A colourful line-up of Easter long weekend entertainment includes the annual Kite Festival at Semaphore Beach, Grammy-winning reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, Lego fan event Brick-a-laide and alt-rock band Counting Crows.

Families can join in Easter Sunday activities in the city, and looking further afield there’s the Oakbank racing carnival, BlenheimFest music and camping festival in the Clare Valley, and sand sculpting at Port Noarlunga.

Jimmy Cliff

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff began performing in 1962 and is still going strong. His last release, 2012’s Rebirth – which includes a cover of The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton” and Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” – won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. But many people will know Cliff better for his early mainstream hits such as “Many Rivers to Cross” and “The Harder They Come”. Last here for the 2013 WOMADelaide, Cliff will be performing music from throughout his career at a gig at The Gov on Monday night. Tickets still available.

Adelaide International Kite Festival

Kite flyers will converge on the foreshore of Semaphore Beach for this annual festival, which takes place from 11am until 5pm (weather permitting) on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There will be kite battles, jumbo kites, competitions, kids’ activities and more, with this year’s event also including a festival marketplace with craft, community and food stalls. Members of the public can bring their own kites to fly south of the jetty or on the grass.

Photo: Adelaide International Kite Festival website

First Friday – Art Gallery of SA

Trent Parke: The Black Rose is the featured exhibition for the Art Gallery of South Australia’s First Fridays after-hours event this week. Comprising photos, moving-image works and text by Adelaide-based photographer Parke, it explores themes such as pain, loss, birth, death and memory. Tomorrow’s First Friday, from 5-9pm, will include performances by the Maple String Quartet and Adelaide’s Corinthian singers, as well as guided gallery tours. The Black Rose continues until May 12. (Read Parke’s interview with InDaily here.)

BlenheimFest

Timberwolf, Shaolin Afronauts, Z-Star, Urtekk, Kite Machine and Marlon Williams are just a few of the 23 acts on the bill for the BlenheimFest music festival tomorrow (Good Friday) in the Clare Valley. The event features two stages, a cinema and marketplace, as well as overnight camping sites. It’s a BYO, not-for-profit event, with funds raised going to New Hope Cambodia.

Brick-a-laide

This two-day event at the Adelaide Convention Centre will showcase Lego creations from South Australian and interstate modellers and creators. You can get a sneak peak of what to expect on the official Facebook page.  Organisers advise pre-booking for sessions, which run hourly across Friday and Saturday; these are expected to sell out, but there will be a “very small allocation” of tickets available at the door.

Photo: Brick-a-laide website

International Sand Sculpture exhibition

Beginning on Saturday, this Sand Sculpture exhibition at Port Noarlunga beach will see more than 150 tonnes of sand carved into sculptures of Disney princesses and pirates – including Cinderella, Captain Hook, and Princess Anna from Frozen. Ten sculptors will be involved in the event, which continues until April 19.

Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival

Described as a picnic race meeting, the annual Easter Carnival takes place on Saturday and Monday, with gourmet food and wine, a KidZone and other entertainment supplementing the main action on course. Gates open at 7am, with the first race at midday both days; express buses will operate between Franklin Street in the city and Oakbank Racecourse. More details online.

Easter Wonderland in Elder Park

Easter egg hunts, storytelling and circus-type entertainment will be part of this free event for families with children aged 12 and under. Easter Wonderland will be held in Elder Park from 10am until 2pm on Sunday, with “food and coffee for the mums and dads”.

Counting Crows

Touring on the back of their recently released album Somewhere Under Wonderland, American alt-rock band Counting Crows will play at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Sunday night. Fans are promised a set list including hits from the group’s 20-year career – including “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Colourblind” – as well as the new release.

Garden Party SpEGGtacular

Rundle Mall is hosting an event under the Gawler Place Canopy from 11am-5pm on Sunday, with free Easter eggs, family activities, food, and a chance to meet Crows’ rookies Reilly O’Brien and Keenan Ramsey ahead of the Crows’ match against North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.

Punuku Tjukurpa – SA Museum

This touring exhibition at the South Australian Museum is a retrospective of work from the Maruku Arts company, based in Uluru. Punuku Tjukurpa represents three generations of artists for whom the tradition of wood carving has been passed down, and is described as a view into one of Australia’s finest art movements. The exhibition continues until May 17.

Lynley Dodd – A Retrospective

This exhibition at the State Library of South Australia celebrates the work of children’s author and artist Lynley Dodd. It comprises more than 50 original artworks from Dodd’s books, including the Hairy Maclary series, the Schnitzel Von Krumm series, Slinky Malinki and Scarface Claw. The retrospective continues until June 14 (not open public holidays).

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, by Lynley Dodd.

Indoor Fireworks – Blackwood Players

The Blackwood Players‘ first show of 2015 is described as a “comedy of manners, cushions and cups of tea”. Indoor Fireworks, by Arthur Macrae, begins with a divorced writer inviting a reporter to her country home to write an article on her life – but chaos follows with the appearance of her brother, interfering mother and a cast of other “late arrivals”. It is at the Blackwood Memorial Hall until April 11.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

Leviathan
One-Eyed Girl
Cinderella
Chappie
Insurgent
3 Hearts – French Film Festival
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel