Adelaide sets record attendance at this year's festivals Fringe Performers launch the new Fringe on Popeye.Picture: Tricia Watkinson Source: adelaidenow THE Adelaide Fringe has smashed box office records. Audiences have already splashed out $11.6 million at this year's extended event. More than 407,000 Fringe tickets were sold during the past four weeks, up 10.9 per cent on last year. Fringe director Greg Clarke said artists and the public had embraced starting a week earlier and having it with the first annual Adelaide Festival had boosted both events, which end tomorrow. The Adelaide Festival passed its box office target of $2.2 million last weekend and Womadelaide met its sale target with 88,000 attendances over four days. This year's Soundwave rock festival also sold out and the Clipsal 500 had a record 286,500 attendances. There was record attendance at the the Clipsal 500. In a bonus, sales of Fringe gift vouchers increased 30 per cent on last year. That's been a huge success. I reckon it's because people like to give `experiences' now, rather than material things," Mr Clarke said. CommSec chief economist Craig James said consumer confidence had risen 10 per cent in the past two months, which had lifted spending. "There's been less bad news on the global economy," he said. Having the Fringe coupled with the first annual Adelaide Festival benefited both events, Mr Clarke said. "The Fringe historically has always experienced a better year when the Festival is on, that's a fact," he said. I think that's because there are more visitors from interstate and overseas ... for both events. The Festival will release its final results tomorrow. Mr Clarke said "four weeks of sensational weather" and a high number of four and five-star reviews for Fringe shows contributed to this year's attendances. Womadelaide director Ian Scobie said sales had improved this year. He also runs Arts Projects Australia, which had three acts in the Festival - Kronos Quartet, Jordi Savall and Goran Bregovic - and two Fringe shows, Circolombia and Leo. "We saw really strong growth ... this clustering of activity brings far more positives than negatives," Mr Scobie said.