The 1968 Adelaide Festival of Arts was held from March 7 - 23, 1968.

For the first time, local and interstate performing arts groups and artists began advertising themselves as Festival Fringe Activities.

What's On in Adelaide - A guide to events in and around Adelaide during the Festival produced by the South Australian Government Tourist Bureau listed many 'Fringe Shows - Independently Organised'. These included:
On the Fringe '68, The Perils of a Drunken's Daughter, Soir De Paree, Festival Hall's Up, A Late Night Special and Good Grief.

By 1968 it was clear that the line between 'official' and 'fringe' activity was blurred. A strong Festival vs Fringe debate began to build during the 1968 Festival.

The Adelaide Theatre Group, John Edmund, Theatre 62 and The Adelaide University Theatre Guild took centrestage during the 1962 Festival, while the local standard of exhibitions, music, drama and revues was very high.

During 1968 there were several newspaper articles which referred to 'fringe' activities including:

• An Exciting Biennial Whirl Into Art... Past and Present. Article by Elizabeth Young, The Advertiser, 2 March 1968.
• The Diary For Today, The Advertiser, 8 March 1968. Lists both official and fringe events together.
• Refreshing Paintings, a review of a fringe exhibition by Ruth Tuck, The Advertiser, 14 March 1968.
• Art On The Fringe, Elizabeth Young The Advertiser, 16 March 1968. Young reviews a 'flush of fringe exhibitions' and appears to have been an early supporter of the fringe movement.
• Now For The Sixth Festival, editorial, The Advertiser, 25 March 1968.  This article highlights the pros and cons of a wide ranging cultural and community Festival and the effect of the much larger group of Fringe shows than previously. The overal comment: Bring on Diversity.
• After Futility, On To 1970 - Article by Peter Ward. The Bulletin, 6 April 1968.  Ward bemoans the official Festival presentations and both applauds and negates the Fringe productions but supports the fringe as part of the Festival.

Sources:
"The Open Platform – From Fringe to Focus in Pursuit of the Adelaide Fringe Festival", Martin Christmas, Adelaide, 1999.
Martin Christmas, Briefing paper 'fringe activities' to Focus 76, 2009
Martin Christmas, Attachment 2, 2009: Press Clippings 1960 -78
What's On in Adelaide - Issued 1 March, 1968.