Join us for our line up of events for SA’s History Festival in May!
Themed tours:
8 May 10.30am, 2.30pm (Art)
12 May 10.30am, 2.30pm (Suffrage)
24 May 10.30am, 2.30pm (Architecture)
Have you been to Parliament House before and want a little more detail on niche features? Or are you interested in a tour covering a specific theme? Join us for a specialised tour of Parliament House, with themes including art, architecture and suffrage.
The art tours (8 May) explore the portrait artistry, sculptures and other works inside Parliament House.
The suffrage tours (12 May) explore SA’s unique history around women’s suffrage – particularly looking at our milestone 1894 legislation making SA women the first in the world to be able to run for Parliament.
The architecture tours (24 May) highlight unique architectural features of new and old Parliament Houses.
Suffrage re-enactment screening – movie night!
9 May 7.00pm
In 2019 South Australia celebrated 125 years of women being able to vote and run for Parliament. We staged a re-enactment of the 1894 debates, filmed in Parliament House. At this event, we're going to play the recording on the big-screen in the Old Chamber. Join us for a history themed movie night in the room where the debates actually occurred! We'll take you on a quick tour beforehand to get you ready for the screening.
Parliament After Dark:
22 May 7.30pm
23 May 7.30pm – BOOKED OUT
Come along for an after-dark tour of Parliament House! This is a great opportunity for locals who need a time outside of business hours to come in and experience our building. You will explore both Houses of Parliament, Old Parliament House and the various corridors and halls along the way. We’ll also cover some extra content suitable for an after-dark crowd – Speaker beheadings, deaths in Parliament House – and more!
Library tours:
1, 8, 15, 22, 29 May 11am
5, 12, 19, 26 May 3pm
The Parliament Research Library is the oldest publicly funded library in South Australia and is the only library of its type in the state. Though we are a library, we are also so much more. We combine the look and feel of a small museum and art gallery with displays of rare items ranging from Queen Elizabeth II’s dinner menu for the 1954 opening of Parliament, to Charles Cameron Kingston’s 54th birthday present (hint: it has two barrels). As a non-public library dedicated to supporting state Members of Parliament, this is a rare opportunity to look inside one of the state’s unique and unknown institutions.
General tours:
10am / 2pm 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29 May
Walk-in - bookings not required
Join us for our guided tour of Parliament House, where you will see the original parliamentary chamber (1840s), the current House of Assembly (1889), and the current Legislative Council (1939). This is a general tour of the building where you’ll learn about heritage features, history and parliamentary processes. Bookings are not required.