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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-11 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND FRINGE FESTIVAL 50th ANNIVERSARY

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:09): Can the Premier inform house about the 50th anniversary of the Adelaide Festival of Arts and the Adelaide Fringe Festival held earlier this year?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:09): I am pleased to see discretion from the member for Mawson, because, whilst his international sporting prowess is well known, most people do not know that he is also a cultural icon in Willunga and McLaren Vale.

As the member has already stated, in February and March this year the Adelaide Festival of Arts and the Adelaide Fringe Festival both celebrated their 50th anniversary in extraordinary fashion, further enhancing Adelaide's fine festival reputation. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend as many arts events in March as I have in previous years, but, certainly, the 2010 Adelaide Fringe Festival was the biggest in the event's history. Ticket sales were very strong, with 301,831 tickets being sold. This was particularly great news for Fringe artists, because they received most of the ticket sales revenue.

There were 705 shows featured in the guide, which is a 36 per cent increase on the number of shows in 2009. With the help of additional government support—with the generous support of the Treasurer—the Adelaide Fringe marked its 50th anniversary with glorious giant inflatable astronauts throughout the city and the spectacle of the inflated luminarium Amococo. With over 30,000 visitors, Amococo was one of the most popular events in the 2010 Festival.

Do you remember when we announced—in fact, it was the idea of the Minister for Health—an annual fringe and people said—just as when we announced an annual WOMADelaide—that it would be a disaster? Of course, what has happened is a massive increase in attendances at the fringe since we have gone annual.

In further testament to the strength of the 'new', 58 per cent of all 2010 Adelaide Fringe shows were Australian premieres. The number of shows featured this year increased by 46 per cent since the first annual event in 2006. There is a raft of other statistics that show the continuing growth and success of the Fringe: 296 independent venues opened their doors to Fringe shows in 2010, an increase from 250 in 2009; performers in the Adelaide Fringe put on 6,911 sessions across all art forms; 593 Australian shows and 112 international shows were on offer; and, while the economic impact assessment is still being prepared, the Fringe have told me that they are confident that they will again break one million in attendances.

The South Australian community is an ever present force in the Adelaide Fringe, and no statistic shows this more than the number of volunteers who work to bring the festival to us. The 2010 Festival was no exception, with 400 volunteers working more than 2,000 hours to bring the Adelaide Fringe to life.

This year, there were 35 community groups and over 1,700 people parading in the opening night parade. The South Australia Police estimated a crowd of approximately 80,000 attending both the opening night parade and party. The Adelaide Fringe continues to demonstrate the strength of the decision to move the festival to an annual event, and I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the chair, Judy Potter, and board members, but especially Christie Anthoney and Sandy Verschoor, who saw this transition period through in the most extraordinary way.

The 50th anniversary Fringe was the last Fringe with both Christie and Sandy at the helm, and we can be very proud of what the Fringe has become under their guidance. I am sure that the chamber will add its thanks to mine for Christie and Sandy's hard work and dedication. I am also excited that the new Director of the Adelaide Fringe, Greg Clarke, brings new vision and energy to the festival with plans to further enliven and transform the city during the next year's Fringe.

The Adelaide Festival, also having celebrated its 50th anniversary, is regarded as Australia's foremost arts festival and is basically regarded in the top three festivals in the world, along with Edinburgh and Avignon, which my friend Chloe Catienne Fox would probably agree with. Artistic Director, Paul Grabowsky assembled a fitting program for this special occasion. In fact, it was the largest Adelaide Festival program to date, including Australian and world premiere performances.

I am pleased to report that 23 South Australian arts and cultural organisations were involved in the festival this year, and 250 performances, events and exhibitions were staged in 33 venues. The festival program featured a significant Indigenous component across both the performing and visual arts and, for the first time, our major visual arts galleries were drawn together for a major international exhibition.

The much loved music and dance festival, WOMADelaide, was extended to a four-day event for the first time for this special 50th anniversary with great success. The Adelaide Festival broke all of its targets in 2010, taking an impressive $3.4 million at the box office, selling a total of 66,000 tickets and attracting total attendances of over 650,000 people, not including WOMADelaide.

We also provided a one-off allocation to the 2010 Adelaide Festival, given its 50th anniversary status, and there were some free events for the public during this landmark festival. These included the phenomenal opening weekend spectacular A Little More Light by the French pyrotechnics masters Groupe F, and the return of the acclaimed Northern Lights installation along the city's cultural boulevard, also involving this building.

The festival had a significant economic impact on the city, with 4,852 hotel room nights and 1,150 flights booked just for the artists. Again, while I understand that the final economic assessment is yet to be finalised, these figures alone are significant. They also demonstrate the enormous amount of work that goes into planning and managing a festival. I would like to pay tribute to Kate Gould, the general manager; her team; as well as members of the Festival board, led by Richard Ryan, for all their efforts in assisting Paul Grabowsky in realising this fabulous program.

Importantly, this year's festival attracted widespread critical acclaim for a program featuring some of the finest artists and productions from across the world. We look forward to not only the next festival under Paul Grabowsky two years from now, but then the Adelaide Festival of Arts, like the Fringe, like WOMADelaide, becoming an annual event.

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