Adelaide will consider moving a public holiday, the state’s major horse race and possibly its V8 Supercars weekend to better manage a series of events held in March.
A review released by the South Australian government has recommended the Queen’s birthday public holiday be shifted from June to May to allow the Adelaide Cup to move from March to May.
It has also suggested the V8 Supercars weekend shift to late February, but said the Adelaide Festival should stick to its traditional dates in March along with the Womad music festival, which will continue to be staged over the March long weekend.
The review was prompted by problems this year when a key festival event was disrupted by noise from the nearby motor racing street circuit.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the government did not want to lose the vibe that was created in Adelaide during “mad March” with so much going on around the same time.
However, he said the government was impressed by the recommendations in the review and would put the proposals out for public consultation.
“The report actually finds that having a lot of things going on at the same time of year is a good thing,” Mr Weatherill told reporters on Monday.
“This actually works and so we don’t want to overreact and change what’s good about mad March.
“But with a few pretty simple changes you can avoid some of the clashes that really do cause major problems.”
Shifting the Queen’s birthday public holiday and the Adelaide Cup could occur as early as 2013, but more likely from 2014, although changes to the V8s are unlikely to happen so soon.
Mr Weatherill said the government was in talks with motor racing officials about several options.
However, he’s ruled out an immediate shift to night racing, saying the government couldn’t afford the cost of the necessary lighting.
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