History

In the 1960s, the Adelaide Festival of the Arts started to outgrow the city's existing venues.

Liberal Premier Steele Hall saw the sloping banks of the River Torrens as a natural choice for the home of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts and the cultural heart of the city.

During this time the State Government changed but the drive for a new Centre continued with fervour.

The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Robert Porter, with the support of Labor Premier and arts advocate Don Dunstan, launched a public appeal to raise funds to build a Festival Hall and put Adelaide, along with its fledgling festival, on the global arts map.

The Centre was built by the people of South Australia. City tobacconist Laurie Lawrence put the first into the public appeal and wrote to The Advertiser ""�a Festival Theatre is the least our generation can provide for the future of a city we are proud to belong to."�

Most of Adelaide shared this vision and the appeal raised its target within a week. It was soon over-subscribed and the surplus was set aside to create a world-class collection of artworks to grace the new State icon.

Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre was designed from the inside out by architect John Morphett. It was created for the technicians behind the scenes, the performers and the audience.

Work began in Elder Park in 1970 and on 2 June 1973 the Festival Theatre opened. The Playhouse, the Space and the Amphitheatre were soon to follow seeing the completion of Australia's first multi-functional performing arts complex. It proved so successful the Centre became a role model for many other performance venues that have emulated its functionality and versatility.

Since then it has become a place that South Australians regard with pride and a strong sense of ownership. It was the first multi-purpose arts centre built in Australia and more than 30 years later still maintains its status as a national arts icon.

As well as managing the theatres and environs of the complex, the Festival Centre is one of Australia's most active theatrical producers and presents a wide range of arts activities and performances for the community.

Through the provision of first-class infrastructure, dynamic, exciting and progressive programming, the Centre has emphatically placed itself as the heart of the arts.