First of all, let me extend a very warm welcome to all Seniors Card members and WeekendPlus subscribers. I can’t wait to share the joys of the 2024 Adelaide Cabaret Festival with you all.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2024 Artistic Director Virginia Gay - Photo by Claudio Raschella

My favourite thing in the world is bringing delicious things to people I adore. Introducing strangers who I know will become fast friends. Getting to a favourite restaurant and ordering for the table because “If we don’t get six of the little crispy guys, and two of this dessert, we’re gonna be furious.” So, imagine my delight when the festival approached me with this - a job where I get to not only find the most extraordinary acts in the world for you, but also get to scream with wild enthusiasm about them at every opportunity - and no one can stop me!

Often, on the other side of the world, we’d start to say, “We’d love you to join us at Adelaide Ca—" and stars will stop us, mid-pitch, and say “Oh. We’ve heard about Adelaide Cabaret Festival. We hear it’s the warmest, kindest, most outrageous festival around.” Little footprint, giant heart. That’s us.

This legacy has been magnificently built by my predecessors—inspirational Artistic Directors and tireless programming teams. But it has been fostered and cultivated by you. It feels like there’s no barrier between artist and audience at AdCabFest. Performances pour off the stage and into the foyer afterwards, and there you are, in your glad rags, belting out songs, laughing, flirting, and drinking champagne like it’s water. You. This. These are my people. This festival is what I want the whole world to feel like—a celebration of community and abundance, togetherness through individuality, in all its sparkling joy.

Cabaret is beguiling in its simplicity—stories into song. Simple, right? But magic! So, we’ve tried to see how elastic that formula can be. We have bonkers improvised musicals and exceptional musical comedy; inventive theatrical experiences, and live cult podcasts; multi-award winners from home and abroad; and performers you’ve never heard of…but once you have heard ‘em, you’ll never forget ‘em; and always and forever, we have world-class singers and storytellers weaving ecstatic journeys through song.

Virginia Gay Artistic Director, Adelaide Cabaret Festival

Office for Ageing Well and Seniors Card are proud Program Partners of Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

View the full 2024 Adelaide Cabaret Festival program.

More information from the 2024 Adelaide Cabaret Festival edition of WeekendPlus: