Adelaide Equestrian Festival Adds A New International Flair to South Australia's Autumn Festival Season

The Australian International 3 Day Event is relaunching the internationally acclaimed equestrian event as the Adelaide Equestrian Festival with a new program and a new Autumn date for 2023.

After being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, the Adelaide Equestrian Festival will move to 20-23 April 2023 and include a more expansive offering to entice both local and international audiences.

At the Festival’s core is the Adelaide International FEI5* Eventing Competition, one of only seven events in the world held to the highest level and attracting Australia & New Zealand’s best Eventing horses and riders.

Adelaide Equestrian Festival Chair, Mr Greg Rolton said the rebranding to the Adelaide Equestrian Festival seemed a natural progression with the growth of the event over its 25-year history.

“We’re excited to deliver the Adelaide Equestrian Festival in Autumn with a greater focus on South Australia’s amazing local food and wine which appeals to a wide audience and naturally compliments our world class equestrian competition. There will be plenty of action for the whole family including equestrian displays and demonstrations, some amazing shopping, and of course pony rides for the kids.”

The Adelaide Equestrian Festival has also secured a new 3-year sponsorship agreement with the South Australian Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission providing financial security for the event going forward.

“South Australian Tourism Commission have been a long-term sponsor and supporter and this new agreement has given us the confidence to re-imagine the Adelaide Equestrian Festival and take it to the next level”, said Mr Rolton. 

South Australian Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettinson said the new Adelaide Equestrian Festival will bring our city’s parklands to life beyond the traditional March festival season, with family fun, food and wine, interactive demonstrations, and of course – an actionpacked Olympic qualifying equestrian competition bringing the world’s best horse and riders to our state.

In 2019, the event attracted more than 25,000 spectators with more than 56% of spectators visiting from interstate and delivered $5.2m in new economic expenditure for the State.

* Supplied by Adelaide Equestrian Festival