KeyBank Rochester Fringe Opens Show Submissions On March 1

Organizers of the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival will open the 2019 show-submission process two weeks from today, on Friday, March 1, 2019 at 9 a.m. (EST). Through April 15 at 11:59 p.m. (EST), artists and producers from all over the world may submit production proposals at no cost directly to the 2019 Fringe's 20+ venues via rochesterfringe.com. Based on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe model, the vast majority of the Fringe's 500+ performances and events are selected by the venues themselves in this way; only a few headliners and all of the outdoor entertainment are curated by the Fringe itself.

"Although we've added a couple of weeks to the submission process this year, shows are strongly encouraged to apply early as admissions are on a rolling basis," explains Festival Producer Erica Fee. "Our venues start booking their line-ups immediately."

The 2019 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival will expand to 12 days this year, from Tuesday, September 10 through Saturday, September 21. Last year's Fringe added an eleventh day, attracted more than 78,000 attendees, and sold more tickets than any of the festival's previous six years. In addition, more than 150 of the 500+ performances and events were free of charge.

From its five-day debut in 2012, the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival has become one of the fastest-growing and most-attended fringe festivals in the U.S and the largest multi-genre arts festival in New York State. Renowned among the world's 200+ fringe festivals for its large-scale, outdoor, free-to-the-public performances - including the U.S. premieres of Canada's Circus Orange (2014), France's Plasticiens Volants (2017), and the UK's Massaoke (2018) - Rochester's Fringe was also the first fringe festival in North America to feature a Spiegeltent, which is now an annual attraction. From comedy to theatre, from music to dance, from visual art and film to spoken word, and from children's entertainment to multi-disciplinary collaborations, the festival's diversity also extends to venues that span the gamut from parked cars to grand theatres.

Rochester Fringe Festival connects and empowers artists, audiences, venues, educational institutions, and the community to celebrate, explore, and inspire creativity via an annual, multi-genre arts festival. The not-for-profit, 501(c)3 corporation was pioneered by several of Rochester's esteemed cultural institutions including Geva Theatre Center, the George Eastman House and Garth Fagan Dance; up-and-coming arts groups like PUSH Physical Theatre and Method Machine; and higher-education partners such as the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology. The organization's overarching mission is to make arts readily accessible to audiences, as well as to provide a platform for artists to share their ideas and develop their skills, while stimulating downtown Rochester both culturally and economically.