Like Fringe but for the colder months, Cabaret Fringe Festival is about to hit with plenty of shows to see and swoon over.

If you’re a local cabaret connoisseur of good repute or otherwise, you may already know of CabFringe.

Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival has been running since 2001 as an open-access festival that brings a heady cocktail of cabaret acts to various venues across the city and suburbs for your enjoyment.

Starting Friday, 26 May the 2023 iteration promises to be everything a CabFan could ask for.

Expect the finest tributes and tunes, burlesque beauties and bombshells, subversive songwriters, sea- or she-shanty improv shows, clowns, circus, comedy, world-class jazz musicians, and even a cappella flash mobs. Plus, some R18+ content to heat up the chilly nights.

Cabaret Fringe is also a perfect opportunity to up your cabaret cred, by taking in performances from debut artists. Or take a second bite at the cherry, as home-grown performers return to local stages for another year.

If sneak-peek shows and unscripted surprises are more your scene, come along to CabLive – the speakeasy-style lounge where acts and audiences slip into something a little more cabaret.

Located in the swish Art Deco surrounds of The Piccadilly at North Adelaide and hosted by comedic cabaret diva Dolly Diamond, it offers no set times, no scripted shows and no fixed lineups. It’s a FOMO-inducing combination that’s sure to see the venue pack out early every night.

CabFringe runs across two weeks form 26 May ’til 4 June. Every ticket supports independent artists and metropolitan venues during the winter months, and all performances are kept at a pocket-friendly price for festival goers.

The program is diverse, and a few of the enticing and risqué shows that have caught our attention include:

• Medusa’s Guide to Modern Dating, which comes all the way from Ancient Greece and retells the comedy and tragedy of Medusa through the feminist gaze;
• Raining Red Roses, a tribute to the tumultuous life and sublime songs of Hildegard Knef, one of Germany’s most celebrated stage, screen and music artists;
• Bobbie Viney, who returns for one night only with spicy updates in her award-winning show Closure at a Self-Serve Checkout;
• Take Five – The Dave Brubeck Story, which offers a cool jazz trip through the ’50s and ’60s world of the iconic jazz musician;
• rooms of live art at Arthurs Peep Show by Pole4fitness – unlike anything seen before in Adelaide, with the most erotic, fantasy-style burlesque team;
• Have You Met My Grief?,which takes the audience on an unpredictable and hilarious exploration of life’s ups and downs through storytelling and Gen X songs; and
• the incredibly ambitious performers of BigTop Cabaret Sensations are set to shock and intrigue with their unimaginable fire, aerial and acrobatic feats.

If you ever needed proof that Adelaide knows how to turn on the fun and joy in the depths of winter, CabFringe is it. Don’t miss out.

For more information on the festival, visit the website. And keep up to date by following along on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter