Adelaide has officially partnered with the world’s biggest festival city, Edinburgh, with several agreements signed between the two festival powerhouses – including one that will create more jobs for South Australians.
Up to 10 new positions will be up for grabs when the UK’s largest ticketing company, Red61, opens its doors in Adelaide. The new $350,000 digital platform will be South Australian owned and will put Adelaide Fringe at the forefront of digital technology in the international festivals industry by streamlining and integrating the way all groups connect with the Fringe.
Arts Minister Jack Snelling joined representatives from Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival and Festivals Adelaide as each signed official agreements with their Edinburgh counterparts. Under the agreements, each organisation has committed to strengthen cultural ties between Adelaide – Australia’s best festival city and Edinburgh, the world’s biggest festival city.
Adelaide Fringe and Edinburgh Festival Fringe signed a Memorandum of Understanding which commits the two to explore collaborative opportunities to learn from each other’s event delivery, investigate staff development and exchange information, while increasing and maximising opportunities for artists.
Adelaide Fringe Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Heather Croall said the announcement represents a fundamental shift in the way Adelaide Fringe communicates and interacts with all of its users during the Fringe and throughout the year.
“This platform will also provide a sophisticated matchmaking for interstate and international buyers looking to purchase new work and improve media and PR interaction with the artists and events and increase access to the Fringe by educators and students of all ages,” she said.
The Adelaide Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to “develop and promote creative, business and community collaborations”, including co-commissioning key artists to create a major work which is then premiered in Edinburgh or Adelaide.
Festivals Adelaide used the opportunity to announce that Adelaide will host a meeting of the International Festival Cities Network in March 2017. City representatives from Edinburgh, Barcelona, Krakow, Montreal and Berlin will gather in Adelaide to share ideas, knowledge and experience from a global perspective.
Part of the network’s purpose is to test collective problem solving across key cultural, social, economic and political issues that affect cities with a strong cultural festival presence or identity. This will be an important meeting; Adelaide as a festival city can only benefit from the high level thinking a network like this one will generate.
The 2017 Adelaide Fringe runs 17 February to 19 March. For more information, visit: www.adelaidefringe.com.au for details.
Image: Heather Croall – courtesy of Adelaide Fringe