2011 saw a staggering 1.45 million people attend Adelaide Fringe, with ticket sales increasing to 334,000. 2012 delivered an economic boost of $48.2 million to South Australia and in 2013, the State Government provided additional funding to extend the festival from three weeks to four.
Current Director and CEO, Heather Croall, joined us in 2015 and by 2017 we had grown into the biggest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere, and the second largest Fringe in the world. In 2017, the Adelaide Fringe Donor Circle was established, with donations supporting a variety of Fringe community projects and arts initiatives.
Fringe Today
In 2020, we celebrated our 60th anniversary and our 15th year of partnership with Principal Partner, BankSA. We had 6724 artists and 1203 shows, and opened the festival with ‘Tindo Utpurndee - Sunset Ceremony’, a celebration of Kaurna culture in Mullawirraburka / Rymill Park.
Thanks to the Donor Circle, we distributed $92,873 in grants to independent Australian artists, producers and venues, and gave a further $100,000 in Warra Kattendi grants to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.