Current Issue #488

Fringe Hacks:
How to find cheap Fringe tickets around Adelaide

RCC show Being Dead (Don Quixote)
Being Dead (Don Quixote) at RCC

The Adelaide Fringe gets bigger every year, but your wallet probably doesn’t. Here are some tried and true Fringe hacks to help you see more without spending more this festival season.

Fringe Membership

Once known as Fringe Benefits, the $25 sign up fee opens the door to 25% discounts on many Fringe shows, plus weekly giveaways and access to the Fringe Club on certain nights. If you’ve highlighted so many events in the Fringe guide that you have to Marie Kondo your house and pawn the results, it’s worth signing up for.

This year there’s a higher tier for ‘Fringe Fanatics’, which will allow you to party on at Fringe Club. Just imagine rubbing shoulders with Fringe artists from around the world, as well as a bunch of other plebs who shelled out $40.

Collectivise!

Just as there is power in a union, there are Fringe discounts to be had in a group of six or more. Many Fringe shows offer discounts for groups, and although the savings per ticket aren’t enormous, when pooled together can add up to a jug or two of beer while debriefing at the pub afterwards.

How do you find these discounts? Head to the Fringe website’s search function and set the Price Types filter to ‘Group 6+’. Here, we’ve done it for you.

Shutterstock
Take those group savings and buy a salad to laugh over

See you(r Fringe show) next Tuesday

The tradition of cheap Tuesdays is alive and well at the Fringe, with many shows dropping prices to get people out of the house on a school night. Use the ‘Cheap Tuesday’ filter as above and forget about work the next morning.

Go see a preview

Traditionally the first session or two of a run is labelled a ‘preview’ as performers settle into their groove and visiting comedians figure out just which jokes fall flat in Adelaide (“So what’s the deal with scallops?“). You’ll save a bit of coin, and maybe get to see a hastily finished set-piece be gaffa taped back into place mid-show. The magic of live performance!

Go back to school

The rebirth of the Royal Croquet Club as RCC Fringe at the University of Adelaide means students are able to access a variety of discounts, happy hours, pre-sale offers and free concert entry. Sadly if you are not already a student it may be too late to enrol in 2020 classes, but you can take the money your future self has saved in HECS/HELP loan repayments and pay full price.

Tkay Maidza will perform at RCC this year

Laugh all the way to the bank

Fringe sponsor Bank SA have chipped in to subsidise tickets to select sessions of handpicked shows, from comedian Nina Oyama to dance-theatre breakup work Post Mortem. Years from now you can look back, safe in the knowledge that mortgage is just a few dollars lower thanks to your Fringe 2020 savings.

Free shows

Without wanting to labour the point of ‘advanced search filters are your friend’, the FREE search setting is pretty self-explanatory. There are many free events held throughout the Fringe, and while they lean towards art exhibitions and council-sponsored street parties, there are also a few concerts and performances to be found.

Sign up to HalfTIX

Adelaide loves to buy tickets at the last minute, giving many artists the dreaded ‘lagging pre-sales’ sweats on the day of a performance. As a result, many will list discounted tickets between 12pm and 3pm on the day of a performance, which are circulated daily via the Fringe’s HalfTIX mailing list. Should we, the consumer, be rewarded for this anxiety-inducing purchasing behaviour? Probably not, but think of the savings!

Walk around Rundle Street at 6.45pm

Who hasn’t found themselves in the East End after work or university only to have a frazzled looking circus performer thrust comp tickets in your face because there’s a reviewer coming that night and they want a full room? It’s not what we would call foolproof, but can make for an interesting night.

Adelaide's east end during Fringe season
Nathaniel Mason
Adelaide’s east end during Fringe season

Eschew actual shows to soak up the ‘vibe’ by the food trucks

Look, we’ve all done it. Going to a show is much more rewarding.

Win free tickets via our competitions page

At least we saved the self-promotion to the end. Updated regularly throughout the festival season, the Adelaide Review‘s Win tab can be also used to win free tickets all year round.

Adelaide Fringe runs from 14 February to 15 March

adelaidefringe.com.au

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