Adelaide Fringe has again broken its all time box office record with 853,419 tickets sold to the value of $21 million; amounting to a 3% increase on number of tickets sold and an 8% increase on dollar value of total Box Office compared to 2019. This result will see over $19m in box office settlements paid out to Fringe artists and venues. It is a huge injection into the arts direct from audiences to artists.
Organisers said that multiple factors have contributed to the success in 2020, including an incredibly strong program across the Fringe as well as excellent audience engagement with the new e-ticketing systems and additional functions that made the Fringe customer journey online much simpler than ever before, along with increased tourist numbers coming to Adelaide during Mad March.
The ticket sales of Adelaide Fringe 2020 were on track to be much higher – at around 10% up – but with COVID19 the number of sales reduced drastically in the final week or so.
Each year Adelaide Fringe presents a signature project and for the 60th anniversary, this was Yabarra: Dreaming in Light – a free immersive light and sound cultural installation which attracted more than 40,000 people to Tandanya National Aborginal Cultural Institute on East Terrace.
Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said, Adelaide Fringe contributes to the city in such a unique and electric way. “It’s a privilege to work on such a great event designed to support the arts and artists, ticket sales feed directly into the pockets of artists and venues so it’s amazing to once again break the box office record,” she said.
“The impact of the Fringe is of course much wider than that, many businesses benefit from the enormous numbers of people attending Fringe and we are please to see that the number of tourists attending Fringe is continuing to grow which helps even more businesses see a lift during Fringe time.”
“The Adelaide Fringe program is the ultimate draw card to attract audiences each year, we have incredible artists here in South Australia who make up around half of the program and it’s wonderful to see internationally renowned artists (from here and around the globe) choosing Adelaide as a destination to present their worldclass art,” said Ms Croall.
Adelaide Fringe also continued to improve on its accessibility initiatives, which this year included partnerships with Deaf Can:Do and The Royal Society for the Blind. Through the Artist Fund, Adelaide Fringe was able to provide grants to AUSLAN interpret 21 Fringe events, a record for the festival and something we aim to grow on in future years. The Access Champions program also grew, with more Access Champions assisting patrons with their access needs at venues across the city.
The 2020 Fringe on Tour saw Fringe performers pop up in Murray Bridge, Port Adelaide, Rundle Mall, Adelaide Airport and as far away as Port Augusta (Desert Fringe) to the north and Kangaroo Island to the south. Check out all the Winners of the 2020 Adelaide Fringe Awards.
Adelaide Fringe is calling on the public to provide feedback on their experience at Fringe 2020 with the chance to win a Golden (Pink) ticket for the 2021 Fringe.
The 2021 Adelaide Fringe will run from 19 February to 21 March. For more information, visit: www.adelaidefringe.com.au for details.
Image: Yabarra: Dreaming In Light – courtesy of Adelaide Fringe