The sky is the stage at Illuminate Adelaide's one-night-only show

Illuminate Adelaide 2025 is the winter festival lighting up Australia – and this is the one show you can’t miss.

If you see just one thing at Illuminate Adelaide 2025 (one of the best events happening this July), make it Horizons . For one night only on Friday 18 July, Adelaide Oval will be transformed into a living, breathing canvas of light, sound and sky. Hundreds of synchronised drones will take flight, choreographed to a powerful soundtrack, dazzling laser effects and cinematic visuals.

Horizons at Illuminate Adelaide 2025 — Horizons is coming for one night only. (Image: Supplied)

It’s an epic retelling of 60,000 years of South Australian history, from the Kaurna people’s deep connection to Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens) to the oval’s evolution as a place for community, concerts and culture. It’s a bold, ambitious collision of tech and tradition created by some phenomenal visual storytellers: AGB Creative, KOJO and Illuminate’s own creative team.

This is Illuminate Adelaide’s most ambitious show yet, and the buzz is real – a second session was added due to overwhelming demand. Think Vivid-style spectacle meets Welcome to Country meets skybound art installation. If you’ve ever wanted to see storytelling light up the night sky, this is your moment.

But Horizons is just the beginning.

Universal Kingdom: The Next Era

Adelaide Zoo, 3–20 July

From the creators of Mirror Mirror and Light Cycles comes Universal Kingdom: The Next Era , an otherworldly light-and-sound experience that takes over The Light Room at ILA until 20 July. Expect immersive rooms, epic digital landscapes and a sensory adventure that blurs the lines between nature, humanity and technology.

Night Visions

Adelaide Botanic Garden, 2–20 July

After dark, the garden is reimagined into a glowing wonderland in Night Visions . Follow a two-kilometre path through laser tunnels, projection art and soundscapes designed by a team of world-class artists, including Robin Fox, Amelia Kosminsky and more.

This self-guided experience is perfect for families, date nights or solo wanderers. And for the ultimate treat, book the Botanic Lodge dinner package for a feast among the lights.

City Lights

Adelaide CBD, 4–20 July

The city becomes a glowing gallery with 40+ installations and performances lighting up the streets, buildings and laneways of Adelaide. Think giant luminous horses parading through Rundle Mall, interactive mirror tunnels, fibre-optic fungi and floating angels blessing you with light. It’s completely free and totally magical.

Base Camp + 10-Minute Dance Party

Lot Fourteen, 3–20 July

Base Camp at Illuminate Adelaide 2025 — Get cosy at Base Camp. (Image: Tyr Liang Xplorer Studio)

Back for another year, Base Camp is the cosy heart of the festival – a free-entry winter village filled with fire pits, live music, glowing art installations and top-tier food and drink from South Australian favourites.

But the real fun? Step into a shipping container for 10 minutes of full-blast dance floor energy at the 10-Minute Dance Party . It’s a music-fuelled hit of joy, created by Melbourne artist Jof O’Farrell and rotating DJs nightly.

Supersonic + Unsound + Kiasmos

Kiasmos Live at Illuminate Adelaide 2025 — Icelandic duo Kiasmos are performing. (Image: Maximilian König)

If music’s more your thing, Illuminate’s late-night scene is off the charts this year.

Unsound (11–12 July): A mind-bending festival of boundary-pushing international artists, including Velvet Underground legend John Cale.

Kiasmos (18 July): The Icelandic techno duo returns for a one-night-only “emotional rave" .

Supersonic (19 July): A 12-hour music takeover of the West End with 17 artists and DJ sets across seven venues.

Illuminate Adelaide 2025

Now in its fifth year, Illuminate Adelaide has cemented itself as Australia’s most underrated winter festival.

Whether you’re chasing drone magic in the sky, prehistoric giants at the zoo or a pop-up dance party inside a container, Illuminate delivers. But if you want the biggest wow-moment of them all? Look up. Horizons is calling.

Illuminate Adelaide runs until 20 July. Explore the full program and grab your tickets before they sell out.

WA might be enormous, but the right insider knowledge brings its mysteries a whole lot closer.

“Western Australia is a land of record-breakers,” says Carolyn Tipper, a Travel Director working on AAT Kings Western Australia tours. “It has the second-longest fault line, the second-largest meteorite crater, the second-fastest flowing river—it just keeps surprising you. And every area has its charm.”

From tropics to deserts, Australia’s largest state is a land of extremes. You can’t see all of Western Australia in a lifetime, but with the right guide, you can discover its hidden pockets of magic.

Carolyn wishes to reach her guests’ hearts. “I want them to enjoy and be in awe,” she says. “I want them to have the holiday of a lifetime.”

1. Mimbi Caves

You wouldn’t expect a Great Barrier Reef in the outback – but that’s what you’ll find at Mimbi Caves. Once part of a 350-million-year-old reef, these caves hold marine fossils, ancient Indigenous rock art, and Dreamtime stories shared by a Gooniyandi guide.

“That’s when the real connection happens,” says Carolyn, who has taken guests through on the AAT Kings Wonders of the West Coast and Kimberley tour . “When guests connect, not just with the land, but with the people who have called it home for tens of thousands of years.”

