What's a Fringe Festival, you ask?
Wikipedia's definition is "Fringe theatre is a term used to describe theatre not of the mainstream. The term comes from [...] Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival (1948) as a ‘fringe’ [...] The term has since been adopted by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and thence by alternative theatres and alternative theatre festivals."
There are more than 20 Fringe festivals in North America alone. Fringe shows are mostly 60 minutes long, about $10 a ticket. Most are held in regular theatres, but some are site-specific (like a great walking tour a few years ago based on Canterbury's Tales). Performances are chosen by lottery (no risk of favouritism), and performers, while mostly North American, come from around the world.
I saw about 8 shows this year, a record for me, and I'm happy to say that, after years of "'fringing," I'm finally getting the hang of it.
First: don't buy tickets in advance. Half the fun is making decisions based on conversations you strike up while waiting in line.
Second: venues are spread out. You may want to focus on one area a day rather than waste time commuting. Unless you have a bike, in which case, you're golden.
Third: bring change. Lots of it. Fringe is fully funded by grants and donations. 100% of the ticket sales go to the performers. So they collect loose change before every event, and you don't want to feel cheap, do you? After all, you're getting such great entertainment for so little.
Last: bring your own food and refreshments. I went 8 hours yesterday with no food except junk from the one vending machine I saw all day. At least I had my water bottle -- but I was starving by the end. Bad planning on my part, but it's all because I heard of a great show at the last minute and the time I'd set aside for lunch was sacrificed. Yes, it was worth it, but I won't let that happen again.
My favourites this year are When Harry met Harry, Pitch Blonde, the Giant's Garden -- bring the kids to this one -- and Mickey and Judy. Check them out if they show up somewhere near you.
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