Sweltering conditions impact SA festivities while others look for options ahead of hot weather

Christmas events around South Australia are having to reconsider their plans due to sweltering weather conditions.

• SA bracing for mini heatwave

With temperatures set to soar to 40 degrees over the weekend, festive season events are having to reconsider their plans to adjust to the sweltering conditions.

The Goolwa Community Association’s Christmas festival and pageant are the state’s newest victims to the forecasted heat with the group sharing that both events are cancelled on Facebook.

“It is with a very heavy heart that we are announcing this today, we were hoping to hold off until the last minute but also want to give people a chance to plan other things or arrangements,” they wrote.

The Mort Daly meeting has also been cancelled for “safety” reasons.

Gilles Street Market announced on Thursday that they will be cancelling their Sunday “The Market Before Christmas” event due to the weather, sharing the sad news on social media.

“We have never cancelled a Gilles before so this one hits hard,” organisers wrote.

“Please understand this has not come as an easy decision. The welfare of our Gilles community is our priority.”

Gilles Street Christmas Market announces closure due to heat. Picture: Facebook

Hahndorf Christkindlmarkt is also scheduled for this weekend and while no cancellation plans have been made yet, event manager, Jon Oertel confirmed that he has been having “conversations with the local council” about how they can best prepare for the heat.

“At this stage it is going ahead by there is the potential for reduced hours depending on the heat,” Mr Oertel said.

Attendees at the 2023 Hahndorf Christmas Markets. Picture: The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette

The popular markets, that have become a staple for many families throughout the festive season, will bring Christmas joy to Hahndorf for the final time this year, sharing the news on their Facebook page last week.

“We always set out to do ten from the start and this will be out tenth,” Mr Oertel said.

The organiser said that as this is the final year of the market’s, they are working even harder to have it go ahead as planned.