Perth Fringe World to expand after economic impact hits $101m

Plans have begun for the 2019 event of the Perth Fringe World, after an economic impact report on this year’s festival revealed that it drew 900,000 people over a month to free and ticketed events, and its economic impact exceeded $101 million.

This equated to the equivalent of 2,236 jobs.

It also confirmed Fringe World as the third largest of its kind in the world.

Looking forward, chief executive Marcus Canning said, “Edinburgh and Adelaide, the first and second largest Fringes in the world, achieve gobsmacking tourism results thanks in large part to targeted support over extended periods.

“Fringe World has untapped potential for the state on this front and we hope to deliver even more economic impact in future years through new partnerships that focus on attracting visitors to WA during our buzzing summer festival season.

“It’s the best time of year to welcome the world to Perth.”

Work has started on 2019’s festivities (Friday, January 18 to Sunday, February 17).

Applications opened for participating venues to participate. This year 155 venues were involved, hosting 730 events over the month.

It’s looking for a greater variety of spaces to draw a wider demographic,

Deadline is July 31, for more information click here.

The report for 2018 also showed the event delivered $8.6 million in payment to participating artists.

The festival also recorded its biggest day of sales on record, with more tickets sold in 24 hours on one Saturday during the 2018 festival than across the entire 2011 inaugural season.

The report also showed how Fringe World supported artists affected by the collapse of the independent event company JumpClimb, that went into liquidation post-Fringe leaving artists they had contracted unpaid.

Canning said, “Event companies not being managed with due diligence and adequate responsibility can badly compromise the health of the sector as we’ve seen this happen over a number of years with a number of companies folding and leaving their bills unpaid.

“Fringe World is absolutely dedicated to Fringe artists and we responded to JumpClimb’s collapse swiftly, decisively and with as much direct financial aid as possible to address the debts to artists left by JumpClimb.

“It was not our obligation in any way, but we felt it was our duty.”