light construction, with scaffolding and sail-like panels that can be open during the day and illuminated at night.
It will measure around 36m x 20m, with a stage and dance floor on the lower level and bar on top. It will be designed to hold about 800 people.
The Palais will open on March 2, the day before the Festival proper, and run until the Festival closes on March 19.
It will be expensive to build and has been possible through generous donations from SA-born philanthropist Neil Balnaves and long-time Armfield collaborator, actor Geoffrey Rush.
It will be used to revive popular Festival concepts such as artist forums and the Festival club, dropped from the previous two festivals.
Armfield said people could start their morning with breakfast and a copy of The Advertiser, hear from festival speakers throughout the day, attend bands and performances in the evening, and dance to DJs at night.
Food will be prominent with lunches designed by SA food legends Cheong Liew, Cath Kerry and Christine Manfield, and next generation SA chefs.
Food will focus on the 1980s when Adelaide emerged as a culinary force on the national scene, and will spill into Elder Park to cater for picnics, and pre and post-show gatherings.
Armfield said he and Healy would reveal plans for the Festival’s opening weekend, and a complete Riverbank Palais program, in January.
“Things are still cooking,” he said.
They announce the full program for the 2017 Festival today.