Regional towns rejoice as the Fringe comes to town
As the Adelaide Fringe continues to grow far beyond the CBD, regional towns and businesses boom by making the arts more accessible to locals.
Regional towns feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis have come alive as the Adelaide Fringe rolls into town.
Mick Gerin owns The Rising Sun Hotel on the edge of the Clare Valley in Auburn and says he has loved bringing live music to the town for the last seven years.
“I’ve loved being involved with the Fringe, I bought the pub eight and a half years ago and it wasn’t doing music up here and about the last seven years I’ve reintroduced music to the town,” Gerin says.
Although many people enjoy attending the Fringe, the commute and cost of going to Adelaide is often too much for regional South Australians.
“Most people where I am are elderly, retired people and can’t get down to Adelaide or it’s costly for them to come down to Adelaide to see these Fringe shows so I’ve been bringing a number of the bands up here,” Gerin says.
“We’ve got a big functions centre behind the hotel and every one of them so far has been a sell-out, so it’s been really good.”
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The Rising Sun Hotel is not the only venue hosting Fringe events in the little town of Auburn, which is home to around 600 locals.
The Institute of Auburn is hosting its first event this year, ADDiCTED music mime dance, along with the Heritage, Arts and Traditions Courthouse Cultural Centre Auburn (HATs) returning as a Fringe venue for the 2025 season.
Auburn has come alive with theatre, music and comedy, bringing locals and tourists together to give the town a much needed economic boost.
“It brings so much tourism into the towns. If I put a band on, a tribute band or something like that, people come up from Adelaide, from surrounding districts and it’s really good for the economy of Auburn,” Gerin says.
“The B&B’s fill up, the wineries get supported in the next day or two and a lot of people really appreciate it.”
Gerin laughs that the only problem is that “it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year”.
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The Fringe Impact Report showed the average tourist spent $4529 in 2024, more than double 2022’s average spending of $2258.
Although this cash boost is across the state, Gerin says the influx of spending from tourists and locals makes a huge impact on small businesses in the area.
The chairperson of the Institute of Auburn, Tony Evans, also owns Lyreen’s Apartment B&B in Auburn and has seen an increase in bookings he says are specifically a result of the Fringe Festival.
“We’ve got quite a bit of activity in our little village,” Evans says.
The economic boost is only one of the benefits regional towns are seeing from these shows, with social events and arts being an important part of the well-being of the locals in these towns.
Cherie Harvey from HATS says she is all about supporting artists and making the arts accessible and affordable to the people through their not-for-profit venue.
“Arts are important for everyone,” Harvey says.
Gerin says a lot of the bands at The Rising Sun Hotel have come up from Adelaide before and that the locals “really look forward to it”.
Auburn is not the only regional town benefiting from these events, as regional towns across the state such as Tumby Bay, Coober Pedy, Victor Harbour, Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge host comedy, music and theatre events.
With sell out shows and such a positive impact on regional towns, locals are calling for more Fringe acts to make their way out of the city.
“I’d like to see a bit more of some of the major players perhaps spreading their wings into regional South Australia instead of just concentrating on the city,” says Evans.
“It gets an enormous amount of support from people all across Australia and I’d say all across the world.”
The 2025 season will conclude in Auburn on Sunday, March 23 with the sold-out Queen Tribute Show by The Incredibles Band at The Rising Sun Hotel.