With Fringe Festival underway, both performers and the public are feeling pressure to stay within their budget

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Adelaide’s getting ready to party with this year’s Fringe Festival now underway. But with cost-of-living pressures starting to bite, it is a challenging time for both performers and the public to stay within their budget.

Transcript

00:00 It's a brave new world for local performers Miles Dunn and Max Brading.

00:07 Their interactive AI fringe show wouldn't have gone ahead without a $5,000 grant from

00:12 the City Council.

00:13 "Ourselves and the movement director, the three main collaborators aren't getting paid

00:17 a lot for our time and theirs.

00:19 If you actually broke down our costs hourly, the in-kind would blow the production costs

00:24 a lot higher than five grand."

00:26 It's the same for many other performers.

00:28 "I don't meet a lot of people who would say the fringe is where you make your money as

00:33 an artist."

00:34 While average ticket prices haven't increased, artists and venues are having to absorb their

00:39 extra costs to keep shows affordable.

00:41 "I think the cost of living has impacted everyone from artists, venues, producers and audiences.

00:46 I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a part of everyone's conversations."

00:50 And it's not just the artists and performers who are feeling the cost of living crunch.

00:54 "I've heard so many people complain about trying to get in and how much everything costs.

00:58 I think more people go and just roam around rather than actually spending their money."

01:03 "Actually working out the fringe to save money."

01:05 "It's nice to have the opportunity to try and take a risk on maybe things that you wouldn't

01:09 usually go to see as well.

01:11 And obviously if it's a little bit cheaper then that helps."

01:15 There are more than 1,400 shows to enjoy at this year's Fringe, with festival directors

01:20 saying there's something here for everyone, even those on a tight budget.

01:24 "There's over 100 events and exhibitions across the festival landscape that are free and I'd

01:29 really love to support people to come along."

01:31 Miles and Max say the best way to support independent artists is to get out of the East

01:36 End and find smaller productions.

01:38 "If people come to a show and love it and then they share it and a few of their friends

01:43 come then that makes all the difference."

01:46 And it's something people can do even if they are watching their purse strings.

01:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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