Adelaide Fringe Festival 2026 part 1
Me & Alfie a young Koala bear at the Gorge wildlife park
I’ve been going to the Adelaide Fringe festival for 3 years in a row now. Many years ago, I lived in the UK & would attend the Edinburgh Fringe which is where I met Alex Petty of Laughing Horse comedy - I was introduced to Alex by Craig Shaynak; Alex & Craig had mentioned to me that there is a wonderful fringe festival in the city of Adelaide; Alex would promote acts & put on shows in Adelaide at the Fringe. I had been wondering about making the journey ever since. What can I say - it is long way to travel to Australia but well worth the trip. I was in Australia for almost 3 weeks this time; I would visit Sydney before returning home; I would have liked to have stayed longer & see more of the country. Alex was not the first one to go to Adelaide. Actually it was Nik Coppin and Nik was going to be Adelaide again this year and we would met up.
The Adelaide Fringe is absolutely huge & it lasts for 5 weeks - the printed guide is like a magazine with all the listings. The Fringe features: stand up comedy, theatre, dance, cabaret, circus acrobatics. And of particular interest to me there is also immersive part of the Fringe which can be projections, 360º dome video & VR. This year’s program was no exception. The Fringe starts in February and ends in March which means I get to experience the end of Australian summer which was another reason to make this trip.
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/immersive-worlds
It is worth mentioning that there are many festivals in Australia back to back; I believe it's first Perth then Adelaide, then the Melbourne comedy festival and then Sydney. Many acts would be be going to multiple festivals; Alex and Nik would comment that Adelaide was probably their favourite festival in Australia.
I was in Adelaide for the last week and a half of the festival. I crammed in as many show as I could see - typically each performance is about an hour. I would be trekking between various venues around the central business district (CBD) in Adelaide; some days I would see 4 performances. And this trip I stayed for a few days past the end of the Fringe to be able to do some excursions outside Adelaide with friends
Being in Australia, there are many acts from Australia of course & also quite a significant number of acts from the UK & also some acts from places Japan, New Zealand, Norway & more. Many big UK acts would do shows in Adelaide; last year, I had the fortune to see Ross Noble in Adelaide, who is one of my favourite comedians who I never managed to see while I lived in the UK. Australia & UK have a close cultural connection in the that sense that many British comedians are better known in Australia than Canada.
On my first night in Adelaide, I managed to see a few acts & meet up with Alex.
Sully O’sullivan - Sully doing a bit at Laughing Horse comedy.
This photo was upstairs at the Historian hotel. This is one of the main venues that Alex would be putting shows on in Adelaide; Fun fact: a hotel can mean a pub in Australia; many of these places might have had a few hotel rooms above the bar in the past.
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/a-complete-idiot-s-guide-to-great-britain-af2026
https://www.sullyosullivan.com
Bec Hill
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/bec-hill-creates-the-perfect-show-work-in-progress-af2026
https://www.bechillcomedian.com
I had seen Bec Hill on UK TV; she does this hilarious comedy bits using a hand made pop-up book that she made - you have to see it; she is based in London & originally from Adelaide. I only got to see the first part of her work in progress show. She had a board with some post it notes about various topics and people were invited to pick a note & she would riff about it. Many performances could be in a small venue which made for an intimate up close experience ; some acts where performing in much larger venues. I saw a mixture of everything. My first night in Adelaide I would end up seeing three different performances; the last performance was for a card magic show; I had to dash across town to get to the show in time for the start hence only see part of Bec’s show. Being at the fringe festival, I would end up doing a lot of walking between venues and getting my steps in.
Over the course of the Fringe, I enjoyed getting to have many conversations with some of the performers & I would also talk with some performers that I had met before . And some performers would recommend other shows to go see; getting through the Fringe festival program is quite a task guide to find things to go see; word-of-mouth is so helpful I did make a short list of shows - the website has a planner feature which was great.
Also being a fringe festival, many shows would have some form of audience participation, which can be quite fun; did not participate in performances this trip & get up on stage; last year, I was on stage three times; I did get asked to go on stage at a performance by Laser Kiwi, who were great by the way, this trip but I politely declined - I was not feeling up to getting on stage 😜 in a fairly large venue.
A performance can go a bit sideways but it was all good as the atmosphere is very positive & the audience would often be rooting for the performer. I did see one show where some props didn't quite work, and the performer was trying to contain herself but persevered and got through the show. Live entertainment!
Maho Magic Bar at the Garden of Unearthly Delights
Magic tricks with cards performed by a mostly Japanese cast. It was just ok; there are 5 magicians who would work there around the venue and do card tricks. This show had been running for many years now at the festival.