Visitors: 25,000
Where: Halls KJHGF
Date: April 3-4, 2015

More than 25,000 visitors streamed through the doors of the Adelaide Convention Centre to view the inaugural Brick-a-laide, making it South Australia’s biggest ever LEGO® fan event.

Castles, trains, underwater worlds, street scenes and iconic bridges were among the 60 exhibits on show from more than 50 exhibitors.

A dedicated creative space was also on offer to give visitors the opportunity to create their own LEGO masterpiece using some of the greatest LEGO products.

The event was run in sessions – allowing visitors plenty of time to walk through the displays before stopping by the ‘Brick Café’ to relax, play with LEGO and grab some goodies to take home.

Brick-a-laide occupied the entire Central Building (9,750sqm.) with the flow of visitors carefully managed to enhance people’s experience and to maintain the integrity of the displays.

Visitors included families, interstate and regional visitors and LEGO®  collectors and enthusiasts.

Brick-a-laide is now set to become an annual event and a key part of Adelaide Convention Centre’s public events and community engagement program, which also includes the highly successful Cellar Door Wine Festival.

Public Event Expertise

Brick-a-laide was entirely developed, marketed, hosted and managed by the Adelaide Convention Centre and brought together by the expertise of its entire team.

The Centre had been looking for another public event to add to its program and recognised the universal appeal of LEGO® and its potential to attract large numbers of visitors.

However, the Centre knew that engaging the LEGO® community of collectors and builders was essential to create a spectacular event. The Centre contracted local LEGO®   enthusiast Tim Burdon to work with them to attract exhibitors and learn more about this particular audience.

The Brick-a-laide branding and marketing strategy was all developed in-house with some external consultants appointed to execute its implementation. The event was marketed through a dedicated website, social media and PR strategy and some limited advertising.

This resulted in the Centre selling 18,000 tickets online in advance of Brick-a-laide opening on April 3 and the event completely selling out on the day.

The Centre’s in-house expertise and systems were also applied to the event theming, space creation, technologies and audio-visual, which all came together seamlessly. The Centre also used its own software system to manage ticket sales.

Running a couple of their own successful major public events is helping the Centre to attract more externally run public events and exhibitions.

Clients are increasingly attracted by the Centre’s depth of knowledge, quality of its event and exhibition services and the partnership approach adopted by the Centre to maximise attendance and visitor experience.

Community Engagement

The Centre recognises the importance of running public events like Brick-a-laide and the Cellar Door Wine Festival as a way of creating a better understanding of the role and value of the Adelaide Convention Centre in the local community.

It led the Centre to also creating two other public events – Made in SA and SciWorld – for the opening of the new West Building in March 2015.

The events have been successful in attracting a wider range of people to the Centre, many of whom may not otherwise have a reason to visit.

Events like these have enabled the Centre to be seen as much more than just a ‘business events venue’ but a state asset alongside other public buildings like Museums, Galleries and Libraries.