Adelaide no longer wants to be nicknamed ‘Radelaide’? Too bad

Remember when the BoM tried to stop us calling it the BoM? In one of the most misguided rebranding efforts of all time, the Bureau of Meteorology announced to the world that from now on, you’re not allowed to call us the BoM.

I’m sorry, what? We’ll call you whatever we want to call you. And to us, you’re the BoM.

Peel Street, Radelaide.Credit: South Australian Tourism Commission

It’s not like it’s an insult. Australians give nicknames to things we love. Just ask Warnie, the Thorpedo and your local servo.

To be nicknamed is an honour. To then push back against that nickname – to declare you don’t like it and no one is allowed to use it – is deeply insulting to the rest of us, and also likely to make it even more deeply ingrained.

Which brings us to Adelaide. Not sure if you saw, but during the AFL’s “Gather Round” a few weeks ago, when all matches in the round were played in Adelaide over four days, South Australian tourism authorities requested that media refrain from referring to the city as “Radelaide”.

Once again: I’m sorry, what? Since when was Radelaide a bad thing? Since when was Radelaide anything but a deeply affectionate name for a city that so many of us have come to know and love as a tourism destination in the past decade or so?

Plant 4 Bowden, one of Radelaide’s many great places to eat.Credit: David Cann

Radelaide isn’t sarcastic. It’s not like Brisvegas, so coined when the Queensland capital opened its first casino, an ironic nickname for a city that was in no way close to the glitz and glam of Las Vegas.

But Radelaide isn’t like that. I’m not sure where the name came from exactly, or why it was coined, but I’ve always thought of it as a legitimate compliment. I mean, OK, it’s probably a little condescending given it stems from the surprise factor of the City of Churches being so rad, but rad it is.

(Also, incidentally, SA tourism authorities are trying to curb the use of “City of Churches”, and they have a point there. It’s a cliche, and not really representative of the city, because if there’s anything that stands out about Adelaide these days, it’s that it’s, um, kinda rad?)

Let’s consider the properly rad aspects of Adelaide.

The dining scene is top-notch, up there with the best in the country. If I had Restaurant Botanic, Arkhe, Parwana, Hey Jupiter, Leigh Street Wine Room, Fino Vino and Magill Estate in my home city, I would be absolutely stoked. That’s some very, very good dining right there.

Then there’s art. Have you been to the Art Gallery of South Australia? It has hosted exhibitions of French Impressionists, Surrealists, Indigenous masters, Japanese Samurai art, Warhol and Rodin. And festivals – how about WOMADelaide?

There are schmick hotels in Adelaide, too. Great bars. The Central Market is the best of its kind in Australia. There are two distinct wine regions within a half-hour drive of the CBD (McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills), with the Barossa Valley an easy day-trip away.

So yeah, Adelaidians, your city is pretty rad. That’s why we call you Radelaide. That’s why we will continue to call you Radelaide.

This isn’t the first city to try to shed its nickname. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Queensland tourism promoters embrace or even acknowledge the whole Brisvegas thing – they have very wisely just left it alone.

Though, I was once in a meeting with tourism authorities for the Gold Coast, talking about how to promote the city and its surrounding areas, and a colleague of mine mentioned that we all refer to it as “the GC”, which could be incorporated into a marketing pitch. This was met with such frostiness that we never talked about it again.

(Though, come on, it’s the GC, right?)

Elsewhere, Sydney, in the most Sydney move ever, has done the reverse, claiming itself as “Emerald City” and sometimes even “Sin City”, despite no one in the rest of the country doing so. Australia as a whole refers to itself as “The Lucky Country”, though no one overseas even knows that nickname exists (and very few at home know its origins, which are not complimentary).

Apparently people in Ballarat refer to their home as Ballifornia, which is funny, but not really widespread. I affectionately call the NSW Central Coast the “Costa Centrale”, but that hasn’t caught on either.

Byron Bay is sometimes known as “Far North Bondi”, but that’s in no way a compliment. Devonport is “Bevonport”, again, not exactly kind. Hobart used to cop “Slowbart” but that surely doesn’t apply anymore. Melbourne is “Bleak City” but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that seriously.

So why wouldn’t you want to be Radelaide?

Anyway, it’s a moot point. You get the name you’re given in Australia. And if you want to change it, whatever you do, don’t say so.