Morricone and V8s an embarrassing mix

Organisers of the Adelaide Festival and the V8 Supercars events have apologised after night racing disrupted the festival's opening concert at Elder Park.

The clash has been blamed on a scheduling error, but some say it is time to move the events to separate weekends.

Those who went to see renowned composer Ennio Morricone had not been expecting the roar of racing engines in the background.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill was at the outdoor concert and tried to intervene by sending a text to his staff, but by the time race organisers had been contacted to stop the noise, the cars were on their final laps.

The disruption occurred even though V8 organisers had had talks with the Festival organisers to make sure the events did not clash.

Clipsal event spokesman Mike Drewer said it was unfortunate.

"Somewhere in that process there was miscommunication or a misunderstanding and the fact that there was a late race obviously fell through the cracks," he said.

Festival board chairman Richard Ryan apologised to concertgoers.

"On behalf of the board and the people involved I'd just like to apologise to anyone that was inconvenienced," he said.

The Premier said he was disappointed.

"I think the two organisations should have been able to work that out between them and that's something we're going to have to improve for the future," he said.

"I don't think there's too much on [in March] but I think there's a respectable argument these things could be spread out a little further.

They're the sort of things we're looking at. Our objective is to have a vibrant city all year round."

The Premier said the Government will review the scheduling for next year and whether any events might be moved to different weekends.

"I think there probably is a role for a broader events coordinator function and we're giving some thought to that," he said.

A former artistic director of the Adelaide Festival, Anthony Steel, thinks too many events are being staged in March.

"The fact that there's so much going on in March has been a total disaster for the Festival and how it gets out of it is really the key question for the future of the Adelaide Festival I believe," he said.

"I've told David Sefton, the next artistic director, that I think he carries a huge responsibility in that regard."

Adelaide Festival artistic director Paul Grabowsky thinks it is inappropriate to hold the Festival and V8 racing at the same time.

He said they should not be forced to compete.

"Ultimately the question needs to be asked, to what extent do people feel that events like this, like arts festivals, are important enough that they need to be given the right amount of protection?" he said.

Opposition MP David Ridgway also said the events calendar was too crowded.

"This is what happens when you jam everything into March, you will always get some conflict," he said.

"Clearly it shouldn't have happened. We should try and spread some of these events out."