The SA Tourism Award winning Adelaide Festival releases its event programme for the festive Christmas period that supports Adelaide charities and converts the city to a festive destination

Adelaide Cabaret Festival is now Adelaide’s major winter festival, activating Adelaide Riverbank each June. The 16 day and night extravaganza is a major event in the international and Australian arts calendar and has a reputation for highlighting the best local, national and international artists through an eclectic program of classic and contemporary cabaret performances.

It’s official! Adelaide Festival Centre’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival has been named the Best Major Event/Festival at the SA Tourism Awards, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday night. Adelaide Cabaret Festival, now in its 17th year, is the largest cabaret festival in the world and attracts around 60,000 people annually.

Adelaide Festival has scheduled two major events for the coming festive period converting Adelaide into a major destination to celebrate the Christmas spirit and the New Year holidays.

This year Adelaide Festival Centre will support five worthy Adelaide charities and organisations at a time when people need some much needed cheer and good will. The Australia Refugee Association, Foodbank South Australia, Catherine House, Youth Opportunities Association and Common Ground Adelaide, will all receive 50 tickets to give to those who will benefit from a night of entertainment. In addition, Festival Centre will take donations in the foyers of the theatre before and after the performances as well as collecting non-perishable food goods that will be distributed evenly between the charities to provide support to those who need it most. Adelaide Festival Centre encourages you to give a little more to those with a little less.

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO and Artistic Director Douglas Gautier says, “Christmas is a time of reflection and for giving thanks. It’s also an opportunity to give back to the community. Throughout the Christmas Proms season, we hope to raise awareness around the charities we help support. We understand that making a donation leaves you with a little less, but your generosity will provide a lot more to those in need. The smallest gesture will provide an enormous amount of cheer to struggling families.”

The spirit of Christmas comes alive with Adelaide’s all-time favourite, Christmas Proms at Her Majesty’s Theatre from 15 – 17 December. Soak up the festive spirit and be transported back to the roaring 20s featuring two of Australia’s much loved performers Emma Pask and Stephen Mahy in a Great Gatsby themed Christmas celebration. Stephen will channel the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, whilst Emma takes centre stage as his quixotic passion the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan.

Award winning vocalist Emma Pask has firmly established herself as one of Australia’s favourite voices in jazz. Her talent was first spotted by multi-instrumentalist James Morrison during one of his regular visits to high schools when she was just 16 years old. Emma first sang with James’ band that night and their musical collaboration has continued to entertain audiences nationally and internationally over the past 20 years. Multiple musical highlights throughout Emma’s career include performing the Bridal Waltz for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s wedding in 2006. She has been awarded a ‘Mo’ for Jazz Vocalist of the Year, received ARIA award nominations and has performed for VIP audiences including the late Diana Princess of Wales and Princess Mary of Denmark.

Emma has performed to audiences of up to 80,000 people. Sung in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra; played support for George Benson on his tour of Australia; performed in China with The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra; Auckland with the NZ Philharmonic; with WA Symphony Orchestra in Perth; and recorded with the BBC Big Band in London. She is a standout choice for Christmas Proms and has previously been featured on Channel 9’s Carols by Candlelight live from the Sidney-Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.

Stephen Mahy is an Australian born tenor from Sydney. Best known for originating the role of Bob Gaudio in the Australian production of Jersey Boys. Mahy toured nationally in Grease playing the role of Kenickie alongside notable cast members Rob Mills, Gretel Scarlett, Anthony Callea, Lucy Maunder, Todd McKenney, and Bert Newton as Vince Fontaine. He featured in Stephen Schwartz in Conversation at Sydney’s Theatre Royal where he performed on stage for the noted composer.

Steve Backshall (Wildlife TV Presenter, adventurer, naturalist, and writer) also comes to Her Majesty’s Theatre from 14 – 15 January 2017to take you on a wild journey!

Following his sold out 2016 Australian tour, the star of one of the most popular children’s shows on the planet, Steve Backshall is returning to Australia with a new LIVE show based on the hit BBC Earth series, Deadly 60 Pole to Pole.

Naturalist Steve Backshall is best known for a children’s TV show Deadly 60, in which he tracks down the world’s most dangerous animals. He’s swum with sharks, been bitten by a caiman, and come face to face with some of the most venomous snakes on the planet.

From the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the tundra to the top of the world’s highest peaks, and from the depths of the rainforest to the bottom of the sea, this wonderful event is suitable for fans of the TV series as well as wildlife enthusiasts of all ages from five to eighty.

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier says, “Adelaide Festival Centre has a long history of supporting outstanding family entertainment and we’re delighted to present Deadly 60 Live and Operation Ouch Live on Stage for South Australian audiences to enjoy during the summer school holiday break. These shows pre-empt another big year of family entertainment at Festival Centre. Later in the year, Dream Big Children’s Festival, South Australia’s Adelaide’s iconic arts event for schools and families will be bigger than ever before and to top it all off in April we will celebrate the 40th Birthday Celebration of our perennially popular Something on Saturday program.”

Steve is an author, expedition leader, naturalist, wildlife expert and a fearless presenter. Having travelled the world to learn about the most inspiring predators, Steve has been squirted with ink by Humboldt squid, flirted with by tarantula, charged by elephants, and stared out by thresher and great hammerhead sharks, but still maintains that wild animals pose no threat to people – in fact quite the opposite.

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Marianna Sigala

Professor of Tourism and Director of the Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management - University of South Australia | + Articles

Dr. Mariana Sigala is Professor in Tourism and Director of the Centre of Tourism & Leisure Management (CTLM) at the University of South Australia Business School.

Professor Sigala has a PhD from the University of Surrey as well as a Certificate of Advanced Academic Studies from the University of Strathclyde and an MSc in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey.

Professor Sigala is a widely published authority in the area of Service Operations Management and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications in Tourism and Hospitality. She also has an interest in e-learning models and pedagogies, having published several research studies in these areas. Professor Sigala’s research is multi-award winning featuring several best paper awards in international conferences and academic journals, such as papers published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and the International Journal of Hospitality Management.

Professor Sigala is the current Chair of the ICHRIE Johnson and Wales Case Study Competition and Publication Series . She is also currently the co-editor of the international journal Journal of Service Theory and Practice, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management and the editor of the International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Cases.

Professor Sigala has also served on the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Information Technology, Tourism and Travel (IFITT) (as Membership Director); the International Council on Hospitality, Restaurant and Institutional Education (I-CHRIE) (as Research Director, 2008 - 2010); the Hellenic Association of Information Systems (HeAIS) (as Publicity Director); and the Executive Board of the European Council on Hospitality, Restaurant and Institutional Education (EuroCHRIE) (as President, 2004 - 2005).

Professor Sigala joined the UniSA Business School in 2015 and brings more than 13 years of international academic and teaching experience to the UniSA Business School and the School of Management.