MEDIA RELEASE 📰CABARET FRINGE FESTIVAL RETURNS TO LIGHT UP ADELAIDE’S WINTER | 30 April 2025
✧ BUT…This Is Not a Rehearsal: CabFringe Fights for Survival After 2025 ✧ Adelaide’s beloved winter celebration of cabaret, stories, and song, the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival, returns to Kaurna Land from Friday, 23 May to Sunday, 1 June 2025, unveiling a bold new program — and issuing a heartfelt call for support.
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đź–¤ PUBLIC STATEMENT: This Is Not a Rehearsal đź–¤25 April 2025
Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival friends and friends – we never thought we’d say this, but here
we are… clutching our pearls and pianos. It’s not quite curtains, but it’s dangerously close.
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MEDIA RELEASE đź“° Cabaret Fringe Festival Faces Final Curtain Without Major Investment | 25 April 2025
CabFringe has survived multiple incarnations, from the gritty Weimar Room to the beloved La Bohème and beyond. But with the end of its three-year funding cycle, and earlier bequests fully allocated, the festival now faces its toughest challenge yet.
“We’re not asking artists or community members to dig into empty pockets,” says the CabFringe team. “We’re calling on serious donors, arts funders, and major sponsors who believe in fringe performance and independent art to step in.”
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STATEMENT | FUND CAB FRINGE | FAST FACTS
đź–¤ OUR CHALLENGE
The festival is currently facing the very real possibility of closure after the 2025 season, not
because of a lack of passion, talent, or audience—but due to the harsh financial reality of
producing independent art in Australia.
â—Ź Our 3-year funding package has ended
â—Ź Our bequests and one-off grants have been fully and responsibly used
â—Ź No ongoing financial support is currently secured for 2026 and beyond.
We are calling on the arts community, funders, institutions, philanthropists, and major donors to
help save the Cabaret Fringe Festival and ensure its legacy continues.
POSTS | ARCHIVE
UniSA Cabaret SHOWCASE
Sun 20 June, 4:30pm and 7:30pm 90 minsDiverse-City Cabaret EXPLODES off the stage as the multi-talented students of UniSA’s Cabaret course share with you their
Dolly Diamonds piano bar and finale party
Sun 13 June, 11pm 60 minsArthur Art Bar Come and join Dolly Diamond and performers from the cabaret fringe as we celebrate all things cabaret.
A Naughty Night with Dolly Diamond
Fri 11 June, 8pm 60 minsThe Lab Dolly Diamond is coming back to Adelaide and she’s here to save the cabaret day! As Melbourne enters
Sex, Lies & Betrayal – Memoirs of a Hollywood Star
Fri 16 July, 7:30pm Sat 17 July, 7:30pm 60 minsHolden Street Theatres Welcome to Hollywood – the playground of the rich and famous, where fortunes
GALA 2021
Thu 27 May, 6pm for 6:30pm start 60 minsArthur Art Bar Get a taste of the 2021 festival programme in this one hour show highlighting
The Slugs Variety Gala
CANCELLED 150 minsAdelaide Irish Club A variety gala featuring some of Adelaide’s best old and new talent. Hosted by AFL Masters team The Southern Slugs,
