Sydney Fringe acknowledges and is guided by the allodial owners of the land that we meet on. We pay our respects to the 29 clans of the Eora Nation and recognise elders past and present, as well as all the First Nations People of Australia.
2024 marked the fifteenth Sydney Fringe Festival and the eleventh under the current CEO/Festival Director Kerri Glasscock. Building on the successes of the previous year the organisation invested in securing an increased footprint within the city, additional resourcing and audience development programs to accommodate future strategic growth and viability.
For the first time ever the festival attracted over 100,000 audience members and saw 10% in intrastate and interstate visitation demonstrating the growing brand awareness and appetite for the festival beyond the inner city. The festival maintained a high level of first time audience members with 49% attending for the first time, and importantly a high level of satisfaction with 98% intending to attend next year.
This year’s festival hosted 404 events in 69 venues providing Sydney audiences with 1,882 performance sessions of theatre, cabaret, live art making, exhibitions, workshops, talks, live music, comedy, concerts, parties, activations and more.
Engagement by artists remained strong with 2,019 participating (still below pre-covid levels of engagement), with the majority of artists taking part in the festival to expose their work to new audiences. 46% of participating artists identified as emerging within the first five years of their practice, 28% mid-career and 25% experienced. Artists were supported by the festival via increased marketing spend and platform, subsidised venue hire and production costs, integrated ticketing services, career development pathway programs, commissions and paid performance opportunities. The festival generated over $2 million in box office revenue for artists.
63% of the program was presented in our 11 Festival Hubs that were installed right across the city in a mix of temporary/pop-up and established venues. 257 shows and 1,101 performances took place in the Festival Hubs that provided subsidised space for artists, many of whom cannot access affordable venues in Sydney at other times of the year.
Our curated programs continue to develop and provide vital capacity development, paid performance opportunities, commissions and touring opportunities to mid-career and experienced artists. The Touring Hub presented award-winning interstate and international productions, bringing local audiences four Sydney premieres. Partnerships with a number of corporate businesses enabled the commissioning and presentation of public events and programs such as FEAST in Hurstville, In the Key of G at George Place in the CBD and Friday Ritual on the streets of Barrangaroo.
The Spiegeltent Festival Garden at the Entertainment Quarter returned and provided a spectacular backdrop for this year’s international headline act
the Soweto Gospel Choir that attracted 30,784 people, alongside a range of other music, circus, theatre and cabaret acts.
A second festival garden was also created at Darling Quarter on the western harbour, The Village Green Garden presented a range of cabaret and circus works, and provided the home for an expanded Fringe Kids program. The activation increased YOY spend to local businesses within the precinct by 27% showing the power of the flow on effect of Sydney Fringe to local communities and businesses.
We continued our focus to remove barriers and increase participation by more artists from priority engagement areas, and deepened our relationships within community.
2024 saw the inaugural presentation of our First Nations Hub - Yalgali supported by Creative Australia, and the introduction of a year-round First Nations Artist in Residence program. The Limitless Hub returned for a third year supporting the work of d/Deaf and Disabled artists, growing from two venues to three. A MultiCultural Comedy Hub was presented for the first time to support culturally and linguistically diverse artists, and our partnership with Riverside Theatres expanded to support more diverse Western Sydney based creators.
As the festival grows in scale and capacity larger partnerships and the need for new commercial business drivers that in-turn support the not-forprofit activity (open access program, sector support/ education programs and venue activation projects) become more vital. As a not-for-profit organisation, any commercial revenue streams achieved by the organisation are reinvested to support the independent arts sector, our core purpose. These partnerships have been a major part of the 2024 festival and a full overview can be found on page 10.
Our global relationships were strengthened via our award partnerships with San Diego International Fringe (USA), NZ Fringe and Hollywood Fringe (USA). More artists were given the ability to tour their work nationally via the continued award partnerships with Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Fringe and Fringe World (WA). Our export program Made in Sydney enabled three Sydney productions from the 2023 festival to be financially supported to tour to Adelaide Fringe in February 2024, two productions in Edinburgh in August and two additional shows to present at Sydney Fringe in September.
We continued to raise our advocacy voice and profile as a regular media commentator on the issues facing our sector and supported our Government partners as a trusted advisor.
We worked with the NSW Government:
-As a member of Creative Communities Council providing sector guidance during the implementation of their new cultural policy Creative Communities;
-As a member of their Artform Board for Festivals
-As a member of their 24 Hour Economy Advisory Group
-Providing input into the reviews of both the 24 Hour Economy Strategy and the Visitor Economy Strategy;
-Providing sector advice into the second tranche of the Vibrancy Reforms.
-We were a delivery partner for the 24 Hour Economy Commissioners Office in their Venue Accelerator Program
2024 has in many ways been one of the most successful festivals in our fifteen year history.
We made significant inroads in brand awareness, achieved record levels of earned revenue for artists, attracted an impressive amount of new audiences, significantly increased the number of festival partnerships, deepened our relationships and understanding of priority area communities, increased and solidified our city-wide footprint and reimagined how we were communicating our festival to our audiences through new precinct programming. But the successes have been hard won this year.
2024 has presented significant challenges that an already strained sector found difficult to bare. The cost of living crisis and current business environment resulted in a number of key venues⁄businesses that we work with permanently closing, we were required to shoulder more financial risk to support artists, increase our investment further into more priority programs to support marginalised communities, and continue to place scarce resources into advocating for the sector as a whole.
This time last year we felt optimistic about the future, that we were well on our way to being a state significant festival and that we had reached a tipping point into a new phase. The challenges faced this year have been tough on the sector, and they have impacted our ability to strategically develop at the speed we had expected but they have not dulled our dedication.
The joy this festival brings to the city, the vital role it plays for our creative industries, the development pathways it provides for artists, the national and international community it contributes to, the thought leadership it delivers and the impact it has in the communities it works with is worth fighting for. But it is no longer a fight that our organisation or the sector can continue to have alone. Our sector, particularly festivals are in a moment of crisis and we need the support of the public sector, the private sector, the individual giver, new audiences and arts lovers everywhere.
Providing an open access platform for our stories to be told, our voices to be heard and our community to be celebrated is vital and we are proud to play that role in Sydney, on Gadigal land.
Kerri Glasscock CEO & Festival Director Sydney Fringe
This year Sydney Fringe introduced a new precinct model to communicate the footprint of the festival.
Our hubs provided the anchor point to these precincts and continue to be one of the most popular festival elements for both artists and audiences alike.
They are a one stop shop for a huge range of the festival program and enable connections to be made and networking to take place for artists, and the opportunity to see multiple shows in one night for audiences in a city often stymied by geographical spread.
