Rundle Mall has shattered its record for attracting the most visitors in a weekend, after hosting its first-ever Colours of Asia festival last month.
The three-day Asian street food festival, together with the final weekend of the Adelaide Fringe and AFL at Adelaide Oval, helped to attract 681,478 people into Rundle Mall between Friday 21 – Sunday 23 March 2025.
The new record is 47% higher than the Mall’s 12-month weekend foot traffic average, and a significant increase on the previous record of 608,532 visitors set between Friday 20 – Sunday 22 December 2024. That December weekend period included midnight shopping in the lead up to Christmas last year.
Further setting records, March 2025 was also the biggest-ever March for Rundle Mall visitation, up 5% on the same time last year.
The three-day Colours of Asia festival transformed Rundle Mall’s Gawler Place intersection into a vibrant hub of culture and cuisine, bringing the tastes, sights and sounds of Asia’s hawker markets to the heart of the city from 11am until late.
From noodles and dumplings to grilled skewers and spicy curries, 16 vendors provided a culinary journey in a village setting of Balinese huts and charming Thai lanterns, with a backdrop of cultural music and dance performances.
Six of the festival’s participating hospitality businesses were from the Rundle Mall Precinct and were selected following an expression of interest process run by festival operator Asia Oasis.
The six businesses were May’s Dumplings, Momo Mates, T Mood, Warong, City BBQ & Yum Cha, and Cnb Chicken & Burger.
Andrew White, Adelaide Economic Development Agency’s Executive Manager Rundle Mall, says the distinctive new experience created by the Colours of Asia Festival was a resounding success with visitors.
“An incredible 680,000 people visited the Mall across the three days, with Colours of Asia making a signification contribution towards setting our new visitation record,” he said.
“Colours of Asia is a great example of how we are finding new ways to bring vibrancy to the Mall and create unexpected, memorable experiences for visitors across the day and night and provide benefits for our traders.
“Rundle Mall is known for being more than just a retail precinct and its reputation as a food and drinks destination continues to grow.
“Hundreds of thousands of shoppers, visitors, students, city workers and Fringe-goers enjoyed the market atmosphere and some incredible Asian delights while they were in the city.
“During Colours of Asia, Rundle Mall was as busy at 10pm than it was at 10am, which shows the strength of the Mall’s night-time economy and South Australians’ appetite for events and activations till late.”
David Hein, from May’s Dumplings in the Rundle Mall Precinct, is eager to participate in future festivals, and says Colours of Asia was a fantastic opportunity for his business.
“The event provided a great branding opportunity, allowing us to showcase our quality food to a broad audience,” he said.
“We were thrilled to connect with many new customers who loved our May’s Dumplings. The festival was well-organised, making it a really enjoyable experience for both vendors and visitors.”
White said the record-breaking foot traffic also led to strong results for the Mall’s retailers across the weekend.
“The feedback we’ve had from retailers is that people came into the Mall not just to enjoy the food festival but to explore the Precinct and spend money in retail businesses,” he said.
Dharmesh Raman, Managing Director of Peter Shearer Menswear, said the Colours of Asia festival helped increase foot traffic to the store by 38% across the weekend.
“We wholeheartedly support any initiatives that AEDA implement to bring more people into the Mall and the Colours of Asia festival is a great example of this,” he said.
Rundle Mall’s Urban Kitchen is the next major event on its calendar, with a program of cooking demonstrations, masterclasses and artisan produce tastings as part of Tasting Australia in May.
“Only in Rundle Mall will visitors find such a vibrant destination curated with a cross-section of events and experiences that reflect the fabric of South Australia,” White says.
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