Adelaide Fringe

City Up In Lights For Adelaide Fringe Opening Weekend

Get ready for another electrifying year at the Adelaide Fringe when tonight’s Opening Night festivities kick off!

Get ready for another electrifying year at the Adelaide Fringe when tonight’s Opening Night festivities kick off!

Get ready, because tonight a lively street party, poingnant sunset ceremony and stunning digital projections will ight up North Terrace from 5 pm, officially heralding the beginning of Festival season in South Austraila.

The Opening Night festivities will kick off with a Night Market and Street Party along North Terrace including six performance spaces hosting more than 60 artists plus a ‘Frusic’ stage featuring live music from local acts in conjunction with Music SA.

Photo by Bill Doyle

North Terrace will also be the site of a moving Tindo Utpurndee – Sunset Ceremony on the SA Museum lawns at 8pm before the amazing Parade of Light projections are officially switched on at 8.30pm. Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said the boulevard would be transformed into one big Fringe venue, with tens of thousands of revellers set to descend on North Terrace for a night of wonder and excitement.

“We want everyone to make the most of the 31 days and nights of the Fringe, and it all starts with our spectacular Opening Night celebrations,” Ms Croall said.

“From the Australian premiere of Swiss artist Dan Acher’s wonderful recreation of the Northern Lights above the Museum to a striking digital adaptation of renowned artist Lindy Lee’s work on the Gallery and a tribute to Muriel Matters on the Mitchell Building, the Parade of Light will be like nothing this country – let alone this city – has seen before!”

Photo by Tony Virgo

The Parade of Light will illuminate North Terrace every night of the Fringe from 8.30pm to midnight, providing an awe-inspiring spectacle for festival-goers to take in on their way between the East End and Riverbank precincts.

This year’s Adelaide Fringe is set to be more accessible than ever with an audio tour being provided of the Sunset Ceremony including an introduction to its custodian, Karl Telfer, and a ‘touch tour’ of the materials being used. An audio tour of the Parade of Light will be provided on Tuesday, February 27.

Fringe-goers will also be able to take advantage of BankSA and Channel 9’s Take a Friend 4 Free tickets available to a wide range of shows tomorrow evening. A full list is available at adelaidefringe.com.au.

On Saturday, the first of four Fringe on World Tour sessions will see artists perform in the Adelaide_Portal to viewers in Manitou Springs in the US from 10.30m to 12.30pm. The Portal – a gold shipping container located off North Terrace at the former Royal Adelaide Hospital – will see Adelaide Fringe reach audiences as far afield as Gaza and northern Iraq via live video streaming technology.

Photo by Kevin Godfrey

The 2018 Adelaide Fringe program is bursting with 1223 events presented by 6000 artists across a variety of genres – 338 comedy shows, 260 music events, 132 theatre productions, 128 cabaret shows, 98 children’s events, 73 visual arts and design exhibitions, 64 special events, 36 circus/physical theatre events, 33 dance shows, 26 interactive events, 22 magic shows and 13 film and digital events.

Of the 442 venues hosting Fringe events, new additions include the National Wine Centre, Plant 4 Bowden and Centennial Park. Returning favourites include The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Gluttony and the Royal Croquet Club – along with Tuxedo Cat, The German Club, Rhino Room and Holden Street Theatres. Raj House is being reimagined as RAJOPOLIS for this year’s festival.

Ticket sales for this year’s festival have so far exceeded 130,000 and are up by 15 per cent on the same time last year.

The 2018 Adelaide Fringe will run from February 16 to March 18.

For more information, including road closures, head here.

More News

To Top