About Fringe Theatre
Tatawaw: welcome, there is room. The future of theatre in Treaty 6 is equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible. Fringe Theatre stands, gathers, creates, celebrates, and works on the lands of the Papaschase Cree. This is Treaty 6 territory. We are beneficiaries of this Treaty of peace and friendship. Today and every day we consider our responsibility as Treaty people.
Come share your story with us. Tatawaw.
We embrace the teachings of Tatawaw, a Nehiyawewin phrase meaning “Welcome, there is room.” At Fringe Theatre, everyone is radically welcome. Together, we are allies. We are neighbours. We are friends. We celebrate all we have been given and honour our relationships and shared connections by paying forward all that we can.
In that spirit, we extend our minds, hearts, and hands to the Indigenous nations of the Papaschase Cree on whose lands the Fringe Theatre Arts Barns stands today, as well as the Nakota, Blackfoot, Dene, Saulteaux, and Metis who have made Edmonton their home long before the building of our city, long before Fringe came to be. We commit to walking side by side with all Indigenous people who continue to make this city home.
We invite you to join us in this work by extending respect and kindness to everyone you meet, supporting them in their unique artistic journey.
Fringe was born of a revolution
We are a grass roots, DIY movement that cultivates ongoing collisions between community and art.
We exist because theatre exists and what exists here doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. We are Edmonton-grown and Edmonton’s own. Fringe is a grassroots movement that cultivates creative collisions between community and art. We make space for out-of-the-ordinary, unconventional, and boundary-pushing art. And Fringe Artists receive 100% of the profit from the ticket sales. Since 1982, we have created exceptional artistic experiences, supported 43,000 Artists, and kept Edmonton on the map as a destination and creative engine.
Theatre is an exchange. A living, breathing story shared among people. At Fringe Theatre, we believe in the power of story. Storytelling strengthens communities and crosses divides. It is a starting point, a journey, a celebration.
Our Story
The Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is the largest, longest running Fringe Theatre Festival in North America. As an event with international presence, we rank among the top 5 Fringe Festivals in the world alongside Edinburgh, Scotland and Adelaide, Australia.
The magic of Fringe lives with the people who built this Festival from the ground up, and who continue to nurture it 43 years later. The vibrant success of the Edmonton Fringe Festival is thanks to the more than 43,000 Artists who have bravely taken an artistic risk with us since we exploded onto the scene in 1982. It’s thanks to the more than 550,000 Fringers who take creative risks with us every August.
Home to Art 365 Days A Year
The Festival is just 11 days of activity. We honour the expanding definition of community and aim to build meaningful relationships with anyone interested in collaboration and artistic growth. The Fringe Theatre Arts Barns is a space for brave conversations and great creative risk. This is where chance encounters grow into meaningful collaborations, where messy first inklings become brilliant realizations. This is a loiter-positive space where you are invited to eat, meet, and create year-round.
Fringe Theatre is for you, because fringing is for everyone. We’re happy you’re here, Fringer. You belong here.
See Who Is Running The Show
The Fringe team boasts a roster of dedicated, passionate, highly-skilled makers, shakers, creators, doers, movers, and community builders who make this place better by the day.