Festival Hubs:
Yalgali - PACT Theatre
Dance Hub - Sydney Dance Company
Cabaret Hub - Kings Cross Hotel
Off Broadway Hub - Turner Hall
Fringe Comedy - Factory Theatre
Multi-Cultural Comedy Hub - The Rocks
Made in Sydney Hub - PACT Theatre
Limitless - 107 Projects
Touring Hub - New Theatre
Emerging Artist Share House - Erskineville Town Hall
Queer Hub - Qtopia
69
22 Venues participated in this year’s festival Non-traditional or pop-up performance spaces
31% 41% of events located in COS LGA of events located in Inner West LGA
17%
12% of venues in Inner West LGA of venues in other LGAs inc Western Sydney
In 2024, a total of 69 venues from across Greater Sydney were used to deliver the festival program. Of the venues within the festival we also welcomed four tent spaces; the North and South tents at Village Green Garden in Darling Quarter, The Vault and Sydney Spiegeltent at the Spiegeltent Festival Gardens in the Entertainment Quarter. We welcomed a number of new key venue partners including Qtopia, The Emerald Room, Turner Hall and Bondi Pavilion. The return of long term partners PMNSW enabled three pop-up venues to be created in The Rocks Precinct and with Riverside Theatres to create a home for Western Sydney based creatives. A lack of appropriate and affordable small–medium sized culturally focused venues remains the greatest challenge facing The Sydney Fringe and the independent sector at large. This has been impacted further by a number of closures this year of key independent venues including Eternity Playhouse and 107 Projects.
Our partnerships remain the cornerstone of our festival enabling Sydney’s independent artists to activate sites all across the city.
In 2024 the Sydney Fringe Festival thrived thanks to strong partnerships with local businesses, cultural institutions, government bodies, and corporate sponsors. These collaborations were crucial in amplifying the festival’s visibility and accessibility, supporting emerging talent, and creating unique performance opportunities across diverse Sydney venues. Corporate and philanthropic partners helped ensure the festival maintained affordable ticketing while delivering high-quality productions.
These partnerships not only contributed to the festival’s growth but also reinforced its role as a key platform for independent artists. The continued success of these relationships is central to the Sydney Fringe’s mission of supporting local arts and culture experiences, further establishing the festival as a platform for bold, innovative work.
The success of these partnerships underscores the importance of community-driven collaborations in sustaining the festival. Sydney Fringe remains dedicated to nurturing these relationships, which are central to its mission of supporting independent arts and culture in Sydney.
Supported by Creative Australia our First Nation Hub, Yalgali was undoubtedly one of the key successes of the 2024 festival. This space not only served as a gathering place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities but also acted as a bridge to broader festival audiences.
Yalgali events, such as the market day, Open Mic Night, and Klub Koori, drew significant attention and set the stage for future collaborations between Aboriginal artists and Sydney Fringe. Yalgali was presented at PACT in Erskineville.
Set against the backdrop of the iconic cobbled streets and unique venues of The Rocks/Tallawoladah. Sideshow returned for a third year bringing together a diverse mix of performances and experiences that pushed boundaries, celebrated innovation and thrilled and entertained. From diverse comedy voices and participatory cabaret to immersive storytelling and engaging musical moments, these elements united to create an explosion of the unexpected. With three buildings activated and a number of street based performances Sideshow fostered community engagement and enhanced the cultural vibrancy of this precinct.
Just Desserts was a collaboration merging color, taste, and sound into a premium sensory experience. Three artists united; Ngaiire with her R&B, future soul sound, Anna Polyviou with her daring desserts, and ACID.FLWRS dazzling with vibrant floral artistry. It was an evening of savouring delectable treats, cocktails, music and visuals, while celebrating the work of creative professionals who’ve now become some of Sydney’s most loved and engaging independent artists. Presented in partnership with Maker’s Mark in Sydney’s newest creative precinct Machine Hall.
Voices From The Fringe Volumes 1 & 2 presented diverse home-grown artists in the epic surrounds of the substation, Machine Hall.
Volume 1, curated by Matthew Badrov, featured the most exciting new talent from the Western Sydney scene. Artists included DXVNDRE, Lxgcy, Mawuli, Yawdoesitall, Tahkoe and DJ Scruffs and DJ Baschoe.
Volume 2, curated by Acclaim featured Domengo, Emjaysoul & Friends, Brazen Barbie, Isaac Puerile, Cult Shotta and DJ Sollyy.
The two nights celebrated the vibrant and diverse hip hop scene and artists who are unapologetically redefining Sydney’s nightlife.
Independent artists converged for candid conversations about the heart and soul of independent creativity. Sessions explored how independent artists shape their work, the ethics of independence, who gets to tell their story and how to build a sustainable creative path.
Award-winning director and creative producer Dino Dimitriadis moderated insightful discussions about the evolving challenges and opportunities for independent artists.
Panellists included Charley Allanah, Dom Mercer (Head of New Work, Belvoir), Scott Parker (Hillsong Boy) & Erica Brennan (Sydney Fringe First Nations Coordinator)
In the Key of G was an immersive and interactive piano concert that unlocked and celebrated the creativity of Sydneysiders.
An original 45-minute concerto, composed for this experience by Veronique Serret, Ellen Kirkwood, Novak Manoljovic and Judy Bailey (with assistance from Kevin Hunt), invited non-professional George Place tenants, CBD workers and residents from the wider Sydney community to register and perform a three-minute segment of the piece. Rehearsals were open to the public and took place throughout the festival in the George Place foyer on two grand pianos, creating a vibrant hub of music, creative exploration and community engagement.
Curated by Cameron Undy.
Featuring performances by international Pop artists, along with pop up market stalls and local performers, Pop in the Place celebrated the world’s most exciting cultural phenomenon – Asia POP.
Working with Split Works, Fringe presented three exciting Asia Pop talents including: DJ B E N N from Taiwan, soulful songstress Lunadira from Malayasia and headline act, the queen of guitar, Memi from South Korea. Presented with Sydney Place.
Friday Ritual was a creative industries installation, procession and performance, crafting something special in the streets where participants live, work or play.
Each Friday Barangaroo became a communal canvas where participants contributed to a textilebased artwork by Matthew Abberline, enriched with performance and music with a community choir moment led by Andrew Bukenya.
Presented with The Streets of Barangaroo & PMNSW
Created by Tilda Cobham-Hervey this immersive experience connected two strangers via an audio guided tour and handwritten letters, facilitating creative and playful exchanges in the streets and bars of Barangaroo.
Residents, workers and visitors to Barangaroo experienced this joyful exchange and celebrate the unexpected connections and hidden stories that unite us all.
Presented with The Streets of Barangaroo & PMNSW
Dear Stranger saw participants penning heartfelt notes to strangers and receiving anonymous letters in return, creating a chain of secret messages. Our Postie cycled through the precinct, dropping prompt letters at participating cafes and restaurants. These letters were handed out to patrons during lunchtimes on weekdays. They were also handed out at Exchange Square by the Postie. Using the prompt letter participants found a comfortable spot at either a café or around Barangaroo to pen a letter to a stranger, then mailed it in the charming letterbox installation we set up in Exchange Square. The Postie then handed them a letter from a stranger in exchange.
For a second year our partnership with The Entertainment Quarter enabled the Spiegeltent Festival Garden to be presented. Featuring 800 seat and 300 seat tents the activation ran for four weeks and brought together creative partnerships with a number of key presenters including Face to Face, Headfirst Acrobats, and Runaway Collective. The garden hosted the festival’s headline international work the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa.
Presented with Runaway Collective and The Entertainment Quarter
This year Village Green North and South joined to become one space for five weeks presenting over thirty productions featuring explosive performances and fabulous mayhem for young and old.
The charming North Tent, (the 180-seater Spieglezelt) inhabited the North Village Green and was the home of some of our most exciting and irreverent productions including headline show Otto and Astrid. While late night offering, Something Wicked, explored darkly seductive Burlesque, featuring a lineup of international and award-winning artists. The adorable pink and red South Tent (the 110-seater Pocket) housed a range of daring, delightful and devious productions.
Presented with Darling Quarter & PMNSW
From 1 – 6 October kids of all ages experienced a whirlwind of laughter, excitement and wonder as Fringe Kids bounced back to Darling Quarter for the first week of the school holidays!
Fringe Kids is our family inspired mini-festival, filled with hilarious shows and entertainers. Audiences joined Matty Grey for chaos and joy, interactive music with Spaghetti Confetti, bubble magic with Maxwell the Bubble-ologist, and mad scientist Magnus Danger Magnus’ extravaganza.
Fringe Kids presented fourteen shows, for bubs to teens and those young at heart, over the September weekends and into the first week of October at the Village Green Festival Garden and other venues across Sydney. It was the perfect school holiday adventure for all the family and the ultimate destination for family fun!
Sydney Fringe Festival continued our partnership with Riverside Theatres for 2024, engaging Western Sydney artists and audience members alike. Riverside hosted nine events across two weekends in the Rafferty’s and Lennox Theatre. Providing development and presenting opportunities for Western Sydney artists in a place where they have existing key audiences. This program focuses on the rich multicultural communities of the Parramatta area and promoting work that speaks to the identity and voices of these communities. 8 of the 9 shows presented were led by CALD identifying artists.
Jennifer Wong’s Feast returned for a second sold-out year presented in partnership with Georges River Council.
Speakers included Benjamin Law, Lin Jie Kong, Happy Feraren, Michael Hing and Frida Deguise who explored themes of food, family and culture through touching, hilarious and delicious stories about how food shapes our lives. 320 people attended FEAST – Chopsticks and Fork.
This important partnership allows us to engage with new audiences across Greater Sydney and present an event that has diverse appeal including foodies, culture vultures and the audiences that have never attended a Fringe event before.
Fringeville brought exciting Fringe artists to Hurstville Plaza including Karen Hall’s Delusions and Grandeur, The Giant Balloon Show and Aerilize, who presented both a dynamic acrobatic performance and a fun juggling workshop for audiences.
Alongside these performances, Fringeville has become a stage for local artists and community cultural groups to perform, tapping into the rich culture of the area.
This year we proudly presented Sydney Chinese Drum Art troupe, Amazonite Fusion Ensemble, Happy Singing Tribe, St George Community Wushu Centre and GR Senior Dance Group, adding wonderful colour and music to the evening.
This year the Cabaret Hub was hosted by the Kings Cross Hotel and comprised of two venues (The Bordello Room & The Theatre) and featured everything from comedy and stand up, to improvised musicals, classic cabarets and a variety of spectacular drag performances.
31 shows programmed 2,827 tickets were sold
In its eleventh year and supported by the City of Sydney, the Emerging Artists Share house occupied Erskineville Town Hall for four weeks, featuring programming across four spaces.
Four cost-effective performance venues with seating capacities ranging from 25 to 60 were provided to emerging producers/artists in their first five years of creative careers and newcomers to the Sydney art scene
50 shows programmed 4,354 tickets were sold
The Made in Sydney Hub provided a home for mid-career artists to present tour ready work.
Three productions Voices of Joan, Hillsong Boy and Dikē Justice were financially supported by the festival via support from the NSW Government and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust.
Additionally fiv e award-winning shows from the 2023 festival presented return seasons:
The Ukulele Man
Between the Curtains
Karate Man
Dragon Hearts
For a second year a partnership with the Sydney Dance Company enabled a dedicated Dance Hub to be presented in the Neilson Studio at Walsh Bay.
The hub supported the work of three local mid-career dance companies:
Dance Makers Collective (Move FM)
Remi Rochester & Jasmin Luna (Love Arena)
Danza Del Arte (Random).
100,144
76,429 98,345 49,392 2022 2023 2021
51%
Every year Sydney Fringe engages a diverse mix of audience demographics and market categories, from culturally engaged arts enthusiasts to business professionals who, typically, have little involvement in the arts. With a continuous rise in new audience members and shifting demographics, Fringe continues to embrace diversity and to expand its audience profiles, whilst welcoming back swathes of happy customers every year.
98%
Audiences That Plan to Attend in 2025
How did audiences hear about the Sydney Fringe Festival?
Previously Attended
Email/E-News
Outdoor Posters
Print Media Search
Social Media
Television
Word of Mouth
Why did you go to the Sydney Fringe Festival?
Affordability
Entertainment Fringe Kids
Support the Local Community
Unique Experience
To See Artistic Boundaries Broken
To See New Works
Support Emerging Artists
Support Friends/Family
All of the Above
(% of total audience)
A 88% Sydney
B 4% Intrastate
C 6% Interstate
D 2% International
$99.66
2.4
Average tickets purchased per person
Average order value
91%
Of audiences ate or drank in a nearby establishment or Fringe Bar
This year, we continued to build on a strong foundation, garnering support from both mainstream and independent media outlets. We are now in our second year of our refreshed brand identity, an important milestone in our media presence for establishing Sydney Fringe Festival as the definitive cultural event for the month of September.
The widespread media backing helped amplify the festival’s messaging across Sydney, engaging a diverse range of communities and cultures with a substantial increase in both digital and offline media channels. The combination of a compelling brand and a strategically executed publicity campaign enabled us to reach our broadest, most engaged audience to date. The additional Festival Garden footprint alongside commercially appealing headline events contributed to an expanded marketing budget and further solidified Sydney Fringe as the cultural anchor of September.
$2,722,145
84,870,563
71,845,658 $954,885
The 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival’s social and digital media campaigns focused on engaging diverse audiences through interactive content, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and highlighting the vast array of performances exploding throughout Sydney. Utilising Instagram and Facebook, the campaigns highlight inclusivity, creativity, and community, showcasing both established and emerging artists in unique, immersive ways.
15,328 23,053 5.7m
2,000,000 Page Views
593,588 905,567
108,874 586,325
119,967
2,019
Artists new to Sydney Fringe
PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
Average hours each team invested into a project
REASONS WHY ARTISTS PARTICIPATED IN THE SYDNEY FRINGE
51% Expose work to a new audience
32% To develop new work
4% Just for the fun of it
7% Make money
6% Testing ground before taking work to other festivals
3% To gain access to new artistic networks
(% of total performers)
A 46% First Time/ Emerging Artists
B 28% Mid-Career Artists
C 26% Experienced Artists
Now fully established the Artist Pass Program saw 1,487 artist passes collected and utilised by fringe artists in 2024 with all festival venues honoring the pass. This enabled all artists to access the entire festival program free of charge. This contributed to an increased word of mouth footprint for the productions, and provided vital avenues for information exchange and artist networking. The Artist Pass program provided over $32,791 in tickets free of charge to participating artists in 2024. This year’s festival hosted 404 events in 69 venues providing Sydney audiences with 1,882 performance sessions of theatre, cabaret, live art making, exhibitions, workshops, talks, live music, comedy, concerts, parties, activations and more.
Sydney Fringe delivered seven prefestival masterclasses between March 5 and August 6 2024, on a number of key topics relevant to presenting independent artists and producers.
These masterclasses were provided free of charge to registered artists/producers and provide a vital overview of the producing process for emerging artists. The program included:
MASTERCLASS #1: Sydney Fringe and You
Key Ideas: Eventotron, Fringe Benefts, Access, Inclusivity, Artist Registrations
Speaker: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager)
Registrations/Attendees: 14
MASTERCLASS #2: How to Pick your venue and budget your show
Key Ideas: Expenses, Revenue, Contingency, Artist Fees, Tax and Legal Obligations, Ticketing, Venue Hire, Fundraising Strategies, In-Kind
Speaker: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager)
Registrations/Attendees: 19
MASTERCLASS #3: The Guide and Marketing Strategy
Key Ideas: Venue Hire, Festival Guide, Marketing Collateral, Writing Copy, Images, Socal Media, Instagram, Tik Tok, Content Creation
Speakers: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager) and Patrick Kennedy (Head of Marketing)
Registrations/Attendees: 41
MASTERCLASS #4: All about Access
Key Ideas: Physical Access, Auslan Interpretation, Open and Closed Captioning, Audio Description, Relaxed Performances, Economic Disadvantage, Social Exclusion, Inclusive Events.
Speakers: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager), Erica Brennan (Programs Coordinator- First Nations), Peta-Joy Williams (First Nations Artist in Residence), Jeremy and Bedelia Lowrenčev (Programs Coordinator- Access)
Registrations/attendees: 21
MASTERCLASS #5 Make your show! Getting through pre-production
Key Ideas: Bare-Bones Performance, Lighting Design, Set Design, Sound Design, Technical Design, Risk Management, Public Liability
Speakers: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager) and Isaac Broadbent (Operations Manager)
Registrations/Attendees: 9
MASTERCLASS #6: Sell it
Key Ideas: Target Audience, Promotional Assets, Meta Ads, Socal Media, Marketing, Publicity, Local Engagement, Campaign
Speakers: Patrick Kennedy (Head of Marketing) and Hannah Fulton (Senior Campaigns Marketing Manager)
Registrations/attendees: 43
Key Ideas: Discounts , Reporting, Papering, Press, Discount Strategies, Audience Engagement, Ticketing
Speakers: Rowan Brunt (Programs Manager)
Registrations/attendees: 38
The masterclasses were ran by SFF team members across all departments. The largest audience was seen on the marketing masterclasses and many artists requesting additional information regarding Meta campaigns and online tools to promote their shows.
Sydney Fringe continues to build strong connections both across Australia and the globe to provide Sydney Fringe artists with supported touring pathways to ensure that their work has a life beyond the festival (see Awards section of the report for further information).
For the fourth year Sydney Fringe supported two new unique locally made performance works to feature as part of the Made in Sydney tour ready program within the festival: Voices of Joan by Janie Gibson Hillsong Boy by Scott Parker & Felicity Nicol
These works were financially supported to remount their successful works in a headline season at the Made in Sydney Hub.
Also at the hub four return seasons of award winning productions from the 2023 festival were presented and an original commission supported by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust:
The Ukulele Man
Between the Curtains
Karate Man
Dragon Hearts
Dikē Justice (commission)
The three Made in Sydney supported productions from 2023 were supported to tour to Adelaide Fringe in March 2024 to take part in the country’s largest arts market Honeypot.
Clockfire Theatre Company’s Plenty of Fish in the Sea was awarded a House of Oz bursary to enable it to tour to Edinbugh Fringe in August 2024 where it subsequently picked up a number of award nominations and a best actor award for Madeline Baghurst.
The initial two year funding period for the Made in Sydney Program (supported by the NSW Government) has now come to completion. The incredible results of the productions taking part in this program demonstrate the impact it has had and the need for supported outbound touring programs. Sydney Fringe will look for a new
funding partner for Made in Sydney in the future.
This year showed record interest in the program with 108 applications by artists submitted via the EOI process.
Sideshow returned to The Rocks precinct for a third year supported by the NSW Government via PMNSW. The project provides mid-career artists with unique headline opportunities for multi-art form, immersive and interactive works in found spaces and popup venues throughout the historic precinct.
The 2024 program featured three unique activations. The Multi-Cultural Comedy Hub, Lola’s Piano Bar and Dancefloor Conversion Therapy. (See Sydney Fringe Sideshow section for further information).
Partnering with the Sydney Fringe Festival to offer a two-week residency for theatre makers, exploring ethical dilemmas in Sydney’s cultural landscape. Four local artists—Charley Allanah, Diana Paola Alvarado, Emma Whitehead, and Zack Lewin—participated, culminating in a panel on their ethical discoveries.
“I would tell them to attend all briefings and workshops, to read everything and take opportunites for advice early. It’s an incredible learning process and the Fringe is on your side at all times helping you make your event work.”
- Amanda Armstrong, Crones in Cabaret
“I would recommend creatives to utilise the Sydney Fringe for works, especially for emerging artists or new and developing works. Having a hub and being part of a Festival is great exposure, there is also a team to assist wherever they can. The masterclasses were a great help.”
- Georgia van der Sman, Twisted Tales
There were 11 Fringe Managed Hubs comprising of a total of 19 venues which housed 128 events and 634 sessions. 25 other festival venues which housed another 61 events and 294 sessions, and two festival gardens that housed 52 events and 359 sessions.
The programs within Sydney Fringe Festival have been designed to support artist at all levels in their career and spans open access participation (anyone can register a show) to large scale commissioned works and everything in between. Our festival program includes all genres and work by individual artists and companies. With tailored programs to further remove barriers for priority areas such as First Nations, artists with disability, emerging artists and artists from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the festival strives to provide equitable access for all to participate. This is completely unique in the Sydney arts ecosystem and one of the reasons why Sydney Fringe is so vital for the sector.
The open access platform remains at the centre of Sydney Fringe’s identity - removing curatorial barriers (in a city evermore dominated by them) and creating opportunities for all arts practitioners to present their work in the festival.
The Sydney Fringe Festival remains one of the only platforms annually that enables artists to secure a season for their work in appropriate and most importantly, affordable venues.
It is also the highest profile independent arts event available to take part in, and the single largest income generation opportunity for the independent sector each year.
The open access program serves our purpose to champion the independent sector placing it at the heart of Sydney. It is the not for profit part of our business and all other activity works to support these programs.
Our curated program continues to grow and transform with the scale of activations, key events and programs expanding for another year. In 2024, in addition to scouring the country and the globe for the standout, ground-breaking productions from other Fringe festivals, our Festival Director curated a series of major events from all corners of the Sydney arts sector.
The curated program plays a crucial role in providing paid employment for artists and arts workers and creates unique experiences for local audience who can access works that otherwise would not tour to Sydney. It also builds reach, media interest and develops broader audiences that has a direct impact on the open access program.
This was seen tangibly in 2024 with 15% of curated audiences also purchasing tickets to open access shows.
Running at the New Theatre between the 17-28 September, the Touring Hub was home to four award winning productions from Australia, Ireland, UK and USA.
The Touring Hub featured a headline program of award winning works from across Australia and around the world. It provided subsidised space for touring artists to affordably present work at Sydney Fringe and ensured that Sydney audiences have access to the best independent Fringe work from across the globe.
Week 1:
Plenty of Fish in the Sea (AUS)
Drink Rum with Expats (UK)
Week 2:
Delusions and Grandeur (USA)
Drink Rum with Expats (UK)
Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar (IRE)
Triptych by Lewis Major was also slated to be performing as part of the Touring Hub having won the Adelaide Fringe Touring Award 2023 and previously participated in the festival but was postponed to future festival.
The Sydney Fringe SIDESHOW brought together leading independent artists in collaboration, performances and site-specific activations.
Bringing life to the historic Rocks Precinct. 6-8 Atherden Street was taken over with Dancefloor Conversion Therapy direct from Edinburgh Fringe, Bay 43 was transformed into our famous Lola’s Piano Bar and a new partnership was formed to create the MultiCultural Comedy Hub at 37 George Street, plus a number of immersive and interactive experiences.
At Sideshow; 121 performances were presented to 4,855 audience members
PRISMATICA: AN AERIAL SPECTACULAR
For a second year the Spiegeltent Festival Garden set up home at The Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park.
Created in partnership with Runaway Collective the garden featured an 800 capacity Spiegeltent and 300 capacity circus dome.
134 performances were presented and 30,784 audiences members attended
Building on the success of 2023, the Village Green Garden transformed Darling Quarter into our newest festival garden.
Featuring two small tents and an array of circus, cabaret, comedy and family programming.
225 performances were presented and 16,968 audience members attended
Sydney Fringe Festival is THE moment once a year when our city’s local independent artists and venues are flung onto the spotlight and given a high profile platform to tell their stories, their way.
This is at the core of our organisation’s purpose: to champion the independent cultural sector, placing it at the heart of Sydney.
Sydney Fringe showcases small-medium sized established venues, encourages patronage to neighboring cultural and ancillary businesses, activates unused and public spaces, and utilises existing infrastructure and facilities to create an organic event that has grown from the ground up and sits firmly within the local community.
As an open access (primarily non-curated) festival our program is created by our artists for our audiences.
A strong focus of the Sydney Fringe is to develop a broader understanding of and contribute to a sustainable sector for the independent artists of Sydney. This is more important than ever in a post-pandemic context.
In 2024 The Sydney Fringe worked with the NSW Government via their Creative Communities Council to provide sector guidance during the implementation of their new cultural policy Creative Communities; via input into the reviews of both the 24 Hour Economy Strategy and the Visitor Economy Strategy, and provided sector input into the second tranche of their Vibrancy Reforms.
Our engagement with the broader sector is equally important and we maintain national connections through Board roles on PAC Australia, The Night Time Industries Association and via our Australian Fringe Network.
The festival generated $5.5m in wages and fees for Artists & Arts Workers.
Our engagement with the broader sector is equally important and we maintain National connections through Board roles on PAC Australia, The Night Time Industries Association and via our Australian Fringe Network.
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1,882
PRIMARY GENRE
46% Comedy
2% Dance
7% Music
12% Musical Theatre and Cabaret
4% Circus
Average venue utilisation Box Office revenue
Events hosted by Sydney Fringe Individual sessions PREMIERES
50% $2,314,458 82,878
Number of tickets sold
3% Poetry & Literature (to 2019) / Spoken Word & Storytelling (2020 on)
12% Theatre
0.5% Visual Art and Film (to 2019) Visual Art, Film & Design (2020 on)
3% Fringe Kids
1.5% Talks and Workshops
3% Immersive & Interactive
3% Special Events / Activations
D 29% Return Performances days
3% Physical Theatre
A 40.3% World Premieres
B 25.7% Sydney Premieres
C 5% Australian Premieres
12,000 people attended free events across the festival. This is a significant drop YOY as the organisation did not have the funding to enable the delivery of as many large scale free to public events in 2024.
12,000 17,266 21
TOTAL FREE AUDIENCE COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS
A ‘Jill of all trades’ ‘Sydney’s First Lady of Blues’, Alice Terry embarked on an exhilarating one-week creative journey as she composed a new song, crafted a dazzling costume, and weaved them into a film clip—all against the backdrop of a ticking clock.
9 to 5 was an immersive experience where you were welcomed into the pop-up home of an independent artist.
For the full song scan the QR code to head to Alice Terry’s video.
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Friday Ritual was a creative industries installation, procession and performance, crafting something special in the streets where participants live, work or play. Each Friday Barangaroo became a communal canvas where participants contributed to a textilebased artwork by Matthew Abberline, enriched with performance and music with a community choir moment led by Andrew Bukenya.
Dear Stranger saw participants penning heartfelt notes to strangers and receiving anonymous letters in return, creating a chain of secret messages. Our Postie cycled through the precinct, dropping prompt letters at participating cafes and restaurants. These letters were handed out to patrons during lunchtimes on weekdays. They were also handed out at Exchange Square by the Postie. Using the prompt letter participants found a comfortable spot at either a café or around Barangaroo to pen a letter to a stranger, then mailed it in the charming letterbox installation we set up in Exchange Square. The Postie then handed them a letter from a stranger in exchange.
Created by Tilda Cobham-Hervey this immersive experience connected two strangers via an audio guided tour and handwritten letters, facilitating creative and playful exchanges in the streets and bars of Barangaroo.
Residents, workers and visitors to Barangaroo experienced this joyful exchange and celebrate the unexpected connections and hidden stories that unite us all.
The Yalgali Fire Ceremony marked the opening of Yalgali - the First Nations Hub on Gadigal country.
Yalgali served as a dedicated space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) artists to present their work and for community members to gather.
Fringeville brought exciting Fringe artists to Hurstville Plaza including Karen Hall’s Delusions and Grandeur, The Giant Balloon Show and Arialize, who presented both a dynamic acrobatic performance and a fun juggling workshop for audiences.
Alongside these performances, Fringeville has become a stage for local artists and community cultural groups to perform, tapping into the rich culture of the area.
This year we proudly presented Sydney Chinese Drum Art troupe, Amazonite Fusion Ensemble, Happy Singing Tribe, St George Community Wushu Centre and GR Senior Dance Group, adding wonderful colour and music to the evening.
Featuring performances by international Pop artists, along with pop up market stalls and local performers, Pop in the Place celebrated the world’s most exciting cultural phenomenon – Asia POP.
Working with Split Works, Fringe presented three exciting Asia Pop talents including: DJ B E N N from Taiwan, soulful songstress Lunadira from Malaysia and headline act, the queen of guitar, Memi from South Korea.
In the Key of G was an immersive and interactive piano concert that unlocked and celebrated the creativity of Sydneysiders.
