Perth’s FRINGE WORLD Festival has released it’s annual Festival Impact Report, which covers the significant and positive social, cultural, and business impacts the yearly event has on both the city and the state as a whole.
713 events were spread across 159 venues, featuring 3,381 artists, both local and international. It is recognised as the third largest fringe festival in the world, and, having only begun in 2011, this is quite the achievement.
All in all, almost one million people attended free and ticketed events across the 2016 festival, up 50% from last year. Perth locals accounted for nearly 350,000 of the tickets sold for events, raking in $8.3 million in box office returns for performing artists.
“FRINGE WORLD is the largest box office generator for artists of any arts festival in WA and an event that delivers tangible benefits to both local and visiting creatives and more broadly to the cultural sector and industry, as well as the broader economy,” said Festival Director Amber Hasley.
FRINGE WORLD’s total gross economic movement for the state reached $98 million, with the gross value added to every $1 by state and local governments rose from $52 in 2015 to almost $75 this year. These are impressive figures, and they’ve come at a time when they are most certainly needed, as cuts to the arts sector are beginning to make themselves felt.
Hopes for next year are currently running high, with FRINGE WORLD Chief Executive Marcus Canning drawing on the enthusiasm of audiences and the passion of the artists involved as indicative of a particularly bright future for the festival, and for the WA cultural landscape that supports it.
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