Adelaide Fringe 2025
Behind the scenes at Gluttony for the 2025 Fringe!
March 11, 2025
As we enjoy the magic of the Adelaide Fringe playing out across South Australia (including the appearance of our own Ukiyo Tent in Gluttony!) we had a chat with Cat Cohen, Head of Production at Gluttony.
Hey Cat!
Can you tell us what it’s like getting geared up for Fringe season?
“The prep for the next Gluttony Fringe starts after about a week of sleep, following the previous Gluttony Fringe! It’s a massive event and we take time to reflect and adjust based on things that went well - and less well - from the previous event. But the bulk of the work kicks off from around September/October, when the Programming team are working to create our amazing program and getting it ready for the Adelaide Fringe’s program and print deadline.
And yes, the Ukiyo is one of our most popular tents with artists, it’s very hotly requested. It’s the perfect size for a lot of small-medium sized companies that want to present their work in a very intimate space that still holds a good number of people. Plus, it has a range of possibilities like aerial rigging and a high roof strength for lighting equipment.”
What would you say is the importance of events like the Fringe within the broader arts landscape?
“The roots of Fringe Festivals around the world are about a freedom of artistic expression - they grew out of the curated, often much better funded, festivals of the cities they were presented in. Artists who were not ‘chosen’ to participate refused to allow this to stop them from sharing their work - they presented it themselves on the ‘fringe’ of the original festival, in a way that was open access to all artists who wanted to join in. And so the ‘Fringe’ festivals became rapidly bigger than the originals - with a much broader reach and audience base, inviting people from a much wider range of backgrounds to come together and share art and performance. That’s what makes Fringe so special.”
Not to make it all about our Ukiyo Tent, but, uh, how great is it…?
“The Ukiyo is a perfect tent for fringe, and festivals in general. Aesthetically, it’s stunning, with a beautiful hand painted exterior that looks great from every angle, something very useful to the design of a festival site. Nigel and Louise put so much love into all the aspects of its design. It’s quick to put up, fully floored, keeps cool in summer and warm in winter, and has bench seating reminiscent of old-world circus tents - but with lovely plush velvet cushions! The central point of the roof sits at a 7m height which is always appreciated by aerial artists. Most of all, the performance space manages to suit a lot of shows because it has both an in-the-round feeling with its central floor, but also a wider section at the back that suits more end-on style performance. The combination keeps the audience really intimidate with the performers, even though there’s plenty of space on stage. It’s a tent which really suits both audiences and performers.”
Well that’s nice, and to think, we weren’t even fishing for compliments there… Thanks so much Cat!