An original 45-minute concerto, composed for this experience by Veronique Serret, Ellen Kirkwood, Novak Manoljovic and Judy Bailey (with assistance from Kevin Hunt), invited non-professional George Place tenants, CBD workers and residents from the wider Sydney community to register and perform a three-minute segment of the piece. Rehearsals were open to the public and took place throughout the festival in the George Place foyer on two grand pianos, creating a vibrant hub of music, creative exploration and community engagement.
Curated by Cameron Undy.
Independent artists converged for candid conversations about the heart and soul of independent creativity. Sessions explored how independent artists shape their work, the ethics of independence, who gets to tell their story and how to build a sustainable creative path. Awardwinning director and creative producer Dino Dimitriadis moderated insightful discussions about the evolving challenges and opportunities for independent artists.
Panellists included Charley Allanah, Dom Mercer (Head of New Work, Belvoir), Scott Parker (Hillsong Boy) & Erica Brennan (Sydney Fringe First Nations Coordinator)
Voices From The Fringe Volumes 1 & 2 presented diverse home-grown artists in the epic surrounds of the substation, Machine Hall.
Volume 1, curated by Matthew Badrov, featured the most exciting new talent from the Western Sydney scene. Artists included DXVNDRE, Lxgcy, Mawuli, Yawdoesitall, Tahkoe and DJ Scruffs and DJ Baschoe.
Volume 2, curated by Acclaim featured Domengo, Emjaysoul & Friends, Brazen Barbie, Isaac Puerile, Cult Shotta and DJ Sollyy.
The two nights celebrated the vibrant and diverse hip hop scene and artists who are unapologetically redefining Sydney’s nightlife.
The Sydney Fringe Festival 2024 season saw many macro and micro successes for the arts ecology intersecting d/Deaf and Disabled artists and audiences. This year saw the completion of the new Disability and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) 20232026 led by our Disability and Inclusion Advisory Committee and Sydney Fringe staff.
This is a success as the second DIAP cycle to be made, following the initial integration of DIAP in 2021. The organisation appointed two new Access Coordinators Jeremy Lowrenčev and Bedelia Lowrenčev, and were internationally acknowledged for our Limitless program at the World Fringe Congress in Stockholm.
2024 was the third year of Limitless, our two-week micro-festival program within the broader festival based at 107 Redfern celebrating and supporting d/Deaf and Disabled artists and audience alike.
The Limitless program doubled this year in performance spaces and in number of activities. This included 4 events, a relaxed opening and 8 productions showcasing diverse performers and styles in 2 theatres with a 55 & 65 seat capacity.
The adjoining gallery space housed the work of 3 intersectional visual artists of varying artistic styles. We had 57 festival events engaging people with disability and with material of significance to the disabled community.
Social events like the Community-only Relaxed Opening morning tea, the Gallery Walk & Talk Tour which were Auslan & Audio Described were a big success. This is not a common practice, and the Deaf and Blind community do not often get the chance to share events together.
The Crip Film Fest & Closing night party provided networking opportunities for our artists. Limitless again received overwhelmingly positive feedback from audiences, producers & performers, with some of the shows being nominated for and/or winning awards, such as ‘Em & Maddie Solve Your Problems’ winning the Adelaide Fringe Tour Ready Award.
We had 57 festival events engaging people with disability and with material of significance to the disabled community.
Interacting with these statistics is the outcome of 49 artists identifying as Deaf and/or Disabled within the festival. Several artists with Disability were featured across the entire festival program with 235 sessions of a Fringe event/show/performance that included artists that identify as Deaf and/or Disabled.
Outside of Limitless, notable programming that had significant representation of Disability, and/ or integration of access measures included:
Alexandra Hudson’s solo comedy riot, ‘What Do You Want From Me’ at the Sydney Fringe Comedy Hub, including Auslan interpreted performance.
2023 Sydney Fringe award-winning artist, Brianna McCarthy returned with their production, ‘Dragon Hearts’, joyfully embedding a Relaxed Performance at the Made In Sydney program.
And dual-awarded production for ‘Best in Dance’ and ‘Best in Music’- ‘Ghost Between Streams’, engaged with one on one consultation with the Program CoordinatorsAccess at Sydney Fringe to develop Relaxed and Sensory friendly capacity and practice for this show.
A highlight for Access in the 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival was the introduction of ‘Access On Demand’. Through consultation with neighbouring organsisations, and the Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee, the Program Coordinators- Access trialled this new measure of Disabled-led access.
This was successfully implemented with an OnDemand request of Auslan Interpretation at ‘Karate Man- A Live-Action Video Game’. This lands strongly in our 2023-2026 DIAP values, particularly around Systems and Processes that focuses on choice and control for Deaf and Disabled peoples.
This year, our Program Coordinators - Access offered one on one consultation for shows identifying with an Accessibility measure (Auslan Interpretation, Relaxed Performance, Sensory Friendly, Audio Description, and Language is no Barrier).
In addition, workshops on Access for artists and producers were offered, strengthening the cultural understanding of Disability, the technical operations of Access, and Creative Access.
67% of venues were wheelchair accessible, continuing the organisation’s commitment to increasing the overall physical access of the festival. Comparatively to 57% in 2023, 54% in 2022, and 45% in 2021.
Access services continue to be embedded into the annual organisational budget. As a result, a variety of Access provisions were implemented festival-wide: Auslan Interpretation, Live Audio Description, Auslan and Tactile Tours, Relaxed Performance, Sensory Friendly, Sensory Spaces and Chill Out Spaces.
Access On Demand was utilised for the first time organisationally, positively impacting audience members that engaged with it, being able to access a show they might not have been able to without this new measure by Sydney Fringe.
In the 2024 festival, 232 registered shows were housed in physically accessible venues, and 84 sessions employed access provisions. Excitingly, 2024 has seen an increase of 45% in the number of sessions employing access provisions.
2024 continued its visual representation of people with disability across marketing. Easy read version of the Sydney Fringe Guide was produced for 2024, improving access for Screen Reading. A big success was the Deaf Community attending events due to information being marketed through community by community in Auslan.
Universal access symbols were integrated into marketing. The accessibility page had distinct access categories and lists to better comprehend which shows offered which access. Box office were responsive to access enquiries, and contactable through multiple methods.
“Every day, I fight to be seen and heard. Because I am disabled. Because people like me are so often shut out, made to feel unwelcome and unwanted in a world that isn’t built for us. We are unruly, a nuisance. Limited. And those limits take their toll on me.
Being involved in Limitless has given me and countless others the opportunity to not only grow as an artist, but to take up space in a way that can’t be ignored. When I first started my career, I wasn’t sure there was a place for me in the arts. I now have no such qualms and I hope no none else will either. Crip artists are here to stay.”
Emily Dash, 2024 Limitless artist.
‘Em & Maddie Solve Your Problems’, a part of the Limitless program was awarded the Adelaide Fringe Tour Ready Award.
“Such a fabulous job on making the access and inclusion information so easy to find and so comprehensive.
We’d welcome the opportunity to partner with Sydney Fringe next year to ensure everyone in the disability community knows what a welcoming and inclusive event it is.”
