Christmas in South Australia

What does the Christmas holiday season look like in South Australia?

Forget snow — Christmas in South Australia means salt on your skin, sunshine on your back and prawns sizzling on the barbecue. Spend summer days by the sea (averaging around 28°C) and nights in the Adelaide Hills, where Christmas lights twinkle in villages like Lobethal and Hahndorf. Across the state, the Adelaide Christmas Pageant, Victoria Square Christmas tree, markets and carols bring the season to life. Picnic rugs pop up in parks, tiny coastal towns deck tractors with tinsel and locals' queue for last-minute cherries. Whether you’re five or fifty, local or visiting, there’s plenty to smile about. It’s festive, it’s friendly and it’s how we do Christmas here.

A large float designed as an icy landscape with reindeer and Santa Claus's sleigh, surrounded by performers in blue costumes and falling confetti, with spectators lining the street and ornate buildings in the background at the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant..

Christmas in Adelaide

Adelaide sparkles at Christmas. Our giant tree in Victoria Square casts a glow over the city, while every year thousands take to the streets to catch the Adelaide National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant – the Southern Hemisphere’s largest public parade. Kids take to the pavement with chalk, scribbling their Christmas wishes while their parents revel in the nostalgia of Christmases past. Smaller Christmas events in Adelaide, like pageants in Glenelg and Norwood, festive markets and installations spread joy across streets and squares. Hot, sunny days are perfect for dipping your toes in Semaphore’s waves or hurriedly licking up a scoop of ice cream at Henley. At night, stroll streets lit with festive lights, or head to the Riverbank Christmas Display, where sculptures dance on the water.

Small girl finalising to draw a Christmas Tree with a white and pink chalk among the couple of Christmas designs on the pavement before the parade starts parading down the streets of Adelaide.

Christmas Pageants

Christmas Pageants are a South Australian tradition. It all began in 1933, when the first Adelaide Christmas Pageant took the city streets. Since then, the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant has grown to become the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest public parade. Kids chalk the bitumen in rainbow patterns while families cheer from the sidelines. Clowns juggle through the crowd, fairytale characters wave from floats and everyone holds their breath for the finale - Father Christmas making his grand entrance. We like to think of it as Australia’s official welcoming party for the man in red. From Glenelg to Norwood, Blackwood to Port Broughton, and regional towns like Lobethal, Barmera and Stirling - nearly every local council across the state has some kind of Christmas parade. It’s a simple tradition that makes the season feel like it belongs to everyone.

Visitors walk by the 'Gathered' Christmas Design Market entrance, near a striped canopy booth, pastel tree cutouts, string lights, and rustic stone buildings with greenery in the background.

Christmas Markets & Shopping

Gifts feel more personal when you know the story of the person who made it. At Adelaide Christmas markets, you weave through twinkling stalls as carols drift overhead, stopping to chat with local artisans and taste treats made with care. Kids get lost in face painting or a pavlova challenge, while food trucks serve up locally grown food and brews. Everything you pick up or marvel at tells a story — proudly made in SA, crafted by the people who call this place home. Beyond markets, chocolate factories and city favourites like the Central Market, Rundle Mall, the Parade and Jetty Road are alive with Christmas cheer.

Places where you can shop for gifts

Taste delicious local-made chocolates

Elegant Christmas dinner at Sofitel Adelaide, with guests seated around a long, candlelit table adorned with festive floral arrangements, while a chef engages with the group in a warmly lit, celebratory setting.

Christmas lunches & dinners

Christmas lunch is more than a meal — it’s a celebration of place and the people who call it home. Long lunches and festive dinners draw on the season’s best: oysters plucked from nearby waters, sun-ripened vegetables from local farms and wines poured with ocean views. For a Christmas day lunch in Adelaide, hotels and restaurants such as the Hilton, Pullman, Sofitel and Stamford offer spreads to share with friends and family. In the regions, countryside estates and coastal retreats set the scene for a slower, brighter kind of Christmas. Wherever you celebrate, there’s room for all.

Scene at Christmas Tree Farm Chandlers Hill featuring rows of lush green Christmas trees, where a young girl in a red and white checkered dress walks between the trees, and a festive red building with white trim and a green roof in the background.

School holiday & Christmas activities

Christmas time is more than just an advent calendar – here, it marks the start of summer. Summer is our season of frivolity; we close city streets, transforming them into alfresco dining spaces where colleagues, family, friends and strangers come together over home grown food. Parks become open season for picknickers and festivals alike, with lanterns strung up between gum trees and market stalls. Carols set the soundtrack of the season – from beachside sing-alongs to Carols by Candlelight under the stars. Christmas activities for kids include crafting at the Gathered Christmas Design Market in Hahndorf, or the awe of visiting Santa’s Wonderland at the Adelaide Showgrounds. For every person decked out in red and green for a Christmas party, there is another proudly donning their team jersey. Summer marks the best time of year for sport in Adelaide - with events like the famed Men’s Ashes Christmas Test and the New Years Eve BBL falling over the festive period.