It’s been another wonderful Adelaide Fringe season, and Lutheran Care is celebrating having given out more than 2250 Fringe tickets over the past four years.

The festival was held in Adelaide and other parts of South Australia from 20 February to 22 March. Lutheran Care is a proud Supporting Partner of the Fringe, and in 2026 alone, shared just under 650 tickets with clients and communities who, because of financial pressures or other circumstances, may not usually be able to afford to attend or connect with the arts very regularly.

Tickets recipients were treated to a wide range of shows, including children’s performances, music, theatre, cabaret and circus.

We were also pleased to support our client Gina, and her two children, to attend children’s performance, Storybook Circus. Gina was then invited by the Fringe team to share her experiences with donors and stakeholders, at an event to launch Giving Day. Giving Day is an initiative to raise funds for the Fringe Foundation, which works to make the Fringe more inclusive by offering free access to children and young people. Lutheran Care was a Giving Day Matching Partner.

“The show was great and the kids had an awesome day out!” said Gina, who is a domestic violence survivor, and single mum, whom Lutheran Care supported when she was experiencing a period of homelessness.

While Lutheran Care supports people doing it tough in our communities with services such as Emergency Relief (food, clothing and other essentials), we also understand that access to the arts plays an important role in wellbeing.  Experiences like the Fringe bring colour and joy, offer a sense of connection, and can even open doors to future opportunities.

“I hope it influences [my children’s] future in a positive way,” Gina said.

Lutheran Care had 8 tickets to give away to the Fringe show by Adrian Eagle, an emerging First Nations hiphop and soul performer. The tickets were taken by S and her son H, who shared the remaining six with some delighted First Nations teenagers. S is a single mother who works with Aboriginal communities and doesn’t have a lot of extra income to spend on concerts although she and her teenagers are passionate about music. S said, “So good… thank you so much again, doing the goods in the very right time I needed. Thank you so much. #Grateful”.

Some of the other recipients who attended the Fringe courtesy of the Lutheran Care ticket allocation, said:

“We had a wonderful time at the Flying Bubble Show on the 8th of March and very much appreciated the tickets. Thank you. Ben and son Mason H.”

“Hi, my name is Mark, I was gifted a few tickets from Lutheran to the Adelaide Fringe. The Irish show [The Shamrocks] was great. I would love to go out more often. Thank you.” – Mark

“Monski Mouse’s Baby Disco Dance Hall, is always so much fun and with a new baby in our home we felt it was time to revisit our Monski Mouse days and head to the dance floor. We also took the opportunity to extend the invite to some friends within our support village. Master 5, Miss 4, Miss 20 months and Master 7 months bopped, boogied and twirled like it was an 80s dance floor. It provided a wonderful bonding opportunity for us with Master 7 months laughing at our dance floor moves as we lifted him high to (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life and swung our trunks like Nellie the Elephant. We laughed, we danced, we sang, we made really fun memories. Thank you for our tickets 🙂❤️” – Lutheran Care Foster Carer.

“Thank you, Lutheran Care and Fringe, for letting us experience Baby Disco. We had so much fun… mum more than baby!” – M.

“A big thank you to Lutheran Care for your generosityin giving us this opportunity to be part of the Fringe and to be given an insight to the Australian presence in the Antarctica and their valuable contribution to a deeper scientific understanding and the importance of preserving the ecological value of Antarctica. ” – Peter Hartwich, an Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) volunteer, who with wife Irene attended Immersive World – The Antarctica Experience.

“Recently, my friend and I went to a show at the Mercury Theatre, which was put on by the Fringe Festival. We were thoroughly entertained and fascinated as we watched through 3D glasses, of The Antarctica Experience with David Wenham-  Immersive Worlds. We saw some amazing scenery and hundreds of penguins amongst the ice. It also showed Davis Station, where my nephew had worked as an electrician and boss there. We enjoyed the show immensely, and all this was through the generosity of Lutheran Care, who gave me 2 tickets to which we thank you so very much.” – Audrey Stewart, ACVVS volunteer.

Evelyn, a Smithfield volunteer, loved going to the Murder She Didn’t Write Fringe show with her friends. Just look at those smiles!

We congratulate the Adelaide Fringe team on another successful season and hope that all of our Fringe ticket recipients had an entertaining and enriching time.