Nature Festival 2025 Theme Launch: FLOW

The launch is a three-part experience that invites movement across ideas, disciplines, and communities. 

It’s a progression from insight to celebration, from dialogue to expression, and from systems thinking to collective feeling.

Taking place on the newly revitalised Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza just a short walk from our city’s most significant river system Karra Wirra Parri, this dynamic three-part event will unite industry leaders, artists, and the public in a moving celebration of South Australia’s love for nature — through music, conversation, and creative experiences.

This event is more than a launch — it is a purposeful, collaborative moment of cultural activation. Nature Festival has always been more than a festival of events. It is a growing platform for systems change — one that builds capacity in both the creative and environmental sectors, and cultivates a culture of care, reciprocity and active participation. This launch will embody those values, inviting audiences, artists, industry and partners to come together in a shared exploration of FLOW: how we move through the world, how we relate to each other and the living systems around us.

Set against the milestone of the 10th anniversary of Adelaide’s UNESCO City of Music status, this event celebrates the unique power of music and musicians to tell stories of connection — to our land, to each other, and to the deeper rhythms of nature. The event will demonstrate how artistic practice can be a lever for change, and how the cultural and music industries can play a leading role in shaping a more sustainable and interconnected future.

3:30-5:00pm: Industry Development Forum: Artists as Agents for Change

This forum invites artists, musicians, producers, curators, venue managers, and festival leaders into a rich, cross-sector conversation on the role of creative practice in environmental and social transformation.

The forum also marks the launch of Nature Festival’s partnership with Solar Slice — a bold step forward in integrating sustainability into the event economy through a micro-levy on tickets.

• Heidi Lenffer (NSW)— musician and founder of FEAT., a trailblazing platform enabling artists to invest in renewable energy through touring.
• Nancy Bates (SA) — truth-teller, songwriter, and First Nations artist whose work reconnects people to Country and responsibility.
• Naomi Keyte (SA) — songwriter exploring place, memory and belonging through poetic, grounded sound.
• Dr. Nadine Kelly (SA) — Assistant Director, Water Policy - Dept of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water. Nadine is a water lover, ecologist and engineer, who brings technical insight into water and the health of ecosystems.The forum also marks the launch of Nature 

5:30-6:30: Official Festival Launch: FLOW 2025: Drinks. Announcements. Invitations.

A poetic reflection on FLOW from Tessa Leon, an artist and public thinker whose words will help anchor the audience in the theme's emotional and philosophical depth.

Opening announcements from Festival Chair Vicki-Jo Russell AM and Director Ryan Hubbard, including first-look programming and the official opening of public registrations.

7:00–9:00pm: Public music performance: Live. Lyrical. Local.

• Nancy Bates
• Naomi Keyte
• Tom West

These artists are deeply connected to themes of place, ecology, and belonging. Their music moves audiences emotionally, grounding complex environmental ideas in personal, embodied experience. With deep values, inclusive vibes, and a strong sense of place, this concert invites people to feel what it means to live in flow with the world.