Speeches
Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Reception for Adelaide Fringe Donors
Rod and I warmly welcome you to Government House.
This evening we gather to thank donors and supporters of the Adelaide Fringe.
Our Fringe is the world’s second largest Fringe festival and an icon of South Australia.
Over the past 65 years, it has become a hub for emerging talent, a destination for established artists from dozens of countries, and a powerful marketplace, with hundreds of industry professionals from across the world scouting shows.
I congratulate the 2025 festival on once again surpassing expectations, with ticket sales exceeding 1 million for the third year in a row.
For the past four years Rod and I have embraced the Fringe.
We like to think of ourselves as ‘Fringe Frequent Flyers’, attending dozens of performances each season.
Just some of our 2025 highlights were:
Going ‘back in time’ with Zooma Zooma’s music of 1950s & 60s Las Vegas; Songs of Screen and Stage by the Adelaide Male Voice Choir, featuring Mr Bunten, and Shellshocked, a play about post-war PTSD;
Thrilling at the raw skill and talent of acrobats in Ten Thousand Hours, by Gravity and Other Myths, and the acting excellence of Sam Blythe, performing all roles in an adaptation of Animal Farm;
Revelling in the otherworldly nature of Celestial Gardens: The Secret Sound of Plants at Carrick Hill;
And enjoying a heartwarming puppetry show called Railway Bob, about a celebrity dog who rode Australian railways in the 1880s & 90s.
As an audience member, one of the great joys of Fringe is discovery.
As Governor, one of the great satisfactions of Fringe is its accessibility.
I am grateful for your commitment to bringing shows to regional areas, to providing financial support for patrons experiencing disadvantage or physical support for those with sensory needs, to providing grants for performances which promote mental health awareness.
Inclusivity isn’t an add on at the Adelaide Fringe, it’s central to the festival experience, and I thank the festival for being one of the most inclusive in the world.
It’s also a reflection of our state’s new cultural policy, A Place to Create, and its first strategy: ‘Arts, culture and creativity for everyone’.
A huge part of this is thanks to the Adelaide Fringe Foundation, which plays a powerful role in making the arts more accessible and equitable for all.
I thank the Foundation’s donors for their generous support, which makes an important contribution to bringing the joy of Fringe to as many people as possible, performers and audience alike.
The success of the 2025 Fringe is all the more impressive against the backdrop of rising costs – both cost of living pressures faced by the general public, as well as operating costs for artists and venues.
It’s largely impossible for artists and venues to operate on box office income alone so it’s fair to say the contributions of Fringe donors are vital.
I thank sincerely all supporters here tonight for their generosity, as well as the South Australian Government for its support.
Congratulations to the Adelaide Fringe community on an outstanding 2025 festival.
Rod and I wish you all the very best as you continue to bring the wonder of the arts to South Australians and visitors, cementing our state’s reputation as a centre of artistic excellence and inclusivity.