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Thousands of South Australians celebrated Australia Day dancing and singing in their seats at the state’s first large scale indoor live music event since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The crowd at the ‘Aus Day in the Arena’ — spaced in alternating seats — was mesmerised by the headline act Birds of Tokyo as they played their well-known songs including Plans, Lanterns and Good Lord.
Erin Faulkner, 35, said her two children were big fans of the Australian band and wanted to take them to enjoy the free live show at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre (AEC).
The Hackham resident said the family usually spent the day with family and friends at a BBQ listening to the Hottest 100 countdown.
Her son Thomas, 10, and daughter Isla, seven, said they were very excited to see the band.
Avylon Magarey, of Tanunda, said it was important to show her two children the Welcome To Country.
“It’s an important part of being an Australian,” she said.
“My husband saw it was a free event that had the Welcome to Country and Birds of Tokyo so we wanted to come.”
Jess and Jarrod Ip, from Port Noarlunga South, said they attended because it was a great opportunity to bring their four-year-old daughter Malia to see her first concert.
Mrs Ip said Australia Day was about spending the day as a family and she was not concerned about COVID-19.
“We’ve taken her to smaller gigs (in the past). We’re wanting to take her to see live music,” Mrs Ip said.
Upon arrival, ticket holders were faced with a QR code check-in, had allocated entry points and hand sanitiser available.
The event — hosted by the Australia Day Council of South Australia (ADCSA) — was booked out for both viewings which held 5000 people at each seating.
Guests were entertained with a Welcome to Country ceremony, civic ceremonies and a 15-piece modern orchestra celebration.
Instead of travelling through Adelaide CBD streets like previous years, the parade moved around the perimeter of the AEC floor.
It was kicked off with representatives from the navy, army, air force, police, MFS crews and the SA Health team waving to the crowd.
Dancers and 33 different cultural groups dressed in traditional attires followed.
ADCSA chief executive Jan Chorley said it was “disappointing” to have only 5000 places for people to enjoy the show.
“We would have loved for a field stadium for the event,” she said
“Next year will be a very different year but we’ve had an amazing response from the community and we’re booked out five days after we released tickets.”
“This year’s theme is ‘Reflect. Respect and Celebrate’, so it’s very much about looking back at our history, respecting everyone’s sense of what Australia Day is to them and celebrating we’ve come through the most rigorous, robust 12 months in our history in terms of how challenging it’s been for most of us.”
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