September 2016

Are you ready for 10 days of fabulous, freakish, and largely free entertainment?

The 5th Annual Fringe Fest

2016 marks the fifth year for Rochester’s Fringe Festival, and the fact that the event has doubled in size is a testament to its success. It stands to reason that this avant-garde festival would find a home in our city. In addition to our being absolutely amazing at hosting a festival, we’re also an awesome audience for outlandish, experimental, and otherwise unexpected performance art. That’s why organizers are expecting to out-do last year’s record-breaking draw of 65,000 spectators.

Expect the Unexpected.

When you visit a Fringe Festival, you can plan to be pleasantly surprised. You’re also likely to be jostled out of your comfort zone. This phenomenon got its start in Scotland all the way back in 1947 when rogue theatre groups crashed a fancy festival. Today, Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival.Since every fest throughout the world does things a little differently, every visit is a fresh adventure. Still, they all have a few things in common.

The Anatomy of Fringe

Fringe is a decidedly uncensored platform created to elevate the performing arts. Low fees and lightweight productions make it easy for both performers and spectators to participate. All shows must be original, involve minimal production, and be under 60 minutes. The festivals span multiple venues by nature, but Rochester’s approach takes performance-space diversity to another level with 31 different settings. Though Rochester Fringe curates headlining acts and some free series, the majority of performances are arranged by the venues themselves.

The 5th First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival

Thursday, September 15th – Saturday, September 24th
10 Days – 31 Venues – 500 Shows
See the schedule to plan your Fringe.