The Fringe kicked off in spectacular fashion on Friday night as the best opening night Parade in the Fringe’s history dodged electrical storms to light up King William St. and attract record crowds.
An estimated audience of 30,000 lined the street to watch the choreographed extravaganza directed by Roz Hervey and designed by Ali Jones. It featured Fringe artists, community groups and beautiful floats all lit with stunning lighting. The Parade began with a Kaurna float featuring moving fire sculptures and culminated in a fireworks display off the roofs of buildings.
Over 60,000 Fringe goers spread out across the city to see Fringe shows and visit Fringe venues throughout the city.
Fringe Director Greg Clarke couldn’t be more pleased saying “Friday night was the perfect start to the 4 week festival. Everything came together beautifully. It was a night to not only celebrate but experience a Parade that we can all be very proud of.”
By the close of the opening weekend ticket sales were up 13 % compared to where they were at the same time last year.
New Fringe venue The Depot had a great start to the weekend attracting over 10,000 through the door on opening night.
Stepney’s new outdoor venue Howl the Moon reported a fantastic Friday night turnout, reaching capacity of 200 within 5 minutes of opening.
The Garden of Unearthly Delight’s opening weekend was also a great success with numbers up 10% on previous years.
The same was experienced in Rymill Park as Gluttony enjoyed a massive opening weekend with almost all of their shows on opening night having full-houses.
Rymill Park has this year become quite a special place to explore with the addition of new venue Ensalada along with Gluttony, buskers, the Fringe box office and the Fringe Club.
The festivities continue this week with hundreds of shows opening along with the world premiere of the free Fringe event Window World at the State Library on Friday night.
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