First Rochester Fringe Fest Seeks Applications

The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival will make its debut in downtown Rochester's culturally-rich East End on September 20-23, 2012.

"Rochester's four-day Fringe will have a fun 'expect-the-unexpected' feel, while showcasing everything from theatre and dance, to visual arts and music, to comedy and family entertainment," says Fringe Producer, Erica Fee, a native Rochesterian who has performed, directed and produced in London and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (the world's largest arts fest) for the past 11 years. "We encourage all artists, groups and producers to apply with their most creative show ideas through April 14 at www.rochesterfringe.com."

In the tradition of most fringe fests, the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival will act as a facilitator, with venues themselves choosing and producing their own shows based on applications. The eleven official venues include the George Eastman House, the Nextstage at Geva Theatre Center, and Hatch Recital and Kilbourn Halls at the Eastman School of Music. Seven other venues are programming their own events, and – in true Fringe spirit – a "Bring Your Own Venue" (BYOV) option allows applicants to acquire their own locations within the Fringe footprint. Other fringe festivals have included shows in very non-traditional venues, including taxi cabs, elevators and phone booths.

The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival will be the only fringe fest in New York State outside of New York City, although there are approximately 20 in the U.S. and 200 worldwide. It will also produce three of its own name headliners (TBA) in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre as separate ticketed events, but has announced its free, outdoor, opening-night headliner on Thursday evening, September 20: San Francisco aerial dance company, Project Bandaloop (www.projectbandaloop.org), which will dance on the side of a Rochester building.

The Fringe will also coordinate additional free entertainment for four days on Gibbs Street, which will be closed to traffic. Organizers predict that the event will draw a minimum of 15,000 audience members in its first year (the same number of attendees as the first edition of the East End's Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, which reported 182,000 festival goers in 2011).

The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation. A full schedule will be announced along with ticket information in late May, 2012. Twitter: @rochesterfringe