Seattle Fringe Festival Applications Are Open for Spring 2016 Festival

Artist applications are now open for the 2016 Seattle Fringe Festival (SFF). As in prior years, the majority of the participating artists will be chosen by a non-adjudicated lottery. The easy online application requires a $25 application fee and the deadline to apply is Tuesday, September 20, 2015. The application can be found here: http://seattlefringefestival.org/apply-now/ .

Responding to feedback from artists and audiences, SFF postponed its fall 2015 Festival until spring, and will return with a restructured, locally-focused Festival running February 25 - March 6, 2016.

The 2016 SFF will lengthen its run, occurring Thursday-Sunday over two weekends to maximize accessible evening and weekend performance slots. SFF has expanded geographically, adding venues within Seattle Center in addition to historic Capitol Hill spaces, and will focus on broadening "satellite" programming through connections to other local companies and businesses.

For the first time, the revived Seattle Fringe Festival will curate performances in its largest venue. Anchor productions by proven Festival and Seattle performance veterans will showcase some of Seattle's best artists, while drawing larger crowds to other SFF performances as well. More than 20 groups will still be chosen by lottery, maintaining the risk and surprise for audiences, and accessibility to the festival for new and untested producers and artists.

The original SFF premiered in 1992 and produced in March for 10 years. In 2003, the Festival moved to September in an effort to align with the Canadian Fringe touring circuit; this change was widely (although not entirely accurately) viewed as a cause the first Festival's downfall. The revived Festival continued fall programming to maximize opportunities for traveling performers, but has since found that local artists are currently the biggest draw for Seattle's Festival. SFF 2016 will focus its efforts entirely on connecting local artists with local audiences, building the SFF infrastructure solidly and sustainably. The current incarnation of SFF has finished each Festival solidly in the black and paid all artists on time.

The Seattle Fringe Festival is a volunteer-run community performance Festival serving artists and audiences in King County. The SFF Steering Committee is Beth Raas-Bergquist and Pamala Mijatov, with fiscal sponsorship from Theatre Puget Sound.

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