How we brought Adelaide’s West End to life with a micro-festival
Westbound – supported by funding from the City of Adelaide – blended open-air arts market, creative workshops, great food, pop-up bars and live music.
Curated by Renew Adelaide, the event was designed to activate the city’s West End during Adelaide Fringe season. It highlighted the cultural and creative potential of the precinct, transforming a typically underutilised public space into a vibrant community hub. The single-day event was, ultimately, a celebration of South Australia’s incredible small businesses and artists.
Despite the 42°C scorcher, 2,000 people turned out to celebrate the city’s West End.
Why? Because it’s no secret that this part of town is on the verge of something wonderful.
Here at Renew Adelaide, we see the future potential of Hindley Street and surrounding blocks. While home to some of the state’s best hospitality and most exciting art, this unique precinct is held back by negative public perception, low foot traffic and high vacancy rates.
Westbound was just one way of showing what’s possible when we bring community stakeholders together, putting culture and small business in the spotlight.
The cliff notes
44 x total operators supported
3 x free workshops offered
41 x stallholders
4 x new businesses launched at event
3 x First Nations businesses supported
26 x female / non-binary-owned businesses supported
2,000 attendees
202 x expressions of interest received
7 x live music acts
26 x musicians
Flowerbug: A (very nice-smelling) case study
When florist Brooke Harris applied to host a stall at Westbound, we were excited to support her fledgling business concept. Having had some prior market experience, she told us she was keen to launch a brick-and-mortar space long-term.
Two months on, we’ve supported Brooke to open the doors to Flowerbug – her colourful Pirie Street haven for plant lovers. The location is perfect, nestled in a high-foot-traffic stretch and a community of Renew program graduates: Table Top Warfare, Studio Vino and Seed and Stone.
Westbound helped us build relationships with 44 businesses, learning more about their needs. Flowerbug is just one example of how the project supported emerging South Australian entrepreneurs – not just for a one-day event, but brightening our city’s streets into the future.
So: what next?
Westbound shows that when culture leads, communities follow. It’s one of our many strategies for culturally revitalising the West End and supporting the economic growth of our city. Continued activation is key.
So, until next time: keep supporting local, and don’t forget to explore the West End of town. You might discover something new!