Innovation is a core value at Adelaide Fringe. It’s something I’ve focused on since I took on the role as Director and Chief Executive in 2015, implementing an agile and inclusive model to help artists, producers and presenters thrive in South Australia’s arts industry.

Adelaide is the ultimate city for collaborations thanks to its boutique size – it is perfect for festivals which are often used as a testing ground for new work. The urban planning of the CBD with a mile square grid surrounded by parklands allows us to create an exciting festival landscape right here in the city. It is also an affordable city, making it easier for artists to travel and work here across different disciplines. There’s a huge opportunity here for creative thinkers to collaborate, experiment and push boundaries.

The pandemic taught us to be adaptive and we benefited by being willing to respond to different environments and pressures as they appeared. Many innovative solutions that came out of this period have remained at Adelaide Fringe and will continue into the future – the majority coming from adopting user-centered design methodologies and cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Fringe is open-access and grass roots up. Anyone can be involved. We’re seeing more artists working in the intersection of art, storytelling and technology, so we created the Interactive genre a number of years ago to offer a space for those shows and each year it grows from strength to strength. The more we see our audience responding to interactive and immersive programs, the more artists we have innovating in that area. These interactive shows at Fringe have gone on to win major awards at festivals all over the world. Electric Dreams is a conference in the Interactive genre that brings together artists and creatives with researchers, developers, technologists, scientists and academics with an aim to open people’s minds in creating immersive experiences across
different mediums.

One of the biggest challenges around events is providing the simplest, smoothest ticketing transaction journey for our customers. It’s something we’ve devoted countless resources to by working through roadblocks and customer feedback to solve problems and improve the journey. We built our own digital platform and it’s this innovation that has driven our ticket sales growth from 500,000 in 2015 to more than 1,000,000 in 2023.

As well as ticket buyers, our stakeholder groups include artists, venues, partners, government, donors, volunteers and staff. We are committed to continuous improvement and we listen to our stakeholders – this approach has driven our consistent growth in ticket sales over the last eight years. We want to always improve the experience of our artists, venues, donors, members, partners and employees.

I am dedicated to always learning so I can continue to lead the team at Adelaide Fringe on innovative and rewarding pathways. I completed the Governor’s Leadership course in 2017 and I am currently studying a Leadership Innovation course at MIT in Boston. I
look forward to taking the Adelaide Fringe to new heights in 2024.