Adelaide Fringe Reveals 2025 Poster Artwork
The unique poster was created by artist and printmaker John Pedder.
Image by John Pedder
The poster for the 2025 Adelaide Fringe Festival has been revealed today. Created by artist and printmaker John Pedder, the unique design heralds the countdown to the biggest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Titled ‘Are We Nearly There Yet’, the poster is the first crafted using a woodblock print to win the poster competition since the inception of the Adelaide Fringe Festival over 60 years ago. Pedder made the bold poster in his backyard studio, with the artwork featuring a cast of colourful characters representing the diversity of the festival.
“It’s a real honour to be selected as the Adelaide Fringe 2025 poster winner. I love Fringe festivals and how inclusive they are for all artists,” Pedder said in a statement. “For me, there’s a connection with these characters and the Fringe poster competition brief of ‘One for All and All For One’ and the print reflects the many arts disciplines that visitors will experience at Australia’s biggest arts festival.”
As this year’s winner, Pedder pockets a tasty $10,000 in prize money (the largest ever awarded to a winner) thanks to Community Partner Lumo Energy. He also scores free registration to hold his own exhibit during the Fringe and gets his artwork displayed across press materials for the Fringe.
Lumo Energy’s General Manager, David Holman said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Adelaide Fringe by supporting the 2025 Poster Competition. John Pedder’s artwork is an extraordinary representation of the creativity and diversity that Adelaide Fringe embodies. The poster plays such an integral role in setting the tone for the festival, and we are proud to provide the prize money to recognise and celebrate this unique talent. We look forward to seeing John’s work across the city as we count down to Fringe 2025.”
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Pedder’s win sees him join a long list of incredibly talented artists who have taken out the competition, including Pro Hart, Bronwyn Platten, Michael Atchison and local legend Driller Jet Armstrong.
To celebrate his win, Pedder has released a collection of limited-edition woodblock prints that he’s personally signed, with all proceeds made from the sale of these artworks going to Arts Unlimited (the philanthropic arm of Adelaide Fringe), which supports artists, venues and disadvantaged community groups who want to be involved with the Adelaide Fringe.
Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said: “Congratulations to John Pedder on winning the poster design for Fringe 2025. We received a huge number of submissions from all over the world this year, and John’s design stood out as one that really captured the spirit of Fringe and one that would work well across the many platforms used to promote Fringe. The characters are super playful and it is especially exciting to have a hand-carved woodblock print as an Adelaide Fringe poster for the first time. We can’t wait to see this artwork take over the streets of Adelaide and South Australia to celebrate the upcoming season of Fringe.”
You can find out more about Pedder’s artwork via his Instagram account @johnapedder. The full Adelaide Fringe Festival program will be unveiled in the coming weeks. You can keep up-to-date with everything that’s happening via the Adelaide Fringe website.
