Discover Adelaide: Top 10 Fascinating and Unique Fun Facts You Never Knew

1. Wine Capital of Australia

Uncork your expectations and let your mind sip on this: Adelaide is the wine capital of Australia, boasting the gateway to 18 distinctive wine regions, producing 80 percent of the country's premium wine and half of all bottled varieties. Thanks to over 3,250 vineyard owners, 680 wineries, and 340 cellar doors, Adelaide offers an intoxicating experience with some of the world's oldest vines, all under strict biosecurity measures—though, mind you, Adelaide itself isn't exactly brimming with 200 cellar doors.
Source => greatwinecapitals.com

2. Garden Gridlock City

Who needs a compass when you've got trigonometry and a green thumb? Colonel William Light turned Adelaide into the ultimate garden gridlock: As the Surveyor-General, he used trigonometrical surveying to design Adelaide's innovative grid layout, which incorporated a garden city concept and a belt of parklands - setting trends for modern town planning and even inspiring Ebenezer Howard's work, "Garden Cities of To-morrow".
Source => amw.org.au

Did you know the Sydney Harbour Bridge has a British connection? 🇬🇧 Discover how over half a million imported steel pieces play a role in this icon's construction! 🌉

=> Fun Facts about Sydney-Australia

3. Home of the Pie Floater

In the land Down Under, where pies float like life rafts in a pea-soup sea, there exists a tantalizing taste sensation just waiting to be devoured: Adelaide's infamous pie floater. This culinary masterpiece, dating back to the 1800s, involves a hearty Aussie meat pie submerged in a bowl of thick, blue boiler pea soup. Lauded as a South Australian Heritage Icon since 2003, pie floater enthusiasts can set sail for Café de Vilis, Enjoy Bakery, The Kings Head Pub, or the Upper Sturt General Store to indulge in this delightful delicacy.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Rundle Mall's Bronze Pigs

In a porcine twist of fate, four bronze pigs have hogged the limelight at Adelaide's Rundle Mall, proving life is not always a boar when trotting through a shopping precinct: These adorable swine, named Oliver, Horatio, Truffles, and Augusta, are captivating sculptures created by Marguerite Derricourt, winning the Adelaide City Council's Rundle Mall National Sculpture Competition in 1997 and making their public debut in 1999. Ever since, the pigs' presence has left residents and visitors alike squealing with delight, as they offer piggyback rides, snuggly hugs, and even a place to sit amidst the hustle and bustle of the mall.
Source => adelaidecityexplorer.com.au

5. Royal City Named After a Queen

What do queens and Australian cities have in common? They both know how to throw a royal party: Adelaide, the charming city of South Australia, was named in 1836 in honor of Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV. As proof of their undying love for her majesty, the city not only boasts a Queen Adelaide Room in the Adelaide Town Hall—with a portrait by William Corden on display—but also celebrates Ms. Adelaide's birthday every August, extending a warm invite to everyone sharing this prestigious name.
Source => cityofadelaide.com.au

6. Le Corbusier's Adelaide Connection

While Le Corbusier was sketching up a storm in a Colombian hotel, little did he know his doodles for Adelaide would end up taking an Indian vacation, too: The renowned Swiss-French architect's 1950 sketches of Adelaide later influenced his design for the city of Chandigarh in India, which boasts UNESCO World Heritage listed buildings. These sketches currently reside in the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris, where South Australia's Planning Minister Nick Champion had the privilege to view them and plans to bring copies back home for the Office of Design and Architecture in Adelaide.
Source => indaily.com.au

7. Festival Capital of Australia

Welcome to Adelaide: living proof that all those prayers at the city's many churches have been answered with a calendar full of festivals! From guitar-strumming nuns to cabaret clowns, there's no better place to indulge your cravings for food, wine, and a plethora of arts & culture year-round: Adelaide, Australia's UNESCO Creative City and Festival Capital, has got you covered as an inimitable new favorite destination for anyone who's looking to be entertained, educated, or involved, whether it be as a volunteer, an artist, or simply a wide-eyed fan of the city's fantastic scene.
Source => festivalcityadelaide.com.au

8. Birthplace of Haigh's Chocolates

In a world where Forrest Gump's mother claims life is like a box of chocolates, Adelaide one-ups her by proudly indulging in Haigh's chocolates since the early 1900s: The city is the birthplace of Haigh's Chocolates, founded by Alfred E. Haigh, who wooed taste buds with experimental chocolate-making techniques and fruit-filled delights. Now boasting 15 stores across Australia, six of which are in Adelaide, you can even follow the chocolate-covered yellow brick road to the Visitor's Centre at Parkside, where Alfred's family home and factory once stood, to learn the secrets behind these delectable treats and enjoy over 250 varieties of Haigh's chocolates—including hand-dipped truffles and charming chocolate frogs, with no tricks, just a whole lot of sweet satisfaction.
Source => adelaidecitytour.com.au

9. Flying Pigs in Rundle Mall

Whoever said pigs can't fly clearly never visited Adelaide: four life-sized bronze pigs, named Oliver, Horatio, Truffles, and Augusta, are not only immortalized as Adelaide's Rundle Mall key attractions, but they were also temporarily relocated during the mall's upgrade in 2013-2014, before returning to their original spot to continue charming locals and tourists alike.
Source => gpsmycity.com

10. Adventurous Adelaide Tastebuds

In a city where pies dive into soup like Tom Cruise into danger, Adelaide tastebuds clearly thrive on adventure: This South Australian capital is famous for its Pie Floater, a dish where an upside-down meat pie swims in a bowl of thick pea and ham soup, born from the brilliant brain of a Scottish immigrant in 1880 and proudly recognized as a heritage icon in 2003.
Source => travelfoodatlas.com