Audience member, Fringe Kids
“I learnt valuable production advice, especially the many things that are not often thought of such as accessibility, how to set up a Relaxed Performance... This new mode of performance (for me personally), has re-energised the project; my original intention was that this would be the final performance/iteration of Ghosts Between Streams.
However, given the success of the show and the interest shown from both audiences and the artists involved, plans are now underway for this work to be part of a site-activation series for 2025. So in a way, Fringe has extended the life cycle of this project!
Thanks very much for your help through the Festival, particularly in assisting me with setting up the Relaxed Performance. It’s something I’ll definitely do again in the future!”
Tom Avgenicos, Ghost Between Streams
In 2024 Sydney Fringe made significant strides in increasing the visibility and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
A primary mechanism for this was the creation of Yalgali, the First Nations Hub. Yalgali served as a dedicated space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) artists to present their work and for community members to gather. This hub, alongside ATSI led events throughout the festival was prominently featured in the festival’s marketing materials, ensuring that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences were aware of the rich cultural programming available.
A double page spread in the festival guide was dedicated to First Nations content, offering prime visibility. This commitment extended to ensuring that our First Nations events received further amplification through partnerships with Koori Radio and social media channels, reaching both Sydney-based audiences and broader Aboriginal communities across Australia.
A key part of our strategy was the Open Access
Program, which allowed First Nations artists who registered through the festival to receive additional support in producing their work in a culturally safe environment. All events that identified as having a First Nations team were connected with the festival’s First Nations staff for regular check in and consulting.
In addition, cultural competency training was rolled out for all festival staff and volunteers. These sessions, guided by the First Nations staff, focused on cultural protocols, including the use of dual naming for locations and appropriate ways to acknowledge country. Volunteers were also briefed on how to engage respectfully with First Nations artists and audiences. This training helped to embed a sense of cultural respect throughout the festival, ensuring that First Nations cultures were not only visible but also honored.
The organisation worked with Dr Paul Callaghan to create a First Nations Road Map that will steer the organisation over the next three years; and the creation of a First Nations Artist in Residence Program has created a capacity building pathway between community and the organisation that has tangible mutual benefits.
In 2024 we started something special! Our First Nations Hub and gathering space Yalgali. Three days of festival warm up including an Open Mic event, Indigenous Artisan Markets, live music and a sold out Klub Koori Presented by Gadigal Information Services / Koori Radio featuring Aboriginal rock royalty Coloured Stone and of course a sacred fire.
Integral to Yalgali’s vivacious creative energy was Sydney Fringe Artists in Residence and Yalgali Producer PetaJoy Williams who created a beautiful space and sequence of events for community and allies to gather.
Back again was our Deadly Tix Program which was used 280 times with stellar feedback from community members on the access and representation provided. Our Friends of Fringe Festival Pass was also back providing valuable access to First Nations Artists to see festival events and the opportunity to have a longer yarn with the Sydney Fringe programming team about future engagement with the festival (watch this space for the next fringe fav).
First Nations Artists continue to create inspiring work and be recognised for their excellence in our awards program. Wiradjuri dancer Ella Havelka won the Artists Spotlight award and Pasifika art maker Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu won Best Emerging Producer.
We effectively collaborated with key First Nations community members to provide bespoke cultural consulting for artists seeking to navigate cultural risk and opportunity. We continued to deepen the organisational cultural competence through immersion experiences, ongoing consultation, and compiling of cultural resources including database of local language names for key sites and locations across the festival.
Looking to embed our learnings and excitement into a practical and scalable plan, we engaged Dr. Paul Callaghan of Callaghan Consulting to create a First Nations Creative Roadmap to ensure the Fringe can continue to live, cultivate and celebrate culture.
The spark of good spirit is strong in Fringe as 2024 comes to a close and we are are looking forward to fanning its flames guided by our First Nations audiences, artists and community members.
Yalu!
Erica Brennan
Sydney Fringe First Nations Coordinator
Sydney Fringe Festival continues to strengthen relationships with colleagues across Australia.
In 2024 Sydney Fringe representatives attended:
• Adelaide Fringe
• Adelaide Festival
• Melbourne Fringe
• Fringe World Perth
• Perth International Arts Festival
• ISPA
• Sydney Festival
We welcomed representatives from Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Fringe to the festival this year. In March 2024 our Made in Sydney outbound touring program toured to Adelaide Fringe for the first time with three locally made works being supported to tour.
2024 saw the Sydney Fringe Festival continue to gain the attention of colleagues across the globe. International touring award partnerships were continued with San Diego International Fringe (USA) and Hollywood Fringe deepening the connection to the USA market.
Sam Kissajukian’s 300 Paintings and Clockfire Theatre Company’s Plenty of Fish In The Sea (both supported by Sydney Fringe and recipients of our Festival Director’s Award) were programmed at Edinburgh Fringe in 2024.
Clockfire Theatre Company’s Plenty of Fish in the Sea was awarded the House of Oz award and toured to Edinnburgh Fringe in August.
These touring partnerships are vital to enable Australian artists to sustainably tour their work internationally and for their work to have life beyond the Sydney Fringe.
Sydney Fringe team members attended World Fringe Congress in Stockholm and presented a key note on our Limitless program and access journey.
Economic impact
$5.5M 91%
Fees paid to artists & arts workers via fees & wages
Of the 100,144 people who attended ticketed and free events at this year’s festival 91% of surveyed audiences visited local businesses, restaurants or bars before or after attending an event. As with previous years this indicates that the impact of spending generated by the Fringe goes well beyond the purchase of a ticket, contributing an economic impact of $40.7 million in 2024, $5.5 million of which were fees and wages paid directly to artists and arts workers.
Economic impact assessed independently by Hawkridge Entertainment Services.
Attended local businesses
2024 has been an investment year for Sydney Fringe. We backed in our strategic plan to become a leading Fringe Festival globally and reach our bold ambition of attracting 500,000 audiences by 2028.
We knew that to stay that course during a difficult business environment we needed to commit to our footprint and ensure our output was maintained. This was possible to undertake because of the long-term stable partnerships we have built over the past five years.
Looking to the future our focus will continue to be on building out diverse revenue streams and creating more commercial drivers that will in-turn support our not for profit activity. This revolves primely around audience development.
Not just Sydney Fringe but the sector at large requires urgent investment into audience development. However it is difficult for any single organisation or company to undertake the level of development needed to turn the dial.
Fringe festivals however have the magic recipe required to do just that, and that is what we intend to focus on. World-wide the fringe festival model has been a proven driver of new audiences and we have seen it in our figures YOY. This year 49% of audiences to Sydney Fringe were brand new to the festival and 98% of them intend to come back next year.
Fringe Festivals showcase every genre and experience level, providing a precis of the whole sector and are ideal entry points for new audiences who will likely go on to consume art at other institutions.
Sydney Fringe is the only entity in Sydney that can generate a transformative shift in audience development at the scale and speed needed to have impact and we are committed to doing just that.
Sydney Fringe exists to put the independent cultural sector at the heart of Sydney and we want local stories to be at the heart of Sydney’s story.
