Adelaide Fringe: how big is too big?

A record number of events will be presented at the 2015 Fringe, but Director Greg Clarke has no fears the festival is growing too large.

Image: Bianca MacKail in the Fringe Parade; photo by Tony Virgil

Despite the fact that Adelaide Fringe’s 2015 program is larger than ever, with a record 1,058 registered events in 376 venues, outgoing Director Greg Clarke said there are no plans to try and limit the size of future festivals.

‘The thing is that the Adelaide Fringe is an open access festival, it’s not curated, so we can never cap it. We would never say no to anyone unless their show was breaking the law in any way. That’s part of the vision and the philosophy of the Adelaide Fringe and it’s been like that since 1960,’ Clarke told ArtsHub.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts