July | UNESCO City of Music - 10-year anniversary
AIR Awards at Adelaide Town Hall
The City of Adelaide is excited to host the 2025 Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Independent Music Awards at the iconic Adelaide Town Hall for the first time, another part of our 10-year celebration as a UNESCO City of Music.
AIR will also host its annual Indie-Con from 31 July to 1 August at Adelaide’s Mercury Cinema, providing local artists a platform to connect with national and international music professionals.
A2IM Indie Week - the flagship conference of the American Association of Independent Music – will also hold its first-ever international edition as part of the celebrations on 30 July. This event will take place in conjunction with Indie-Con Australia and the AIR Awards, join us to celebrate the future of independent music in our UNESCO City of Music. Thanks to the City of Adelaide’s partnership with AIR, South Australians can access an exclusive $70 discount to attend this year’s Indie-Con event. Simply use promo code SA2025 at checkout.
You can check out the list of speakers and find out more information about Indie-Con, A2IM Indie Week and the AIR Awards here.
Image: Photographer Tony Lewis.
Purkarari: Slow down
City of Adelaide proudly presents Purkarari: Slow Down, as part of this year’s Tarnanthi Festival of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Featuring major new works by award-winning visual artist and musician Zaachariaha Fielding, alongside powerful paintings created with senior artists from the APY Studio in Adelaide, the exhibition explores the transformative power of art through collaboration, healing and reflection and invites audiences to engage in a moment of calm
Rooted in the Pitjantjatjara word Purkarari, meaning a deep calm through work, Fielding explores the meditative act of creation in partnership with celebrated artists Sandra Pumani, Yaritji Young, Nyunmiti Burton, Jennifer Ingkatji, Yaritji Heffernan, Margaret Richards, and Megan Lyons. Together, their work speaks to the restorative nature of painting—where movement, expression, and shared creativity quiet the mind and strengthen cultural connections.
Presented as Adelaide marks 10 years as a UNESCO City of Music, and following Electric Fields being awarded the Keys to the City, the exhibition is a powerful tribute to connection, creativity, and country in our dynamic civic and cultural centre, Adelaide Town Hall.
South Australian Music Hall of Fame Exhibition
Dive into the rich rhythm of South Australia’s musical history at the South Australian Music Hall of Fame Exhibition - a tribute to the legends, venues, and moments that shaped our state’s unmistakable sound.
Step inside the Adelaide Town Hall - our city’s beating cultural heart - and explore a multi-level showcase of rare memorabilia, vintage guitars, historic sound gear, gig photography, and honour boards featuring icons like Cold Chisel, The Angels, No Fixed Address, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
With over 160 iconic individuals, 24 legendary bands, and 17 unforgettable venues already inducted, this exhibition is a love song to the artists, industry and places that make our music scene world-class.
Whether you're chasing nostalgia or beginning a self-guided music journey through the city, this is your backstage pass to South Australia’s sonic soul.
Image: Dave Graney and Clare Moore perform at The Jade, Adelaide. Photo: Sue Hadley.
ART POD Residency: Ecstatic Utopian Fantasy
Ecstatic Utopian Fantasy is a long-form installation and experimental music performance by multi-disciplinary light artist, House of Vnholy at City of Adelaide's ART POD, taking place as part of Illuminate Adelaide.
Adelaide artists Messianic Gloss, Capital Waste Pictures, Miles Dunne, and Jazmine Deng, alongside Naarm/Melbournes extreme metal vocalists Karina Utomo and Marcus Ian McKenzie, will join House of Vnholy (Matthew Adey) in this communal imagining, exploring topical and personal ideologies of ecstatic utopias through transformative digital media, sound and improvised performance. The exhibition presents a ménage of modern-day community exploring the outer limits of their utopian dreamscapes, meditating on science fiction fantasies of utopia and dystopia.
Audiences are invited to the highlight event on 5 July where performers will move a large light sculpture through City of Adelaide's Meeting Hall, before finally delivering it to ART POD where the performance will live until 20 August.
The Heart Beat Club
If you like to party, dance to DJs, hang out with friends, and have a good time in a safe environment then you should come to The Heart Beat Club!
HEART BEAT CLUB /hɑːt biːt klʌb/ noun.
1. A club night run by and for learning disabled people, their friends and allies.
2. The Heartbeat Club is run by the Beats Crew, a group of learning-disabled people.
Heart Club is an 18+ Club Night.
Join us on the dance floor to groove to the music or hang out with friends playing arcade games!
$10 tickets, Companion Card accepted.
Limited capacity! Don't miss out on this final edition of 2025!
Check out this fantastic story by ABC News telling the story of The Heart Beat Club.
This project is proudly supported by the City of Adelaide through a Cultural Strategic Partnership.
Arabic Arts Alive – Storytelling
Arabic speaking South Australians, and anyone interested in Arabic culture are invited to come along to this event to celebrate and connect with Arabic music and dance at this Storytelling Session. You will be assisted through guiding questions and may present your own story or get inspired by listening to other stories and learning more about Arabic music and dance. The Storytelling Session will commence with Arabic coffee and tea while listening to some Arabic music.
This project is presented by the Arabic Language and Culture Association of South Australia with The History Trust of South Australia and support from a City of Adelaide Arts and Cultural Grant.
NAIDOC in the Mall
Join the City of Adelaide for a vibrant community celebration of NAIDOC Week in Rundle Mall on Kaurna Yarta. This year's theme — The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy — celebrates the power of First Nations culture and the importance of standing together to honour the voices and knowledge that shape our shared future.
Enjoy live music from powerful First Nations performer Rob Edwards – recently returned to Adelaide from the International Indigenous Music Summit in Toronto, Canada. Get up close with native animals, taste native flavours, connect and learn and enjoy storytelling and the Aboriginal Cultures Collection with the Adelaide City Libraries’ team.