For the second year in a row, Adelaide Fringe also took out the award for Excellence in Accessible Tourism at the 2024 SA Tourism Awards, highlighting the organisation’s commitment to being accessible to all and becoming the most inclusive festival in the world.

‘Sleeps Hill Tunnel’ was a one-of-a-kind immersive experience, bringing a forgotten piece of Adelaide's history to life during the 2024 Adelaide Fringe. Located in Panorama, South Australia, this exclusive event offered a rare opportunity to explore a now privately-owned, state heritage-listed, 377 metre-long tunnel of the old Adelaide-to-Melbourne rail line.

In partnership with creative event production company Novatech Creative Event Technology, the Tunnel was transformed into an immersive experience of mesmerising projections and light installations that seamlessly integrated into the tunnel's unique architecture to support various artists across diverse zones. 

‘Sleeps Hill Tunnel’ was praised for its ingenuity in blending technology with history, creating a transformative visitor experience that shed new light on a heritage-listed site. The award-winning installation featured mesmerising projections and light displays carefully integrated with the tunnel's unique architecture, allowing visitors to journey through South Australian history like never before.

“Sleeps Hill Tunnel was such a popular experience at Adelaide Fringe 2024, and receiving these awards is a massive accolade for everyone involved, including the artists involved in each installation, our staff, volunteers and audiences, as well as our Innovation Partner Novatech, who helped us navigate the spatial constraints of this heritage-listed site. This project really activated the southern suburbs last Fringe and we can’t wait to do it again in 2025.”

Sleeps Hill Tunnel owner Dave Munro said “Sleeps Hill Tunnel was beyond anything I could have hoped for. To have the opportunity to open up the Tunnels to the public for the first time in 150 years was so emotional and so rewarding.

The public’s response was overwhelming and the research and effort that combined to showcase the history and stories of Sleeps Hill was respectful and paid homage to an 1880 South Australian engineering feat that was so well deserved.”

These awards continue Adelaide Fringe’s recognition as the place to present new, innovative and experimental artforms, immersed in technology and storytelling, having won the same awards for previous signature projects ‘Sky Song’ in 2022 and for ‘Yabarra: Gathering of Light’ in 2020.

Tickets for Sleeps Hill Tunnel 2025 are on sale now. Audiences are encouraged to secure their spots early. The show will open on Friday 14 February and run until Sunday 30 March, with sessions extended due to high demand.