Adelaide Fringe top job filled with global recruit
Adelaide Fringe has a new leader for the state’s record-breaking arts festival after long-serving chief Heather Croall resigned from the top job last year.
Canadian arts and culture leader Marc Carnes has been appointed the Adelaide Fringe’s new chief executive officer, succeeding Heather Croall, who exited the role in November after 11 years at the helm.
Carnes has 20 years of experience in the creative industries, most recently as CEO of CKUA Radio – Canada’s oldest public broadcaster, based in Alberta.
At CKUA he led an eight-year transformation of the broadcaster, and has also served as a board chair of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Society – the organisation behind North America’s largest and longest-running fringe festival.
“I come to this role with enormous admiration and respect for the artists, venues, staff, partners and community who have built Adelaide Fringe into Australia’s biggest arts festival,” Carnes said.
“It is an artist-led festival at its heart, and I see the role of CEO as one of custodianship, listening closely, learning deeply and understanding how my experience across arts, culture, tourism and audience development can best serve the people who make the festival what it is.”
Carnes also has worked in senior roles with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Francis Winspear Centre for Music and will be moving to Adelaide to take on the new job starting in July.
Since 2023, the Adelaide Fringe has pulled in more than a million ticket sales each year with about $27 million in revenue. This has grown since 2015, when the sales were 450,000 tickets worth $8 million.
In 2025, the fringe saw record attendance, bringing in more than five million total attendees over five weeks, with 60,500 national and international visitors.
Carnes will officially start in the role on July 1. Until then, acting CEO Tara MacLeod – who oversaw the delivery of this year’s Fringe Festival after Croall’s departure – will remain in the role.
Adelaide Fringe Chair Paul Hamra said Carnes’ appointment came after an extensive search for the right leader who could “recognise and celebrate ” the fringe’s cultural and economic status.
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“The Adelaide Fringe is a special institution and we have been searching very wide for a special leader,” Hamra said.
“Someone who could recognise and celebrate the position fringe has attained and build it further for artists, audiences and venues over the next five years.
“As CEO, Marc will work closely with Adelaide Fringe’s existing executive team to grow audiences and continue strengthening the festival’s position as a major cultural and economic driver for South Australia and the nation.”
Editor’s Note: Paul Hamra is managing director of Solstice Media, publisher of InDaily.
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