An inflatable church that stages “theatrical weddings” at the Adelaide Fringe has allegedly been damaged by a knife-wielding man while people were inside.
SA Police said they were called to Light Square in Adelaide’s CBD about 6:30pm on Friday to reports The Inflatable Church had been damaged.
Officers arrested a 20-year-old Adelaide man and charged him with property damage and possessing a knife in a public place.
He was refused bail and will face the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.
The Inflatable Church is an interactive show from the UK that lets attendees have “fake weddings” with glitter, music and dress-ups, the Adelaide Fringe said.
Director Tristram Shackerley-Bennett, who brought the show to Adelaide for the first time, alleged the suspect cut a metre hole through the venue which caused it to deflate and the spire to collapse.
He said his DJ Filip “jumped out through the window” and chased the man away with his laptop.
“It was just literally as they were giving the end of their vows … that the church started to deflate as they were making their way out,” Mr Shackerley-Bennett said.
“We have contingencies so that everyone managed to get out in time before it collapsed completely.”
Adelaide Fringe artistic director Heather Croall, who recently got engaged at the venue, said the incident was “really disappointing”.
“I’m just really sad that that’s happened and feel terrible for them coming to Adelaide from overseas to put on this amazing activation,” she said.
“Incidents like that always happen but what I want to focus on is the enormous love for the Adelaide Fringe that I feel every single day when I walk down the street.”
Mr Shackerley-Bennett said he hoped to get the church operational again today, and was thrilled about how well received the show’s Fringe premiere had been.
“We’ve had such an amazing time and the people of Adelaide have been so lovely it has just been so much fun being in Light Square and meeting all the people locally.
“We hope we get the opportunity to bring it back next year and to do more work with Adelaide.”