Two shows helping drive ticket sales are dance show Nelken, created by celebrated German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch, and Scottish theatre trilogy The James Plays. Both have passed their individual box office targets, with Nelken the fastest-selling dance show in the festival’s history.

Last year, many festival-goers bought tickets late, but Adelaide Festival chief executive Karen Bryant said this morning that organisers were seeing a reversal in that trend.

“Since we launched the 2016 festival back in October , we’ve seen a significant increase in people planning their festival ahead of time around our program of exclusive productions.”

The 2016 Adelaide Festival opens next Friday, February 26. An opening-night audio-visual and pyrotechnics stadium extravaganza, A Fleur de Peau, will be presented at Adelaide Oval by French company Groupe F on Saturday, February 27.

Tickets are still available for A Fleur de Peau, with the last seats to be released later today.

For more Adelaide Festival stories, including an interview with The James Plays director Laurie Sansom, see InDaily’s Adelaide Festival page.