The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the charity that supports the world’s largest performing arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the biggest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere, Adelaide Fringe are coming together to form an arrangement that will see both organisations amplify one another’s efforts for the benefit of artists and the international arts community.
Each organisation’s respective CEO will sign a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that outlines the details of the arrangement on August 11 during this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The MOU came to fruition from a collective belief between the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and Adelaide Fringe that organisations who share common objectives have the potential to positively influence the personal development of the Fringe festival artists and workers and thereby increase outcomes for each organisation.
The MOU will be signed by the South Australian Minister for Arts, Andrea Micheals MP and Scotland’s Culture Secretary Angus Robertson.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “The Edinburgh Fringe is an inspiration to many festivals around the world and this formal agreement between the Edinburgh Fringe Society and the Adelaide Fringe is a fantastic initiative that will bring many benefits to both organisations.
“In particular the opportunity to share knowledge and skills, grow new audiences and provide platforms for performers will help the business development of both festivals.”
South Australian MInister for Arts, Andrea Micheals said: “This MOU brings together the wealth of talent, experience and creative ideas that exists in both Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals.
“It represents the two largest festivals in the world joining forces to harness that extraordinary skill and create exciting opportunities for artists and arts workers to work at these two internationally renowned festivals and beyond.
“Adelaide is one of the world’s greatest festival cities and this partnership with the Edinburgh Festival cements our international reputation as the arts capital of Australia.”
The arrangement outlines details between the two festivals in the context of business, exchange and joint initiatives that will see Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe festivals work to encourage the development of artists and their career trajectory and festival workers to the benefit of festivals internationally.
Each organisation will recognise their positions as major tourist attractions in their respective regions for both local, national and international travellers; and the benefits of working collaboratively in the development of skills for festival workers, along with the importance of business opportunities that are created at festivals via industry programs for artists to secure future bookings for their work.
Each partner is committed to the development of their staff, which will in part see the implementation of an exchange program between the two major festivals.
The MOU outlines a commitment from each party to promote one another’s Fringe festivals to artists while growing the audience-facing and industry-facing opportunities for artists participating in the festivals.
Director and CEO of Adelaide Fringe, Heather Croall said: ‘The establishment of this MOU is a momentous occurrence in the festival world.
“Fringe festivals are incubators for live performance and a testing ground for fresh ideas and new works, I’m sure the outcomes of this arrangement will ripple positively for artists and industry across the globe.”
Chief Executive of Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Shona McCarthy said, “Today is an exciting moment as we formalise a collective ambition to support each other across a range of areas.
“Our relationship with the Adelaide Fringe has developed over the last decade into a supportive and collaborative partnership, where we learn from each other and share our mutual challenges and opportunities.
“The signing of the MOU is just the beginning of what we know will be an extremely rewarding partnership for everyone involved in the festivals.”
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