Illuminate Adelaide returns in enchanting fashion with Fire Gardens from French alchemists, Compagnie Carabosse

Words by staff writer

It will be Compagnie Carabosse’s largest ever installation, designed specifically for the stunning Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Illuminate Adelaide, winner of the 2023 Gold Medal Award for Major Festival or Event at the South Australian Tourism Awards, today announced its first event for 2024, a newly commissioned iteration of the spellbinding work, Fire Gardens from French fire alchemists, Compagnie Carabosse.

From 4 to 21 July 2024, the Adelaide Botanic Garden will be transformed into an enchanting wonderland by night, flickering with the flames of more than 7,000 giant handmade fire pots, enchanting candlelit archways, captivating kinetic sculptures and live music.

Fire Gardens to Illuminate Adelaide

• Location: Adelaide Botanic Garden, entrance via Main Gate, North Terrace
• Dates: 4 to 21 July 2024
• Timings: Thursday to Sunday (sessions every 15 minutes, 5.45pm to 8.15pm)
• Duration: Allow up to 60 minutes to enjoy the full Fire Gardens experience

Stay up to date with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

Having captivated audiences worldwide, Fire Gardens will delight Illuminate Adelaide audiences over 12 nights from Thursday to Sunday for three weeks. Tickets are on sale from 8am today at www.illuminateadelaide.com with $35 off early bird tickets available until midnight on Sunday 14 April (or until supplies last).

Visitors can enhance their experience in the recreated setting of the Adelaide Botanic Garden by booking dinner before or after at the Restaurant Botanic Rose Garden pop-up, curated and created by acclaimed executive chef Justin James. Restaurant Botanic was recently added to the world’s top 50 discovery list of exceptional restaurants. Fire Garden visitors can also grab a drink with friends from the bar at the Schomburgk Pavilion on their way in or out.

Illuminate Adelaide co-founders and creative directors, Lee Cumberlidge and Rachael Azzopardi said: “The Illuminate Adelaide Fire Gardens experience is being designed specifically for our Botanic Gardens, where Compagnie Carabosse has already plotted and mapped their largest ever installation designed exclusively for Adelaide and the first ever in an Australian winter.

Compagnie Carabosse has created extraordinary installations in public places around the world, including Kremlin Square in Moscow, England’s eerie Stonehenge, Hue Bridge in Vietnam, Pont du Gard in France and an abandoned Moroccan prison. The company paints with the palette of fire – its colors, heat, sound and scent.

South Australian Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said: “Illuminate Adelaide is now etched in many Australians’ calendars. The epic scope and scale of the Fire Gardens will undoubtedly attract hundreds of thousands of local and interstate visitors to what is a truly city-wide celebration of light, art, music and cutting-edge technology.

“Along with the experience of each incredible event is the valuable economic injection Illuminate Adelaide generates each year, with visitors from near and far supporting our local shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels during what is traditionally a quieter time of year for many businesses. “

2024 will be the fourth time Illuminate Adelaide has lit up the city’s streets and natural landscapes with its transformative mix of installations, events and experiences that see art and technology merge in a myriad of imaginative ways.

The full Illuminate Adelaide 2024 program will be announced on 1 May 2024. Track them here.