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Tech conference to give Fringe Festival a cutting edge

One of Australia’s largest innovation hubs is joining forces with the nation’s biggest arts festival to deliver a five-day program on how to use technology to attract new audiences.

Date: February 19 to 23, 2020

Buy / Ticket: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/

February 19 to 23, 2020

Narrated by Colin Farrell, Gloomy Eyes is one of the VR experiences at Electric Dreams.

Adelaide Fringe will hold a creative industries conference looking at how technology is changing the arts and a five-day virtual reality program and immersive storytelling showcase at Lot Fourteen in February as part of its 2020 festival.



The Electric Dreams program will also include a selection of immersive storytelling works from around the world in a VR cinema in the Lot Fourteen neighbourhood and across the street in the Masonic Lodge on North Terrace.



Recently established on a former hospital site in the centre of Adelaide, Lot Fourteen aims to become the largest innovation district in the Southern Hemisphere and will house a number of local and international tech, space, defence and cyber companies and the Office of South Australia’s Chief Entrepreneur, Jim Whalley.



The precinct’s innovation hub welcomed its first startups last month and is being run by leading Australasian not-for-profit Stone & Chalk, which also operates offices in Sydney and Melbourne.



The three-day Electric Dreams technology conference will feature presentations from international arts organisations working at the cutting edge of creative and commercial development and using technology to create inventive arts experiences for the audiences of the future.



Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said Electric Dreams was an exciting addition to the interactive genre in the Adelaide Fringe Program for 2020.



“Electric Dreams is a rare opportunity for us all to directly experience how technology is rapidly changing and growing the way we engage with and create art,” she said.



“Electric Dreams is a chance for creative practitioners to see how digital developments could be applied to their work, and for the wider public to see mind blowing work from some the world’s most innovative immersive storytellers.”



The Adelaide Fringe is the highest ticket selling arts festival in Australia and the second-largest Fringe in the world. The 2020 event runs from February 14 to March 15.



Lot Fourteen Director of Place and Marketing Rachel Walsh said Electric Dreams, which runs from February 19 to 23, would further establish Adelaide’s East End as a destination for technology and art.



“Electric Dreams is a world-class event which will showcase the business potential of Lot Fourteen and will explore immersive storytelling and addresses trends in gaming, VR & AR and the impact these technologies are having on theatre works, screen productions and other art forms,” she said.



“It’s a great opportunity for South Australians to come together with the delegates and spark new collaborations.”



The VR experiences being presented at next year’s Fringe will include Gloomy Eyes, a story narrated by actor Colin Farrell about a zombie kid hiding in a forest; Fire Escape, a suspenseful drama that encourages audiences to embrace their voyeuristic tendencies as they watch eight tenants entangled in a murder; and Earth, a twofold experience which transports viewers from tropical rainforests in Hawaii to the frozen expanses of Antarctica.



Conference registrations are now open for the Electric Dreams conference and tickets are on sale for the VR program.