Sydney Fringe Festival Announces 2018 Highlights and Oxford Street Takeover

Sydney Fringe Festival, New South Wales' largest independent arts festival, today announced its most ambitious program yet including a take-over of the entire Oxford Street precinct for a month-long party. Presented from 1 until 30 September, for the first time in 2018 the Fringe will program performances, exhibitions, large-scale events, a festival club and more, in venues on and surrounding Oxford Street in inner Sydney. There will also be activations in the empty storefronts along the strip, continuing the Sydney Fringe Festival's passion for enlivening Sydney's unused spaces.

Sydney Fringe CEO and Festival Director Kerri Glasscock said: "We are thrilled to be able to enliven our beloved Oxford St Precinct as part of this year's festival. This is an area of Sydney that has stoically contributed to so much of our city's cultural identity over the years and has, in recent times, been standing alone in the wake of lock out laws and other difficulties. This is an opportunity for the local community of businesses, venues, artists, and audiences to celebrate and amplify the amazing content of the area and to bring music back to the streets. This year is our most ambitious festival program to date and it is only fitting that the bulk of it is housed in our most ambitious activation to date!"

Highlighting the city's vibrant culture, Fringe will bring life to Sydney suburbs with a diverse program spanning theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry. The 2018 program will feature six festival hubs across the city this September, including its Oxford Street Hub, Liverpool Hub in Western Sydney, Circus Hub, Touring Hub, Dance Hub and Emerging Artist Hub.

Highlights presented as part of the Oxford Street Hub include FRINGE IGNITE, the Festival's official opening party to be held across various venues in the precinct including the National Art School, UNSW Art & Design, Oxford Art Factory and Eternity Playhouse. The National Art School will be activated throughout September for Fringe with performances and events and will host the festival's giant closing Heaps Gay event.

In 2018 the Sydney Fringe expands its footprint by moving into Western Sydney, with a Liverpool Hub, the return of the CINEWEST program and an independent theatre program at Q Theatre at The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. The programming will highlight Western Sydney artists and also bring a flavour of Sydney Fringe to Western Sydney streets with light installations, pop-up shops and live music.

Other highlights of the program include the Emerging Artist Hub, spreading over three venues within the Erskineville Town Hall and across the road to the church hall, plus a pop-up bar; the Dance Hub at the PACT Centre for Emerging Artists; the Circus Hub in partnership with legendary physical theatre company Legs on The Wall at the Red Box in Lillyfield with shows curated by the company's Artistic Director Joshua Thomson, a pop up bar, workshops and more; and the very first Touring Hub featuring a handpicked collection of shows from around the globe with artists from the UK, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore and interstate.

The full program for the 2018 Sydney Fringe Festival will be announced in August 2018. Please visit https://www.sydneyfringe.com/ for further details and updates.