South Australia's History Festival

South Australia's History Festival South Australia's History Festival. See our website for details: https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/

See our website for details:
http://festival.history.sa.gov.au

05/07/2026

50 years of NAIDOC Week - 50 years of strength, survival, and story. 🖤💛❤️

More than just a week, it has always been a platform, a protest, a celebration, and a statement of survival.

We honour and recognise the voices, culture, leadership, and the generations who paved the way - not by chance, but through resilience and a refusal to be silenced.

This moment is about looking back at the stories, the marches, the languages, the art, and the leadership.

THANK YOU! 💛 Now that SA's History Festival has officially wrapped up at the History Trust of South Australia, it's a gr...
04/06/2026

THANK YOU! 💛 Now that SA's History Festival has officially wrapped up at the History Trust of South Australia, it's a great time to acknowledge all those who supported the festival this year, as well as the incredibly deserving recipients of the History Council of South Australia awards. The festival team are grateful to all those who held events and attended events this May, and to those who continue to engage with our state's history, always.

Awards Recipients 🏅
Emerging Historian Award 2026​: Taylor Lupp
Lifelong Historian Award 2026​: Dr Geoffrey Bishop
Digital Technologies​ Award 2026​: Daniel Clarke
Regional History​ Award 2026​: Loxton Historical Village
Oral History Excellence​ Award 2026​: Birute Beal
Wakefield Press​ Essay Commendation: Stephen Valambras Graham​
Wakefield Press Essay Prize Award 2026​: Dr Samuel Cox​
Historian of the Year​ Award 2026​: Tim Reeves​

Awards were presented at our closing event this past Sunday. Please congratulate them in the comments!

Last call! Today is the final day of the 2026 History Festival.It's your last chance to get out and explore the connecti...
30/05/2026

Last call! Today is the final day of the 2026 History Festival.

It's your last chance to get out and explore the connections that have brought South Australia's stories to life this May. From the city to regional towns, from heritage buildings to cultural celebrations, the festival ends tonight.

Make the most of today. Explore what's happening via link in bio. Thank you for an unforgettable month celebrating the connections that bind us. See you in 2027.

https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/

Thank you to Kalyra, Supporting Partner of the 2026 History Festival.With 130 years of award-winning care, Kalyra unders...
30/05/2026

Thank you to Kalyra, Supporting Partner of the 2026 History Festival.

With 130 years of award-winning care, Kalyra understands that life is lived best in community – with dignity, independence, and the freedom to continue enjoying life on your own terms. From Help at Home services stretching from Victor Harbor to Murray Bridge, to six stunning retirement living properties across Adelaide, Kalyra keeps people living independently, longer.

We're grateful for your partnership in celebrating connection, community, and the stories that matter most.

https://kalyra.org.au/

The final weekend is here! There's still talks, walks, tours, dances, afternoon teas and more to enjoy across South Aust...
27/05/2026

The final weekend is here! There's still talks, walks, tours, dances, afternoon teas and more to enjoy across South Australia.
🪶 Learn the ancient art of weaving with Senior Kaurna Woman Lynette Crocker, connecting to Country, culture, and ancestors
🎷 Celebrate swing music and jazz alongside old photos that reveal stories from when cameras took over from paint brushes
🏛️ Discover Adelaide Town Hall's heritage on a guided tour in French – from Queen Adelaide's statue to the magnificent Auditorium organ
🚜 Walk through history in Balaklava with costumed storytellers, working blacksmiths, and running tractors (period costume encouraged!)
🫖 Celebrate George and Sarah Mitchell's 1925 Golden Wedding Anniversary at an afternoon tea party with bubbles and archaeology finds
The connections continue through the final weekend. Browse this weekend's events on our website https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/.

27/05/2026

Today marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week. This year's theme is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.

All In makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.

The theme also reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long.

Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.

Whose stories get preserved? Whose voices are excluded?Artist and lecturer Sasha Grbich explores the radical history of ...
25/05/2026

Whose stories get preserved? Whose voices are excluded?

Artist and lecturer Sasha Grbich explores the radical history of experimental art that's been missing from institutional archives. Drawing from her research behind The Experimental Anarchive – a major exhibition spanning Flinders University Museum of Art and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental – Grbich unearths overlooked performances and counter-institutional practices from the 1960s and 70s.

Responding to the stark underrepresentation of women and First Nations artists in Australian experimental art collections, this project revives forgotten histories through newly commissioned artworks, interviews, and archival material. Discover how contemporary artists and curators are reshaping cultural memory and challenging conventional narratives of Australian art history.

A timely reconsideration of connection, exclusion, and whose histories endure.

Friday 29 May | Flinders City Campus, Level 3, Room 312 | https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/radical-ghosts-looking-for-women-in-the-archives-of-experimental-art/

A Historical Heist: an evening with the author of 'The Butterfly Thief' January 1947. Over 3,000 butterfly specimens van...
24/05/2026

A Historical Heist: an evening with the author of 'The Butterfly Thief'

January 1947. Over 3,000 butterfly specimens vanished from Australia's most prestigious museums in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. A scientific true-crime caper that rocked the world of natural science.

Join journalist Walter Marsh at Coventry Library, Stirling, as he shares the story behind his book The Butterfly Thief. Drawing on unpublished case files, dossiers, and private archives, Marsh explores the enigmatic Englishman at the centre of the heist – and reveals a deeper history that asks an uncomfortable but vital question: What if Western museums were crime scenes all along? Limited tickets still available for Friday 29 May in Stirling.

https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/a-historical-heist-an-evening-with-the-author-of-the-butterfly-thief/

One week to go! We're in the final stretch of the 2026 History Festival and there's still plenty to enjoy across South A...
23/05/2026

One week to go! We're in the final stretch of the 2026 History Festival and there's still plenty to enjoy across South Australia.

From heritage tours to First Nations experiences, culinary events to family workshops, evening explorations to regional celebrations – the connections continue through the end of May.

Don't let the festival end without discovering something new. Browse the full program and make the most of this final week via https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/

This Sunday in Loxton: 'Echoes of the Past'Join us for a special screening of this powerful documentary exploring the 18...
22/05/2026

This Sunday in Loxton: 'Echoes of the Past'
Join us for a special screening of this powerful documentary exploring the 1838 Prussian Lutheran settlement in South Australia. Featuring Keith Conlon and living descendants, the film uses diaries and oral histories to reveal a personal legacy of faith and struggle.

The Loxton screening includes a talk on Germanic architecture, a heritage display, and morning tea – an immersive experience celebrating the Prussian heritage that shaped our region.

Sunday | Loxton | Book via https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/echoes-of-the-past-a-documentary-of-faith-flight-and-german-settlement/

Address

Level 2, 233 North Terrace
Adelaide, SA
5000

Telephone

(08) 8203 9888

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