Eye-level view of traveller exploring Mimbi Caves. — Walk through ancient limestone passages. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

2. Kalbarri National Park

Nothing prepares you for the Kalbarri Skywalk: a 25-metre platform jutting over Murchison Gorge, 100 metres above the red cliffs and river below. From July to October, join the AAT Kings Untamed Pilbara and West Coast tour to see over 1000 wildflower species paint the park, and listen as an Indigenous guide shares their uses, bush foods and medicine plants.

“I want our guests to have an emotional experience,” says Carolyn. “It’s not just about seeing the land, it’s about stepping into the stories.”

An aerial view of the Kalbarri Skywalk, one of the secret places in Western Australia, with visitors on the edge. — Stand on the Kalbarri Skywalk in Western Australia. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

3. Hamelin Bay Wines

Margaret River isn’t just a top wine region – it’s a winner in every category. Where the Indian and Southern Oceans collide, granite cliffs rise, limestone caves sprawl and Karri forests tower. It almost distracts from the world-class Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

Almost.

Out of over 100 cellar doors, AAT Kings pick Hamelin Bay Wines as a favourite. Hosted tastings of small-batch wines on the Western Wonderland tour end with a group meal. The menu shifting with the seasons.

“Get off the beaten track to one of WA’s most relaxed venues for some amazing red and white signature wines,” explains Carolyn, “accompanied with upmarket pub food.”

Spectacular views.

A person raising a glass of Chardonnay against a glowing Western Australia sunset. — Sip world-class wines at Hamelin Bay in Western Australia. (Image: Getty)

4. Wildflower Guided Walk, Kings Park

Western Australia is home to 12,000 native plant species – 3000 bloom in Kings Park’s Botanic Garden. Stroll past Kangaroo Paw, Banksia and blooms from the Goldfields, Stirling Ranges and Kimberley. “The diversity of Western Australia is immense,” says Carolyn, who leads guests through on the South Western Escape tour .

Couple enjoying the view from the Lotterywest Federation walkway at Kings Park and Botanical Garden. — Wander among thousands of native plant species. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

5. Hoochery Distillery

Did you know that between Kununurra and Emma Gorge lies the state’s oldest continuously operating distillery? Well, the oldest legal one. Set on a family farm, Hoochery Distillery was hand-built using materials found on the property, conjuring up award-winning rum from local sugarcane, wet season rainwater and yeast.

Today, visitors can sample a hearty nip of rum, along with whiskies and gins – all crafted using traditional, labour-intensive methods. It’s the ideal way to soak up the ‘spirit’ of the Kimberley on the AAT Kings’ Untamed Kimberley tour .

People enjoying a rum tasting at one of the secret places in Western Australia. — Sample award-winning rum. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

6. Geraldton

The wildflowers of the Midwest will make your heart blossom. In Geraldton, the Helen Ansell Art Gallery brings the region’s botanicals to life in vivid colour and intricate detail. In nearby Mullewa, wander bushland trails lined with everlastings and native blooms. Further afield, Coalseam Conservation Park bursts into carpets of pink, white, and yellow each spring. Do it all on the Wildflower Wanderer tour with AAT Kings.

woman walking through Wildflowers, Coalseam Conservation Park — Chase vibrant wildflower trails. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

7. El Questro

Wake up after a night under the stars at Emma Gorge Resort, ready to explore the mighty beauty of the El Questro Wilderness Park. With deep gorges, thermal springs, and cascading waterfalls, time slows here.

Join the AAT Kings’ Wonders of the West Coast and Kimberley tour to drift through Chamberlain Gorge, where sheer sandstone walls glow burnt orange in the sun, archer fish flick at the surface, and rock wallabies peer down from ledges above. Then, step into Zebedee Springs, a secret oasis of warm, crystal-clear pools among prehistoric Livistona palms – a moment of pure, wild stillness.

Emma Gorge Resort at El Questro. — Wake to adventure at Emma Gorge Resort. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

8. Lake Argyle

Once vast cattle country, Lake Argyle now sprawls like an inland sea – Western Australia’s largest freshwater lake, created by the damming of the Ord River. Scattered with over 70 islands, its glassy waters teem with life, like freshwater crocodiles, barramundi, bony bream, sleepy cod and over 240 bird species. That’s nearly a third of Australia’s avian population.

Glide across the lake’s surface on a cruise as part of AAT Kings’ Untamed Kimberley tour , where the silence is only broken by the splash of fish and the call of birds. For Carolyn, this place is a perfect example of how WA’s landscapes surprise visitors. “Lake Argyle is a big puddle of water that became a game-changer,” she says. “Seeing it from a boat, coach, and plane is mind-blowing. It puts time, isolation and the sheer scale into perspective.”

Aerial View of Triple J Tours on the Ord River, near Kununurra. — Glide past islands on Western Australia’s largest freshwater lake. (Image: Western Australia)

Discover more of Western Australia’s hidden gems and book your tour at aatkings.com.

The sky is the stage at Adelaide‘s epic one-night-only show