So far this year, 221,204 Adelaide Fringe tickets have been sold – 12 per cent more than what was sold on the same date in 2020 when the last ticket sales record was broken.

The Adelaide Fringe predicts it will sell one million tickets within the next four weeks if sales stay on the same trajectory.

“We’re aiming to sell one million tickets – that will be a massive record if we smash it,” Fringe director Heather Croall said.

“There’s a lot of free activity at the Fringe, including free attendances, so the attendances will be more like three million.”

According to Fringe organisers, the festival is “on track to be the biggest arts festival in the nation”, with international shows returning to pre-pandemic levels.

In all 6000 artists will perform across almost 1300 shows running until March 19.

Interstate and international acts will make up more than 40 per cent of the events, which span comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, visual art, music, interactive shows and a new genre titled “eat & drink”.

There will be more than 300 Fringe venues presenting shows – 23 per cent of which are in the CBD, 45 per cent of which are in suburban Adelaide and the remainder across regional South Australia.

New spaces range from The Yurt and The Chapel at the Migration Museum (programmed by Nick Phillips and Britt Plummer) and Garage International at Crack Kitchen, to a piano garden in Murray Bridge dubbed The Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary.

“The City of Adelaide will be overrun by artists from today,” Croall said.

“I encourage all lovers of Fringe to go their hardest at supporting our artists this year.”

The state government earlier this year budgeted $8 million over four years to boost the Fringe’s interstate and overseas marketing, and to help the festival secure headline anchor events and provide artist grants.

Croall said that funding would result in more tourists coming to Adelaide and more shows put on by first-time South Australian artists.

“That’s where we get very passionate about raising some funds so that we can disperse funds to the artists to help them put on their shows,” she said.

“That funding from the state government has just made all the difference for us to be able to hand out hundreds of micro grants to artists that wouldn’t otherwise be putting on shows.”

Headlining the opening weekend is three-day event SILENCE! – described as a “massive pyrotechnic, fireworks and percussion spectacle” by French performance artists Les Commandos Percu at Elder Park. 

Keep an eye on InReview for comprehensive coverage of the Adelaide Fringe, including previews and reviews.