Despite selling one million tickets, the Adelaide Fringe has hit out at rising council costs

The Adelaide Fringe is threatening to abandon the parklands, accusing the Adelaide City Council of fee increases that will send them broke.

Outside the Garden of Unearthly Delights at the Adelaide Fringe. Picture: Matt Loxton

The two biggest drawcards in the Adelaide Parklands won’t recommit to their venues until Adelaide City Council reconsiders the fees it charges.

The hugely popular Garden of Unearthly Delights and Gluttony in the East End precinct have taken their fight to the media.

Fringe Director Heather Croall said despite attracting 600,000 people in the East Parklands, and providing the “essential vibrancy” the council craved, the venue operators were unhappy with large fee increases.

“The venues will be charged per square metre and per day, so over a ten day period this would add up to a huge amount of money under the new fee structure,’’ she said.

Although commercially secret, The Advertiser has been told the Garden will be hit with a $184,000 fee in 2024 and Gluttony $241,000.

Inside Gluttony at the Adelaide Fringe this year. Picture: Matt Loxton

There were no fees in 2022 and 2023, but in 2020 The Garden paid $108,000 and Gluttony $110,200 on a much smaller area.

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith stressed that nothing had been paid for two years of parklands use over large areas, which during the Fringe locked other residents and visitors out.

“There were very good reasons to waive fees during Covid and I realise nobody likes such generosity to stop but now we need cautious reintroduction of fees to allow for Covid budget repair,” she said.

Ms Croall said the Fringe returned three-fold any grants and funding received from council, and had an economic value to the city and state beyond any other event.

“They are exactly the sort of vibrancy that the Adelaide City Council says it was looking for,’’ she said.

Outside Gluttony at the Adelaide Fringe. But now it may be moving on. Picture: Matt Loxton

The Garden of Unearthly Delights at the Adelaide Fringe. Picture: Matt Loxton

She said neither venue had decided to pull out but would welcome negotiations with the council.

Ms Croall has suggested a rebate to the venues to resolve the dispute, which has arisen because of sharp fee increases and reinstatements in the council’s budget as it battles with financial repair following Covid-19 restrictions.

On ABC radio neither venue would commit to a future in the Parklands without financial relief.

Ms Croall said despite the Fringe’s much celebrated sale of one million tickets in 2023, it had deliberately kept prices to around $30 to give back to the community.

The economic benefit it brought to the state in 2022 was cited at $74.9 million, with $50.1 million of “new money into South Australia”.