The Chicago Fringe Festival joins festivals across the globe Tuesday, July 11 to celebrate the inaugural World Fringe Day. World Fringe Day is an international day of celebration, reflecting on the collective power and worldwide reach of the Fringe movement. Chicago Fringe and Fringe Festivals around the globe invite participants and audiences to join the celebration by sharing their love for all things Fringe on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This year marks 70 years since the birth of the fringe concept, with the founding of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in 1947. The spark that was ignited in Edinburgh has circled the globe and there are now more than 200 fringes worldwide. In addition to Edinburgh and Chicago, the Fringe model has been emulated from Australia to France, Canada to Prague, South Africa to Brighton, China to Brazil, and everywhere in-between. The growing Fringe movement enables people all over the world to make cultural connections that transcend national boundaries.
The Chicago Fringe Festival's Executive Director Anne Cauley said, "World Fringe Day is a wonderful opportunity for our community to join people around the world in celebrating all that is great about Fringe. Fringes come in many different shapes and sizes, but are all united in their dedication to providing platforms for artists to create, innovate, take risks, develop skills, and reach new audiences. We are proud of how the Chicago Fringe Festival has grown over the last eight years and look forward to our upcoming festival in August. On behalf of all of the Chicago Fringe artists, volunteers, and staff, we wish the Edinburgh Festival Fringe a happy 70th anniversary. It is an incredible milestone and a great inspiration for us."
World Fringe Day will highlight the crucial role that Fringe Festivals continue to play in the international arts landscape. Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Shona McCarthy said, "From humble beginnings in Edinburgh in 1947, the Fringe movement has developed into a global network of festivals over the last 70 years, with Fringes now taking place on every continent except Antarctica. 2017 promises to be a very exciting year in Fringe history as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and join with our sister fringes around the globe to celebrate 70 years of the fringe movement. I hope that anyone who has attended, performed at, or been involved in organising a fringe will take the opportunity to share their fringe stories on World Fringe Day."
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe began in 1947 when eight groups arrived in Edinburgh hoping to perform at the newly formed Edinburgh International Festival but were refused entry. Rather than being discouraged, they went ahead and performed on the fringe of the Festival anyway. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is an open access festival where, in the spirit of the original eight, no one is denied entry, making it the largest platform on earth for creative freedom. In 2016, 3,269 shows took place in 294 venues across Edinburgh.
The 2017 Chicago Fringe Festival and Kids Fringe, August 30 - September 10, will announce its slate of performances and tickets will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, Aug. 1. The eighth annual Chicago Fringe Festival takes place in five venues in Jefferson Park. Entrance to the Chicago Fringe Festival, called Chicago's "Best Performing Arts Festival" by the Chicago Reader, is a one-time button purchase of $5, after that all individual performances are $10. Kids Fringe features free workshops along with ticketed shows that are appropriate for all ages. Tickets for Kids Fringe are $10 for adults, plus the one-time $5 button, and $5 for children ages 12 years and younger, no button required. Passes with a discounted ticket price are available when attending multiple performances: a four-show pass is $36, a ten-show pass is $80 and an unlimited pass is $175. Each venue will have a box office for day-of purchase and the box office for the entire festival is located at Fringe Central, Location TBA.
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