Adelaide Fringe Helps South Australia Make Up Half of Oz Festival Ticket Sales

Adelaide Fringe's ticket sales make up a staggering 39 per cent of all tickets sold to multi-category festivals across the country, according to Live Performance Australia's (LPA's) latest survey.

LPA's 2016 Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey findings released last week revealed South Australia contributed the country's largest share of revenue (43.7 per cent) and attendance (50.3 per cent) for multi-category festivals, which includes events such as Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival and WOMADelaide.

Of the 1,549,007 tickets sold to multi-category festivals across the country in 2016, half of these were sold in South Australia. With the 2016 Adelaide Fringe recording 604,000 ticket sales, the open-access festival accounts for 78 per cent of all multi-category festival ticket sales in the State.

For the category overall, South Australia experienced an increase in revenue of 38.7 per cent and an increase in attendance of 12.1 percent.

Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said the survey results demonstrated Adelaide Fringe's enormous contribution to live performance in Australia.

"These incredible outcomes are the result of decades of dedication from many people - first and foremost the Adelaide Fringe artists, and also our venues, loyal audiences, our staff, previous CEOs and boards," Ms Croall said.

"To think that Adelaide Fringe is responsible for 78 per cent of all festival tickets sold in South Australia and 39 per cent of multi-category festival ticket sales in the nation is something that Adelaide should be extremely proud of. Adelaide Fringe ticket sales continue to grow year on year and have doubled over the past six years.

"Adelaide Fringe audiences turn up in droves every year and continue to support diverse, ground-breaking work from artists across the country and every corner of the earth. Adelaide Fringe is 57 years old and is loved by artists and audiences of all ages."

Ticket sales for the 2017 Adelaide Fringe were 10 per cent higher compared to 2016 with a record-breaking 660,000 ticked sold, indicating Adelaide Fringe is on track to cement its position as the top ticket selling festival in the country this year as well.

Ms Croall said the festival would continue to find new ways to grow audience numbers and attract visitors from interstate and overseas.

"In 2016 we set a target of tripling tourist visitation to the Adelaide Fringe, and we are striving to achieve this ambitious goal by constantly reinventing ourselves to keep surprising and delighting Fringe-goers," she said.

LPA's annual survey is the most comprehensive survey of tickets sales for Australian live performance events.

The 2018 Adelaide Fringe will run from 16 February until 18 March. For more information, go to adelaidefringe.com.au.

For more details about the LPA 2016 Survey, visit reports.liveperformance.com.au.

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