Is Adelaide Fringe For You?

There are elements that venues, presenters and artists need to budget for throughout the entirety of the registration process and through to settlements. A realistic budgeting plan is paramount before deciding on your involvement in the festival. You can download a budget template here.

Essentials: Expenses such as registration fees, venue hire and ticketing splits.

Wages: If your show involves multiple artists and/or you’ve engaged with contractors such as a Publicist or Social Media Consultant, have you considered how you will cover these costs? And most importantly, have you accounted for YOUR wage in your budget?

Production: Are you preparing for a new show that demands fresh props and costumes? Is it time to upgrade your technical equipment?

Marketing & Promotion: While listing your show in our Official Fringe Guide and website is a good start, effective marketing goes beyond this. Have you created high-quality images and videos? Is your copywriting selling your show to your audience? Are you investing in paid advertising or traditional flyer distribution? Promoting your show will generally involve some costs, and you need to decide what avenues will best reach your audience.

Accommodation & Travel: If you're traveling to Adelaide, you’ll need to consider how you’re getting here - what are your airfares, car hire, and/or public transport costs? Don’t forget about accommodation! Where will you stay? Will you need to pay to stay at a hostel or hotel, or can you stay with someone you know for a low-to-no cost? Consider the distance between your accommodation and your venue(s), and how you’ll get between the two. 

Contingency: It’s a good idea to overestimate expenses and underestimate revenue when budgeting. Add a 10% contingency to your budget to give you room to breathe if something unexpected happens.

Profit & Loss: How are you determining your ticket prices and what are your realistic profit expectations? How many tickets will you need to sell to break even? If you don't break even, what kind of loss are you prepared to operate with? See below ticket sales stats from the 2024 season to help guide you. We encourage everyone to take notice of what average ticket prices are at Fringe for different types of shows. The overall average ticket price is $32 across Fringe, be sure to price your ticket appropriately. 

Insurance: Public liability insurance is often a requirement and a wise investment to cover any unforeseen incidents.

Fringe Charges: Adelaide Fringe aims to help artists have the most fruitful experience in their Fringe season. This can include outcomes from the Honey Pot marketplace and/or solid box office. In recent years, Adelaide Fringe significantly lowered the inside fee charge on each ticket to 5% in order to increase the box office return for artists and venues. Our registration fees have remained at the same level for almost 20 years.

Artist preparedness is not just about the quality of your performance, but how effective your overall show is when presented within the unique environment of Adelaide Fringe. Achieving this requires a careful balance of various elements and a clear understanding of your long-term objectives such as:

It’s up to you to create a killer marketing strategy that speaks to your audience and sells your show, however our dedicated team is here to guide you through your Fringe journey, whether over the phone or in person. Contact details for different teams are listed below.

Our extensive AVR resources are readily available to equip you with the knowledge you need, and we continuously source and offer development opportunities to help our artists thrive and grow beyond Adelaide Fringe.

Do you know about Honey Pot?

Honey Pot is an International Arts Marketplace that connects artists and producers with industry programmers from across the world to secure future work and touring deals beyond the festival. 

Every year millions of dollars worth of touring deals are secured through this program, due to the connections and relationships established through our marketplace. You can learn more about Honey Pot here.