2018 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival Grows to 11 Days

The 2017 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival (September 14-23) was "our most successful Fringe yet," reports the non-profit board of directors that organizes the fast-growing, multi-genre arts festival. Attendance at more than 500 performances and events - 175 of them free of charge - is estimated* at more than 78,000 (a 15% increase over last year's 68,000).

Beautiful weather throughout the festival no doubt added to the turnout, especially for the U.S. premiere tour of France's Plasticiens Volants. The world-renowned street theatre company presented its immersive, grand-scale, jaw-dropping spectacle called BIG BANG featuring giant inflatables at Friday and Saturday on the Fringe (Sept. 15 & 16) at Parcel 5. A combined audience of more than 20,000 people is estimated* to have attended the two performances.

"We are actually being called 'the Rochester model' by other fringe festivals across the U.S. and the world because of these huge, free shows that we provide every year," states Festival Producer Erica Fee. "They aren't easy to locate or afford - and we hope we can continue to find downtown, outdoor space for them in the future - but making the arts accessible to the public is a key part of our mission."

"We're proud to support Fringe's mission, and it coincides perfectly with KeyBank's commitment to helping our communities thrive," says KeyBank Rochester Market President James Barger. "We saw first-hand how this wildly creative festival adds to the quality of life in Rochester, and we can't wait until 2018's Fringe!"

Organizers also announce that, due to overwhelming demand, the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival will add an extra day in 2018, opening on Wednesday, September 12 and running through Saturday, September 22, turning what has been a 10-day festival for the past five years into an 11-day event.

As has been the case for the past few years, Fringe's second weekend also featured a wide variety of free entertainment on a closed-off Gibbs Street and Spiegelgarden: 10 bands, the new Farm to Fringe and Kids Day, and Fringe Street Beat - an all-styles dance battle that drew teams from all over the region (Montreal's MTL Squad beat out Binghamton's Seven Sessions in the final round to win the $1,500 prize) and a large and enthralled audience. The previous weekend's free Gospel Sunday also attracted its annual full house at Kilbourn Hall.

Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian John Mulaney's KID GORGEOUS tour was a total sell-out in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Friday, Sept. 22. Many other Fringe-curated events sold out or were very near sell-outs, including the Cristal Palace Spiegeltent's Cirque du Fringe: Eclectic Attraction, late-night show The Bicycle Men, late-late-night's Silent Disco, Disco Kids, and Fringe Afternoon Tea.

But the good news doesn't stop there: more than 85 ticketed performances at almost every other Fringe venue sold out as well.

"This was the best Fringe ever for SOTA," reports Adele Fico, Arts Center Director for School of the Arts, Fringe's largest venue with 40 productions on four stages. "I think the shows we picked appealed to a variety of audiences and I loved seeing young, old, kids, babies and teenagers in the building - all at the same time! I saw many familiar faces too - repeat customers from previous Fringes who literally spent the day with us."

Based on the Edinburgh Fringe model, the vast majority of the Fringe's productions are submitted by artists and then chosen by the Fringe venues themselves: Bernunzio Uptown Music, Blackfriars Theatre, the Central Library, Eastman School of Music, Gallery r, Garth Fagan Dance Studio, George Eastman Museum, Geva Theatre Center, Java's Café, The Little Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Makers Gallery & Studio, MuCCC, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester Museum & Science Center, School of the Arts, TheatreROCS Stage at Abilene, and Writers & Books.

Rebecca Fuss, Director of Advancement for Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library, says: "Central Library had a great Fringe year! All of our ticketed events (River to Roof Tours and Spooky Stories in the Stacks) sold out, and the free shows were full. The Murder Mystery tripled our expectations, and librarians are already coming up with ideas for next year."

In addition to making the arts accessible to audiences, Fringe's other key mission is to make audiences accessible to artists, providing them with a platform to share their ideas and develop their skills.

