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 OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts