The city council has previously clashed with late night Fringe venue the Royal Croquet Club.

The council’s administration has recommended changing the closing time for weekend events in Victoria Square from 2am to midnight.

The change would affect the council’s event management guidelines, but event organisers would still be able to apply to the council for an exemption.

However, north ward councillor Phil Martin told InDaily he would like to see the council go further and introduce a midnight curfew for all park lands events and venues.


“I’d like to see curfews on all of them,” he said.

“We want to create a vibrant, active city (… but) we want to double our city population.

“I don’t know how to achieve that balance without adopting what are acceptable limits on noise.”

Martin, who also told InDaily he is always in bed before 11pm, said past events in the city’s central square had been allowed to operate too late.

“I think that Victoria Square is a perfect location for events – however, we have in the past allowed excessive trading hours (there),” he said.

“There are apartment buildings in close proximity (to) Victoria Square.”

He added that: “There are lots of locations where it’s possible to be entertained to 2am or until 5am.”

But central ward councillor David Slama said the midnight curfew was an idea more suited to a small town than a capital city.

He said the proposal reflected a “small-town mentality”.

“It sends a message to the late night economy, (which) we’re working so hard to get going … that we don’t want a vibrancy agenda in the evenings,” he told InDaily this morning.

“(It) is the sort of thing I’d expect in Hahndorf … but this is a capital city.”

He added that the council risks “squeezing out … vibrancy and culture” from the city.

“The spirit of excitement is vanishing before my eyes, the way I see it, in the city.”

Adelaide Fringe Festival CEO Heather Croall told InDaily: “What we’ve seen in the past has been fabulous activations in Victoria Square that did go later than midnight … and a lot of people seemed to enjoy them.”

“I think it’s great to see Victoria Square used, that’s the main thing,” she said.

“Even if they (the council) do put these rules in place, I’d like to see Victoria Square used more often all year round.”

Music SA General Manager Lisa Bishop said Victoria Square was an ideal venue for family-friendly events in the day time as well as events for young adults at night.


“We shouldn’t be shutting down the opportunity for young people to enjoy music (in Victoria Square) late into the night,” she said.

A spokesperson for the council’s administration told InDaily “the changes to the permissible operating hours in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga are in response to feedback from council and surrounding stakeholders over the past 12 months”.

“If an event organiser expressed a desire to stay open slightly longer than the prescribed operating hours, this would be assessed on merit and in consultation with adjacent businesses and hotels.”

Central ward councillor Houssam Abiad said he would advocate a 10pm curfew for all park lands events – though he emphasised venues would still be able to apply to the council to operate later into the evening and early morning.

He it was unfair to patrons of the Hilton Hotel, on the Western edge of Victoria Square, to have loud music played late at night.

“It’s a bit unfair (…to) hear music and noise outside your bedrooms,” he said.

“That’s why Victoria Square is different from other areas of the park lands.

“(However) in the case of the Fringe, or a special event … it gets assessed on merit.”

South ward councillor Priscilla Corbell told InDaily she lives within earshot of Victoria Square, and that with more residential development coming to the centre of the city it was important to consider the needs of people who are trying to get to sleep.

“I can hear them (Victoria Square events) when I’m trying to go to sleep at night,” she said.

Corbell said many late-night venues were available within walking distance of Victoria Square.

“There are … plenty of late night venues along Hindley Street, Rundle Street … (as well as) 2KW and Electra House,” she said.

“There are plenty of fun places for young people to go.”

The city council has, in years-past, locked horns with late-night venue the Royal Croquet Club, which subsequently moved from Victoria Square to Pinky Flat.

In 2015, the council imposed a ban on music after midnight at the popular Fringe venue.

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