"Fringe-time in Rochester is the most exciting time of the year for performers," says Dresden Engle, member of popular sketch comedy troupe EstroFest, which sold out four of its five Fringe shows at Geva Theatre Center's Fielding Stage. "The energy and the appreciation for the arts are through the roof! EstroFest has been bringing laughs to Rochester audiences for close to 20 years, and we're thrilled to be embraced by Fringe audiences. Proud to be a part of it!"

Director of Movement and Dance at the University of Rochester/BIODANCE Artistic Director Missy Phohl Smith, who directed LABYRINTH at RMSC's Strasenburgh Planetarium (which also sold out four of five performances), observes: "With 26 performing artists coming together around themes of climate change, I am both humbled and motivated that more than 1,000 people came to be immersed in our interactive art, with tens of thousands more celebrating the performing arts through the Fringe."

In addition to attendance and artistic successes, the Fringe provides a significant boost to downtown businesses including hotels, restaurants, shops, bars, and parking garages. The Fringe also creates many direct temporary jobs (artists, producers, performers, vendors, security, festival staffing) in addition to indirect jobs, further working to boost the local economy.

It is attendees, however, who have the final say about an event's success, and this year's not only came, they flooded social media. From Instagram:

· @shotbywilder: "Street Beat during @rochester_fringe might be one of my favorite things ever. The dancers, the crowds, the music, the kids interacting with the dancers, young, old, black, white, male, female ... everyone enjoying an event where the energy was palpable. Hours later and I'm still pumped! We need more of this in #roc!"

· @iloveny: "Tap through our Instagram Story to get an inside look at all the crazy fun happening right now at the Rochester Fringe Festival! #ILoveNY"

· @stevecarter "This wasn't taken at Burning Man - but rather, @rochester_fringe in the heart of Downtown Rochester. Parcel 5 doesn't need a "performing arts center," it already is one. #OurParcel5 #explorerochester"

*Attendance figures are based on modern crowd estimation techniques using a standardized formula (based on the work of Drs. Herbert Jacobs, Ray Watson and Paul Yip: area divided by crowd density) as well as by the Rochester Police Department, venue counts, and ticket sales, and are deemed accurate within 10%, plus or minus.

Rochester Fringe Festival is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation that exists as a means to connect venues, performers, artists, educational institutions and the audience. It was pioneered by several of Rochester's esteemed cultural institutions, including Geva Theatre Center, the George Eastman House and Garth Fagan Dance, as well as up-and-coming groups like PUSH Physical Theatre and Method Machine. The Board of Directors includes representatives from the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC, Boylan Code LLC, the Eastman School of Music, Mengel, Metzger and Barr & Co. LLP, Method Machine, PUSH Physical Theatre, and Writers & Books. The Rochester Fringe Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. This festival is also supported by a grant from Empire State Development's I LOVE NEW YORK program under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Regional Economic Development Council Initiative.

Additional 2017 Fringe sponsors include: KeyBank; New York State Council on the Arts; University of Rochester; Rochester Area Community Foundation; Elaine P. & Richard U. Wilson Foundation; RIT; Ames Amzalak Memorial Trust; National Endowment for the Arts; Waldron Rise Foundation; Gouvernet Arts Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation; City of Rochester; Monroe County; Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC; Boylan Code LLP; Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co. LLP; Wegmans; Nocon & Associates; Hyatt Regency Rochester; Ronald Fielding; SUNY Geneseo; The Pike Company; the Max & Marian Farash Charitable Foundation; 13-WHAM; CITY Newspaper; Democrat & Chronicle Media Group; East Avenue Inn & Suites; Broccolo Tree & Lawncare; McCarthy Tents & Events; Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation; The Rubens Family Foundation; The Wilson Foundation; the Kozel Family Foundation; Fred & Floy Willmott Foundation; William G. McGowan Charitable Fund; the College at Brockport; Nazareth College; St. John Fisher College; Visit Rochester; Hamilton A/V; Genesee Beer; City Blue; WXXI; Yelp!; Midtown Athletic; KidsOutandAbout.com; and ESL Foundation.

About KeyCorp: KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $135.8 billion at June 30, 2017. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, insurance, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

Photo credit: Erich Camping

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