Adelaide Fringe

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017

Adelaide Fringe ‘doubles economic contribution’

Adelaide Fringe

Adelaide Fringe says new figures released today show it attracted thousands more interstate and international visitors in 2017 and has more than doubled its economic impact on South Australia in the past six years.

Tuesday July 11, 2017

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As previously reported, the ticket sales for this year’s festival were up 9 per cent on 2016, with 655,541 tickets sold, worth a total of $16.2 million.

The organisation’s annual review, released today to coincide with the inaugural World Fringe Day, says total spending related to the 2017 Fringe was $81.4 million, an increase of 5 per cent on last year.

“The number of tickets sold, attendances, total economic expenditure and visitor spend related to the Fringe have almost all doubled since 2011,” it said in a statement.

The figures are calculated by Economic Research Consultants, the same company that has prepared the annual review for the past six years.

Although InDaily was unable to ascertain exactly how the total expenditure is calculated, the company says it is based on data from FringeTIX sales information and a survey of Fringe-goers, artists and producers.

The report shows Fringe artists themselves benefited from an extension this year of the Honey Pot program, which connects shows and events with local and international presenters, venues and producers.

A total of 178 festival directors and arts venue presenters attended the Honey Pot marketplace this year to scout for shows – up from 136 in 2016. Fringe director Heather Croall said it has so far resulted in 90 confirmed bookings for artists to tour their work, an increase of 40 on last year.

They include Emily Steel and Daisy Brown’s 19 Weeks, which will be performed at the 2018 Assembly Festival during Edinburgh Fringe; Anya Anastasia’s Rogue Romantic and Matt Gilbertson’s Hans: Mein Camp, which will appear at this year’s Underbelly festivals in London and Edinburgh; and Whyalla-born artist Dan Daw’s dance-theatre piece On One Condition, which was performed at New York’s SoHo Playhouse in May.

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Croall said that as a result of a “strategic and targeted invitation campaign”, the calibre of Honey Pot delegates in 2017 was remarkable.

“Fringe processed 1828 complimentary tickets to shows for our delegates – up from 1170 in 2016 – and on average most presenters saw at least 10 shows each. This meant that more of Adelaide Fringe’s tour-ready work was in a prime position to be discovered by a presenter on the hunt for the next big thing.

“These outstanding results all go to show that, thanks to the growing demand and success of the Honey Pot program, Adelaide Fringe continues to be seen as a goldmine for presenters on the lookout for ground-breaking, innovative and new work to present.”