Kicking off on August 26, the inaugural Harbor Lights program will showcase an array of immersive installations, lighting and site-specific projections in the Fleurieu Peninsula’s southern hub.

The free event, running until September 11, features various award-winning local and international artists, including Craig Walsh, Squidsoup, Vans the Omega and Carla O’Brien.

Illuminate Adelaide co-founder and creative director Rachael Azzopardi said the regional program – initiated by the South Australian Tourism Commision (SATC) and delivered in partnership with the City of Victor Harbor – is about “lighting up the regions”.

After launching the program in Mount Gambier and Tumby Bay in 2021, Illuminate and the SATC have extended it to Renmark and Victor Harbor this year.

Azzopardi said Digital Garden has attracted thousands of visitors in Mount Gambier and Renmark’s In Depth was “a huge success”.

“We had a beautiful projection on the water there, down at the Renmark Club,” she said.

Large-scale multimedia event In Depth in Renmark finished up in July. Photo: supplied

A highlight of Harbor Lights will be Craig Walsh’s Monuments, which has been developed in collaboration with Ngarrindjeri Elders, Azzopardi said.

“It brings a more, sort of, community focus and a specific-ness about where we’re going,” Azzopardi said.

According to Walsh’s Monuments website, the work “aims to challenge traditional expectations of public monuments and the selective history represented in our civic spaces”.

“The video installations evoke a haunting synergy between the human form, natural environment, and the act of viewing,” Walsh explains on the website.  

Also part of Harbor Lights and drawing inspiration from the region, visual artist Carla O’Brien’s Under the neon sea will feature sea creatures.

Meanwhile, UK-based international artist collective Squidsoup turns light into something that can be touched in immersive installation Submergence.

“It’s thousands of lights, like a forest of lights that is suspended that you wander through,” Azzopardi said.

Inclusivity has been central to Illuminate Adelaide’s programming, Azzopardi said. 

“It’s out and about in the public realm – we want everyone to feel that they can really be included in it,” she said.

“It’s quite important for us that as many of our installations as possible can really be enjoyed by everyone.”

Due to various pandemic-related setbacks last year, this is the first time the festival is able to run at this scale, Azzopardi said.

“All up we didn’t have to cancel any of our shows, so it was just fantastic,” she said.

“We’re really excited to bring Harbor Lights to Victor Harbor for the first time, and we can’t wait to get there next weekend.”

Fleurieu Peninsula regional tourism manager Dylan Beach said the event will highlight the beauty of winter in the region, especially after some “significant upgrades” in the past years.

“It will bring something for everyone, and give visitors another reason to see the Fleurieu, so I can’t wait to see Victor Harbor come alive,” Beach said.

Harbor Lights’ nighttime projections are best viewed from Warland Reserve by the Victor Harbor foreshore. The program will run from 6 pm to 10 pm, from Friday, August 26 until Sunday, September 11.

For more information, visit the Illuminate Adelaide website.

This article features a Business SA Member. Business SA are proud partners of the Regions in Focus program which highlights regional journalism. Business SA is South Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry and peak employer body. To find out more click here.