Adelaide And Edinburgh Join Forces With Festival Partnership

Two of the world’s top festival cities, Adelaide and Edinburgh, have announced an innovative partnership between Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Festivals Adelaide and Scottish counterparts to bring in a new era of international festival synergy.

Signed by representatives from each, the cross-continental agreement is determined to set goals for artistic, business and community ends, which will help facilitate new proposals, collaborations and viewers across its stages.

Adelaide Festival co-artistic director Rachel Healy said the agreement between the two was a win-win for all.

“It is thrilling to contemplate a shared future which involves creative collaborations, commissions, and artistic exchange,” she says.

Fuelled by the growth of South Australia from an increasing international presence and vibrant festival reputation, this partnership comes as no surprise. 

Accrued from this year’s record-breaking Adelaide Festival figures (20% revenue increase), unstoppable live performance reports, and 2016 Adelaide Fringe statistics ($21.7 million rise in income), the cross-continental bond will only boost South Australia’s cultural and financial standing.

Off the back of this success, Festivals Adelaide have also announced it will host the International Festivals Cities Network. As one of the organisations city heavyweights, agents from Edinburgh, Barcelona, Krakow, Montreal and Berlin travel to South Australia to discuss new festival strategies in March 2017.

Prior to the vivacious festival season and “mad March”, Adelaide stages won’t shy from performances. The South Australian Living Arts Festival and the Adelaide Guitar Festival plan to kick off in August before the iconoclast OzAsia Festival rears to life in September.