Adelaide Festival to Become Annual Event?

The ongoing success of Adelaide's Fringe and Arts Festival is likely to mean it will become an annual event.

South Australian Arts Minister and Premier Mike Rann is set to ditch the biennial scheduling of the Festival and make it an annual event from 2012.

The recent Adelaide Festival of Arts opened with a brilliant contemporary opera and ended with the two symphony orchestras and huge choral resources performing Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

High art contrasted with the Festival celebrating its 50 years with a huge fireworks display for more than 70,000 people in Victoria Park Racecourse, and an even more popular return of Northern Lights, which drew large crowds to the cityâs North Terrace.

Premier Rann's push for an annual event has been backed by record-breaking attendances at the two other festivals he has taken annual during his terms in office. Womadelaide brought a record 81,500 attendances to Botanic Park, and the Fringe surpassed all previous box office records this year.

4th November 2009 - NOT ENOUGH VENUES FOR BUSY FESTIVAL STATE