International festival bookers swarm Adelaide for the next big Fringe hit
Now in its 18th year, the Adelaide Fringe’s Honey Pot initiative attracts hundreds of directors, curators and programmers from around the world all hustling to secure acts for their own festival programs.
It’s a weekday morning halfway through this year’s Fringe season when InReview drops in for a coffee at ILA in Light Square. The place is buzzing, and it’s all thanks to the Adelaide Fringe’s Honey Pot program — a kind of trade fair for the international festival circuit that has seen more than 350 festival directors, curators and programmers from 36 countries descend on Adelaide, all hunting for the next big thing.
The Honey Pot program is now in its 18th year, bringing representatives from the Arts Centre Melbourne, Sydney Opera House and the Brisbane Powerhouse, along with international institutions like the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and Glastonbury — even reps from America’s Got Talent have been known to drop in.
This morning, the “buyers” are filtering through after long and late nights across the city, refuelling with cups of coffee, pastries and fruit, chatting animatedly in groups as they pick each other’s brains and swap recommendations.
“Fringe is a Monster — a beautiful monster, but it’s a monster,” says Dré Demet, who has come all the way from Belgium to scout acts for the MAD Festival based in Antwerp.
This is Demet’s first Adelaide Fringe, and initially he found the sheer volume of March madness overwhelming.
“There’s so much going on — there’s the WOMADelaide and the festival and then there’s a little car thing, and my first idea was, ‘Wow, it’s maybe too much’. But it seems to be working — I met some people from Melbourne who came over to see an artist performing here at the Fringe, and then they tell me, ‘Tomorrow, we go to the WOMADelaide’.”
Demet is only here for ten days, with a jam-packed Fringe schedule that has seen him on the lookout for new and exciting acts to bring to MAD’s four-day program each April. Demet’s focus is usually drawn to circus and acrobatics, but this year’s he’s also searching for magic — literally, with MAD broadening its scope from 2028 to include mind-bending illusions.
Photo: Razan Fakhouri / Supplied
The Honey Pot format invites Fringe artists to meet ‘buyers’ such as Demet at marketplace events — called ‘Hives’ — where they present an elevator pitch to pique interest and hopefully attract them to see their show. Local staff also actively work to suggest artists that meet the criteria for what a buyer might be looking for.
Interactive Theatre International producer Jared Harford has been a regular at the Adelaide Fringe since 2019 and is on the hunt for interactive shows, especially for kids. He’s quietly confident he’s unearthed the next Hi-5 this season. For now, he’ll stay mum on exactly who, but he believes they’ll be a “real massive success”.
The Australian-based, international programmer has experienced tangible benefits from both sides of Honey Pot. Amongst Harford’s stable of shows is Fawlty Towers: The Dining Program, one of the world’s longest-running tributes to John Cleese and Connie Booth’s classic BBC sitcom. Harford says its international success wouldn’t have happened without Honey Pot.
“We took it to Edinburgh with all their advice, and it sold out completely,” he shares. “It stayed in Edinburgh right up until COVID. And we’ve been in 43 countries around the world since then.
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“Initially it was just one woman who wrote and created the show and had grand plans to tour, but had no ideas or networks to do that. So, coming to Fringe and taking part in Honey Pot was really vital to learn how to get that longevity.
“And now we are one of the biggest theatre exports in Australia.”
While most other major festivals across the globe have similar programs, Demet says the calibre of the Honey Pot has set a new benchmark.
“When there’s not really a professional program, you’re just watching shows and going back home again and with a head swimming full of ideas, ,” he says. “But here, you’re meeting people, talking to artists, [it] really clears the mind, and it’s a bit like a playground [with] new artists I’ve never met before and new organisations.
“You exchange a lot of ideas — you learn from the festival itself — not only artistically, but even logistically, the business side. Even just talking to how the website is organised, it’s so organic, it’s so good.”
Demet is eager to return next year to continue strengthening his festival’s program, and his own professional network.
Photo: Razan Fakhouri / Supplied
“I’ve been travelling around, especially in Europe — France and Sweden and Belgium, of course, and Germany and UK,” Demet says. “I really like this Honey Pot; you see a lot of shows, but at the same time, you’re really connecting with people, with artists, and also with other organisations.
“Today I’ve met people from Ireland, which is not so far from my own home, but I wouldn’t have met them if I wasn’t here.
“There’s so many professionals here from all over the globe and everybody is really happy and eager which is really nice.”
This story is part of a series of articles being produced by InReview with the support of Adelaide Fringe
Read more 2025 Adelaide Fringe coverage here on InReview