Arabic version: موكب أديلايد يجذب نحو 335 ألف متفرج

According to ABC News, an estimated 335,000 people lined Adelaide’s streets for the 94th Adelaide Christmas Pageant, marking the start of the city’s festive season. Families arrived early to secure viewing spots as hundreds of performers assembled near South Terrace and King William Road.

The annual parade brought young spectators into the CBD to watch floats pass before the anticipated arrival of Father Christmas. Five new floats joined this year’s line-up, including The Magic Hat and A Bumper Christmas, while organisers put the turnout at about 335,000.

Children’s entertainer Emma Watkins, known as Emma Memma, returned after making her pageant debut last year. She appeared on The Sounds and Signs of Christmas float with co-performer Elvin Lam, who is profoundly deaf and signed throughout the parade. Watkins said the float reflected her work to make entertainment more accessible for deaf and hearing children alike.

The event drew people from different generations and backgrounds. Attendee Kunal Dhingra said his family had arrived from 6am, while a local grandmother recalled watching the pageant from King William Street as a child and now attending with her grandchildren.

Questions remain over the future of the Magic Cave, the children’s Christmas attraction at David Jones in Adelaide Central Plaza. The attraction has been part of Adelaide’s Christmas landscape since the 1890s and will remain open for the time being, despite David Jones entering voluntary administration. Its Rundle Mall store will stay open, while the retailer’s stores at Westfield Marion and Westfield West Lakes are set to close by the end of the year.