With over 81% of the work presented at Sydney Fringe produced by NSW based artists, Sydney Fringe is THE place for locals and visitors alike to get a taste of Sydney and the world is now catching on. 2024 saw international visitation to the festival increase by 87% so the old adage that if the locals love it visitors will too has never been more pronounced.
The 2024 Sydney Fringe Awards stand as a celebration of the festival’s commitment to diversity and excellence, providing artists with a platform for growth and artistic expression.
The 2024 Sydney Fringe Awards highlighted the festival’s commitment to diversity and artistic excellence, offering artists a key platform to showcase their work. The awards involved a panel of industry experts, Sydney Fringe Festival staff, Fringe reps, and alumni judges, with 71 judges participating—a 37% increase from the previous year.
Over 520 evaluation forms were submitted, ensuring all shows received at least two reviews and constructive feedback.
The event brought together artists, invited partners and guests, volunteers, board members and the Sydney Fringe team.
Sydney Fringe partnered with six major festivals, including Adelaide, Melbourne, and NZ Fringe, to present Tour Ready Awards. Circus and Physical Theatre categories were separated this year based on feedback from previous festivals.
Two new artist-focused awards were introduced: the Emerging Producer Award and the Artist Spotlight Award, supported by Charley Sanders.
These recognise the development of skills outside the artistic realm, vital for successful fringe seasons and a stronger independent arts sector. The Artist Spotlight Award included a $1,000 cash prize to support artists’ upskilling and business growth.
Best in Theatre:
Everyone in my family is dead or about to be Omagee
Hillsong Boy
DRINK RUM WITH EXPATS (WINNER) Screwd!
Dikē Justice
Best in Comedy:
Crips & Creeps Comedy GRAPHIC DESIGN LIVE (WINNER)
Jarryd Prain: The Hanky Code
Em & Maddie Solve Your Problems
Thalia Joan - Here We Go Again
Best in Immersive & Interactive: DANCEFLOOR CONVERSION THERAPY (WINNER) In Session
Karate Man - A Live Action Video Game
Best in Physical Theatre:
Smile - The Story of Charlie Chaplin MASTERPIECE
PLENTY OF FISH IN THE SEA (WINNER)
Best in Fringe Kids: Circus - The Show
BUBBLE SHOW IN SPACE (WINNER) Bubbalicious Kaboom
The Giant Balloon Show
The Librarian
Best in Dance: Cello Dance
GHOST BETWEEN STREAMS (WINNER) Love Arena
Best in Circus: TENDER (WINNER)
Club D’Amour: Back Door GODZ
Something Wicked
Best in Musical Theatre & Cabaret: Kauboj
Definitely NOT A Hungry Game: A Parody Musical
LADY MACBETH PLAYED WING DEFENCE (WINNER) In These Shoes Voilá
Best in Spoken Word & Storytelling: Delusions & Grandeur
Mike Williams’ Wide World of Marrickville
Magic Words
HELIOS (WINNER)
Best in Music:
SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR - HOPE (WINNER)
History of House
GHOST BETWEEN STREAMS (WINNER)
Otto & Astrid - The Stages Tour
Hollywood Fringe Tour Ready Award
Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin
Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready Award
Dancefloor Conversion Therapy
New Zealand Fringe Tour Ready Award
Leather Lungs: Shut Up and Sing!
San Diego International Fringe Tour Ready Award
Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin and MASTERPIECE
Adelaide Fringe Tour Ready Award
Em & Maddie Solve Your Problems
Fringe World Tour Ready Award
Dancefloor Conversion Therapy
Festival Director’s Award MASTERPIECE
Spirit of Fringe Award
Marcel Cole
Artist Spotlight
Ella Havelka for Cello Dance
Best Emerging Artist:
RACHAEL COLQUHOUN-FAIRWEATHER AND WILL BARTOLO FOR “MASTERPIECE” (WINNER)
Jessica Leafe for OMAGEE
Mike Williams for Mike Williams’ Wide World of Marrickville
Brigitta Brown for Personal Space
The Company of Truly Gone Fishing
Best Emerging Producer:
DRAMA FREAK PRODUCTIONS FOR DEFINITELY NOT A HUNGRY GAME (WINNER)
GABRIEL FAATAU’UU-SATIU FOR WHERE I’M FROM (WINNER)
Fringe Explorer Award
Maaka Robertson
Fringe Marathoner Award
Isabel Gracan
Volunteer of the Year
Isabel Drabble
CEO & Festival Director
Kerri Glasscock
Business Manager
Zoe Davies
Executive Producer
Lisa Freshwater
Head of Marketing
Patrick Kennedy
Commercial Sales Director
Adam Zammit
Commercial Advisor
Keith Bosler
Programs Manager
Rowan Brunt
Programs Coordinator
Jden Redden
First Nations Coordinator
Erica Brennan
First Nations Hub Producers
Peta-Joy Williams
Access Coordinator/Limitless
Producer
Bedelia Lowrencev
Jeremy Lowrencev
Event Producer
Lorendana Cross
Associate Producer
Natasha Badrov
Operations Manager — Hubs
Isaac Broadbent
Production Coordinator
Rod Studdert
Senior Campaigns Manager
Hannah Fulton
Junior Marketing and Communications Manager
Rebecca Nash
Marketing and Content Manager
Alec Council
Ticketing Manager
Harry Erickson
Ticketing Coordinator
Aimee Clarke
Designer Bonnie Laing
Accounts
Maria Pagano
PRODUCING PARTNER
Runaway Collective
Face to Face Touring
CREATIVE CONSULTANCY
SomeOne in Sydney
PR
Articulate
HISTORY OF HOUSE / HOPE PR
AE Creative | Communications
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Original Spin
DIGITAL CARTOGRAPHER
Cartisan
FERVE TICKETING
SYDNEY FRINGE BOARD
Maree Taylor (Chair)
Danika Houghton (Deputy Chair)
Chelsea McGregor (Treasurer)
Lesley Watson
Greg Khoury
Peter Allwood
COMPANY SECRETARY
Allison Orr
SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Cheryl Padmanathan
Louise Fscher
DISABILITY AND INCLUSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Morwenna Collett, Emily Dash, Anthea
Williams, Digby Webster, Riona
Tindal, Alex Craig & Dan Graham
FIRST NATIONS ADVISOR
Paul Callaghan
TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS
The Neilson Foundation
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation through the Eldon & Anne Foote Trust
The Nelson Meers Foundation
SYDNEY FRINGE FFS* DONORS
Martha & Robert Waugh
Michael Rose AM & Jo Rose
Catherine Sullivan & Alex Bowen
Margaret Kirby
Iolanda Capodanno & Juergen
Krufczyk
Maree Taylor
Greg Khoury
Danika Houghton
Lesley Watson
Peter & Jo Alwood
Kerri Glasscock & Cameron Undy
Jodie & Keith Bosler
Charley Allanah
Anonymous
ADDITIONAL THANK YOU TO:
A very special thank you to all of our donors, event staff, volunteers and artists without whom this could not have happened.
PROUDLY FUNDED BY
STRATEGIC SPONSOR
PRINCIPLE GOVERNMENT PARTNER
TRUSTS
MAJOR PARTNERS
PRESENTING PARTNERS
