The Adelaide Christmas Pageant, otherwise now known as the ‘National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant’, has been a beloved icon across Adelaide and the rest of Australia for over 90 years. Established by Sir Edward Hayward of John Martins in 1933, the parade was produced to welcome the arrival of Father Christmas to the Magic Cave and develop a fun and entertaining environment for all the family, especially the children of Adelaide, during the Christmas season. You do have to acknowledge one thing: The pageant is an amazing, lively, and magical annual Christmas tradition for all ages! We're lucky to have such a splendid parade each year, and together we’re thankful for all the hard-working volunteers, float and costume designers, crafters, and dissimilar staff over the years at National Pharmacies, People’s Choice Credit Union, John Martins, etc. for helping to bring the magic of the pageant to life!

In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pageant had to be moved to the Adelaide Oval to avoid spreading the virus and comply with restrictions. Despite this, the pageant was just as good as it was on the streets, if not better. 2020 and 2021 proved that it could work there and become a spectacular arena show with all the floats, clowns, elves, and bands proceeding around the inside of the huge Adelaide Oval, combined with fireworks, extra carol singing, delightful music playing on the speakers, and more.

Turning the pageant into an arena spectacular at the Oval was certainly a great concept that should prevail. But John Martins intended the Christmas Pageant to travel through the streets of Adelaide. Even though it may have been pretty amazing at the Oval, it can’t be held there every year, and it’s important to appreciate that having the parade in the streets will help keep a beloved classical custom alive and well within the community, and we will get to experience parts of the pageant that cannot be experienced within the Adelaide Oval.

You may be thinking: Why should the Pageant be at the Oval once every 2 years? Why can’t it be either there every year, or not at all ever again?

In 2020 and 2021 when the cherished parade was at the Adelaide Oval, it was astonishing, possibly better than it was on the streets, and it would be nice if it could return to said stadium. However, not all the floats could fit through the entrance due to their width, and we also could not hear the specific music that accompanied each one. Moreover, some of the audience members could not see the floats up-close. As many people would agree, it would be great to see all the floats in the parade and hear their own music, especially up-close, and it would not be okay to dispose some of them just so the pageant can occupy the Oval every year. But if it was on the street every year, we would also miss out on watching longer carol singing, fireworks, animations on led-light screens, a local music artist putting on a mini-concert, and seeing a lot of floats, clowns, elves, bands, and dancers all at once! Additionally, we would continue to carry on with the pain of getting up at 3, 4 or 5am just to gamble for a good seat in the dark, whereas at the Adelaide Oval, seats are already conveniently assigned for us. Furthermore, on the streets during the day, there may be a risk of high, hot temperatures for both the attendees and participants (this has happened before), whereas temperatures are typically lower during the evening—the usual time the parade began when it was at the Oval. Lastly, during the Adelaide Oval-based parade, everyone watching the event in-person could see Santa Claus giving a speech at the end, and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. However, during the street parade, only a small amount of lucky people (those who are right at the end of the parade route) actually get to see Santa give his speech at the end. These were all congenial aspects of the 2020 and 2021 parades. So to keep things fair and equal, we and the signers agree that every second year, the pageant should be at the Oval, and then other years, it can be on the street (as Sir Edward Hayward—the founder of the Adelaide Christmas Pageant—intended, especially so we can see all the floats up-close)! E.g. 2024 (Street), 2025 (Oval), 2026 (Street), 2027 (Oval), 2028 (Street) so on and so forth. That way, the Adelaide community can continue to enjoy both a spectacular and more convenient pageant at the Oval, and a traditional and still amazing pageant (with all the floats) on the streets!

Please, from me and all the signers, we request the director and producers of the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant to consider biannually holding this magical event at the Adelaide Oval and then on the streets other years, starting next year. We’ve now seen how stunning the pageant can be at both the Oval and on the street, so let’s proceed with having the Christmas arena spectacular the pageant was at the former, and keep a valued custom prevalent at the latter for both participants and the audience, so we can make the pageant more extraordinary and exciting than ever before!

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To all the supporters, thank you very much for signing, and for sharing and spreading the word about this campaign. Let's show National Pharmacies and the other people behind this parade what we sincerely wish for for the future of one of the best Christmas pageants in the world! If you're curious to see how great the pageant was at the Adelaide Oval, and on the streets, and compare the two locations and formats, consider watching these videos:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcLspn1teNw (Oval) 

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px-kgYmcQnc (Oval)

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRTiA9nZLoY (Oval)

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqXMsxTcbS8 (Oval)

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU0j078o-j4 (Street)

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AP1t970uK4 (Street)

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNO7mSRH1Vg (Street)

Again, thank you!