BEST OF THE BEST DRESSED coming soon
CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF THE SANTOS BEST DRESSED TOWN COMPETITION IN 2025
Decorate your home, town or business and win!
Held during the Santos Tour Down Under, the Santos Best Dressed Town Competition invites communities and individuals to share the spirit of Australia’s greatest cycling race.
Dress up your town, school, business or household along the race route on all stages and join the action as the world's top cycling teams compete across South Australia.
In 2025 we are celebrating 25 years of this special competition and the race that inspired it – so grab those decorations and get started!
REGISTER NOW
Competition Details
- Santos Best Dressed Town
- Santos Best Dressed Private Property
- Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property
- Santos Best Dressed Town - Community involvement, innovation, appearance, sustainable initiatives and the use of Santos Tour Down Under in your display.
- Santos Best Dressed Private, Commercial or Community Property - Innovation, appearance, sustainable initiatives and the use of Santos Tour Down Under in your display.
- Community Involvement: How involved are local residents? Is the whole community contributing to the event? Do visitors and judges feel welcomed? Is energy and excitement on show?
- Appearance: How much effort went into preparing decorations, festivities and activities? Does the nominated site feature plenty of colour and visual impact?
- Innovation: Have any creative measures been used in the planning, preparation and installation of decorations and local activities?
- Santos Tour Down Under and 25-Year Inclusion: How well has the nominee included Santos Tour Down Under event name in their design? How well has the nominee referenced the Santos Tour Down Under’s 25-year milestone? (e.g., showcasing key moments of the last 25 years, past winners, jersey evolutions, iconic riders, memorabilia, and creative milestone-themed displays incorporating the number ‘25’.
- Sustainable Initiatives: How well has the nominee incorporated sustainable practices in their design? What initiatives are in place to minimise environmental impact? Designs that use materials with a high environmental impact (including balloons, single use plastics etc.) will not score points. We love to see household materials such as old bicycle parts, glass jars and bottles, cardboard boxes, old fabric or clothing, tin cans, wooden pallets etc.
The Santos Best Dressed Town Competition will award gold, silver and bronze winners for each category. There will also be a daily winner for each category on every stage.
DAILY WINNERS
Santos Best Dressed Town:
Framed certificate and $500.
Santos Best Dressed Private Property:
Framed certificate and gift pack.
Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property:
Framed certificate and gift pack.
OVERALL WINNERS
Santos Best Dressed Town - Gold:
A signed framed jersey, two metal signs signifying the win, $3000 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice, and the town added to the perpetual winner’s trophy with display rights for 11 months.
Santos Best Dressed Town - Silver:
A signed framed jersey, $1500 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice.
Santos Best Dressed Town - Bronze:
A signed framed jersey, $750 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice.
Santos Best Dressed Private Property:
Framed certificate, gift pack and $1000.
Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property:
Framed certificate, gift pack and $1000.
2024 OVERALL WINNERS
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Santos Best Dressed Town
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Santos Best Dressed Private Property
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Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property
MIDDLETON
The overall Gold winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Middleton! Middleton went all out to get the community engaged to watch the TDU go through their town. The town had a blue, orange and yellow theme that was visually effective and created an exciting atmosphere. They organised a free community event, allowing locals to enjoy the race, with live music and sausage sizzle. The town showcased creatively painted bikes shaped like surfboards with TDU signage, and lampposts were adorned with custom TDU signs. Bunting was displayed throughout the streets, adding to the inclusive community effort.
SILVER: Lobethal
The overall Silver winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Lobethal! The main street of Lobethal was bursting with colour and excitement with the whole community getting involved to decorate businesses and properties. The town got creative and lined the streets with flowers made of foam, tassels, pom-poms and bunting. With a blue and white theme, matching the Santos branding, there were re-purposed old bikes and bike wheels painted along the streets.
BRONZE: Christies Beach
The overall Bronze winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Christies Beach! The Christies Beach Business & Tourism Association orchestrated a community art project, crafting 80 surfboards from MDF and engaging multiple residents and businesses to paint them. These vibrant boards adorned lamp posts throughout the town, accompanied by 31 flags representing the countries of the riders. Bunting enhanced the town, and local apartment residents were given start flags to contribute to the lively atmosphere. In a commitment to sustainability, the town avoided balloon use, offering a recycling collection point for balloons and cable ties used by residents and businesses. This collective effort, set against the picturesque coastline, created a truly enchanting atmosphere.
