PortFringe Returns June 13-22 with New Features, New Venues, New Energy

The eighth annual PortFringe festival takes place June 13-22, 2019, featuring new works and genre-defying performances at venues across downtown Portland.

The festival is a non-juried, high-energy celebration of new, edgy, and experimental performance, run entirely by volunteers and drawing acts from around Maine and the United States. PortFringe launched in 2012 and has grown steadily since its inception. The festival seeks to eliminate financial and logistical barriers so that artists can focus on their work (and make money doing so).

The PortFringe 2019 lineup includes original plays, experimental works, multimedia performances, dance, comedy, and musical theater. For the first time, we are starting our festival with Solo Fest, a series of one-person shows. We are also introducing Installation Fest, which features immersive performance pieces at the New Fruit venue. Roughly 45 individuals and companies will present more than 125 shows during the week. PortFringe shows are all one hour or less, and start times are staggered, encouraging attendees to take in as much as they can.

PortFringe artists are chosen by lottery. They include fringe veterans and national touring acts. Several are involved in the "fringe circuit," having taken their shows to fringe festivals around the country. PortFringe is a member of the U.S. and Canadian Associations of Fringe Festivals. Founded at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in 1947, the fringe concept is more than 70 years old.

Interviews with organizers and participating artists can be arranged.

PortFringe 2019 venues are: Portland Stage Studio and Storefront (25A Forest Ave) | The Apohadion (107 Hanover St) | Bright Star World Dance (108 High St) | two stages at Mechanics Hall (519 Congress St) | New Fruit (82 Parris St) | Overlook (155 Brackett St). Fringe Central, the info hub, is again located on street level at Portland Stage.

Tickets start at $12; multi-show passes are $32 (3-show pass), $85 (9-show pass), and $150 (VIP unlimited pass).