Preview: Harrisburg Fringe Festival Runs July 16th - 19th

It’s time once again to do something weird in Harrisburg! That’s right folks, the 4th annual Harrisburg Fringe Festival starts this week. Running Thursday, July 16th through Sunday, July 19th, the Harrisburg Fringe Festival offers something for everyone who loves performing arts and visual arts of all kinds. From music to magic, dance to drama, improv to illusion, paintings to plays, and more, every performance at the Fringe Festival is sure to capture the audience’s imagination. If you’ve never been to a Fringe Festival before, here’s what you need to know.

The Harrisburg Fringe Festival is inclusive, unjuried, and uncensored (so make sure you check the program for content warnings, and definitely stop by the Family Fringe for fun for all ages). Fringe seeks to make space for artistic expression of all varieties. As Executive Producer Brianna Dow comments, “A Fringe allows people to ‘take the stage’ that might not otherwise have the resources, the opportunity, or the audiences to do it.”

Since its inception in 2023, the Harrisburg Fringe Festival has welcomed more than 600 unique artists. This year’s Fringe Festival includes more than 250 artists from all over the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. If you love to support artists, Fringe is the perfect opportunity—not only does your attendance build their visibility as artists, but the artists also receive 100% of their ticket sales.

So, how does Harrisburg Fringe work? You must have a Fringe button! The buttons give you the opportunity to purchase tickets for as many Fringe shows as you like, and they are great collectors’ items. The proceeds from the buttons support the Harrisburg Fringe Festival itself. Purchase your button in advance at hbgfringe.com and pick them up at the Fringe Hub located at 717 Community Arts Center (25 S. 3rd Street) or at one of the venues (you can also purchase your buttons in person at the Hub or one of the venues). Once you have a button, go crazy picking your shows! Show tickets range up to $10, and all proceeds go directly to the artists. Some shows may sell out quickly, so check out the website to pick your “must see” shows ahead of time. Or go with the flow and see where the creative spirit takes you! See as many shows as you can—all Fringe shows are 60 minutes or less. Make sure you plan your Fringe to allow for your travel time between venues, as late seating is not available.

The venues this year include 312 Chestnut, Open Stage (both the Capital Blue Cross Main Stage and the Studio Theatre), Culture & Commerce Co., Gamut Theatre (both the Select Medical Mainstage and the Alexander Grass Second Stage), Midtown Cinema Theatre 3, The Forum Auditorium, Third Floor at Karma, JoJo’s Barbershop, and the Fringe Hub. Find the Visual Fringe, a special event “poems for strangers”, other cool Fringe merch (the t-shirts are my favorite!), the centralized box office, Fringe buttons, and more at Fringe Hub. Adding to the fun this year, everyone can participate in Fringe Bingo and keep their energy up with some delicious offerings from food trucks.

As mentioned above, the Family Fringe is back again this year, and, for the first time, will be happening on two days of the Fringe! Family Fringe includes interactive workshops and activities for all ages on Friday, July 17th from 2-6pm and Saturday, July 18th from 10am-6pm at Strawberry Square (admission to Family Fringe is free!). With events like “Crafternoon”, “Story Time at the Clock Tower”, dance, improv, and role playing, Family Fringe is something you do not want to miss.

This will be my third time at the Harrisburg Fringe Festival. In previous years I’ve had a chance to enjoy The Happy Hookers, The Improvabilities, The Orpheus Theatre Company (this year presenting “You’re Not Supposed to Say Macbeth”); as well as performers Toby Bradbury (performing in “Barbra” this year), Vanessa Codorniu (this year performing in a one-woman show “Perra, Puta, Loca, Bruja”), Legs Akimbo (“Shibari Salon”), and A to Z Choreography; and playwrights Hope Mackenzie (“Genesis” is her new play) and Josh Dorsheimer (this year presenting short films in “Fears for Queers”). Over the years I’ve seen hilarious improv, heard touching poetry, enjoyed one-person shows, relaxed to beautiful music, and been astonished by magic and dance. Every year is something new and every year it is a blast!  

I cannot wait to see the new performances on tap from artists brand new to the Harrisburg Fringe Festival! I look forward to this event every year because I know that I will experience art that takes me out of myself, that challenges me, that makes me laugh, that brings me joy and provokes new ideas. Your intrepid BroadwayWorld reviewers, Becky Winter and I will be covering some of the performances that are brand new to the Harrisburg Fringe Festival this year, so check on facebook for our posts throughout the day (where we’ll be tagging the Fringe Festival) and www.broadwayworld.com/central-pa for a daily rundown of the shows we saw! Don’t forget to post your experiences throughout Fringe as well, and follow HBGFringe on facebook and Instagram. Visit www.hbgfringe.com for the full program and additional information. We hope to see you all at the 2026 Harrisburg Fringe Festival this week!

Artwork by Reina Ercilia Aguilar Wooden (Reina 76 Artist)

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