Adelaide Rises Again

Each year at this time, while the rest of the world seems to get juiced by Pride festivals, Fringe festivals or Uptown Arts festivals - I dig into sources from Down Under where the Adelaide Cabaret Festival takes place. I have been a fan of it for years now and brag about it annually.

It is a smaller Australian town, rich in arts heritage. There had been a yearly Fringe festival, but when it fell on hard times a decade back, sponsorship picked up with the addition of cabaret. It grew quite quickly into a World event. It hearkens back to the original intent of cabaret as a political means of expression that was indeed both intimate & unique. But it also embraces every concept that could be remotely viewed as cabaret. Yes there are big names like headliner Dianne Reeves. But How about the Tiger Lillies featuring a set of the "fiercest, filthiest tunes for your perverse pleasures." Alter-Ego & Drag performances by names such as Meow Meow, Dusty Limits or Bourgeois & Maurice. Kim David Smith brings a Weimar cabaret fantasia of Marlene Dietrich meets David Bowie. There are songbook series with music of Jacques Brel, the Beatles and Cameron Goodall in his Sound of Falling Stars - songs and stories of great stars who died far too young.

I think the whole 3 weeks sounds like an incredible outing and need to start planning for a bucket-list trip to take it in one of these years. Maybe a TCCAN bus trip or cruise down? Who's game???

Adealide Cabaret Fest