FringeArts Headquarters
‘Enjoying All Types Of Performing Arts In Philly’
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The 2021 Fringe Festival, now in its 24th year, is one of Philadelphia’s signature fall arts events celebrating innovation and creativity in contemporary performance from artists around the world.
From September 9 to October 3, the Festival will feature hundreds of dance, theater, visual arts, music and spoken-word performances in traditional venues as well as on street corners and in cars, galleries, cabarets and restaurants.
History of Fringe Festival
The Fringe started life when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. In 1997, five Philadelphia artists banded together to create an outlet for other contemporary and experimental performers to present their works.
The first Festival took over Philadelphia’s Old City for five days, and featured 60 performing groups that presented their work in theaters, nightclubs, galleries, alleys, abandoned buildings and at least one parked car.
Since then, the Fringe Festival, which is organized by Fringe Arts, has grown into more than three weeks of high-quality, highly innovative artistic presentations.
Tickets
Tickets go on sale to members on August 9th and to the general public on August 13th. You can purchase tickets either on the website, which is listed below or at the Box Office located at 140 N Columbus BLVD at Race Street. All information is listed. Click Fringe Festival Tickets!
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Our 2021 Guide To The Fringe Festival
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August 16 & 23 | Fringe Festival Preview Night | Both Nights at 7 pm | FREE | Tickets
Held at FringeArts at 140 N Christopher Columbus Blvd. ~ Map ~
Similar to Scratch Night but with the Fringe Festival just around the corner! Here is your chance to preview independent artist works taking place in the 2021 Fringe Festival. Unsure of what to see during the Festival? Want to get a tiny sample of the nearly 200 Fringe Festival shows?
A group of 5 mystery performances per night will be highlighted on the FringeArts stage, come meet the performers, preview their work, and learn more about the over 170 independent performances taking place in the 2021 fringe festival! Get the inside scoop on some Fringe Festival surprises!
Featured Artist Information Coming Soon!
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September 9 – 11 | Love Unpunished | Times Vary | $15 – $20 | Tickets
Held at Prince Theater at 1412 Chestnut Street
A hypnotic movement-theater work about the thin line between life and death. Set on twenty feet of escape stairs, this mostly-wordless piece imagines the moments just before the collapse of the World Trade Center. Stumbling bodies move into a ghost world that is visually arresting, fragile and tender.
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September 9 – October 2 | Dr. Livingston Presents RUB HARDER | Times Vary | $10 – $35 | Tickets
Held at 200 Spring Garden St – Unit C Parking Lot – Map
Jasmine Zieroff, co-creator of the erotic 2012 Fringe hit RUB deals another blow. Get hot, heavy, and hard for art. Homo-erotica cabaret lounge style with booze, parking lot tiki kitsch, and Blow Pops at the Candy Bar. Sit back and indulge while “experienced” rule breakers steam up your glasses and tear down your ideals. ALL MALE, Hosted by Lil Sweetie.
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September 9 – October 4 | Fixed Gaps | Times Vary | $25 | Tickets
Held at MAAS Building at 1325 N Randolph St
An independent film shot on location mostly in greater Philadelphia, the artwork stars local dance talents. Initially quiet and intimate, the artwork grows in dimensions of choreography and harmony. It is a celebration of different artforms, of relationships, and of life.
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September 9 – October 4 | Temporary Moments | Available for Streaming | FREE | Tickets
Held on the Internet.
Public art confronts us in our everyday environment. It is a reflection of the times we live in and a critique on our society.
Currently, this project focuses on the events that unfolded in Seattle, WA from the stay at home order through the racial justice protests in 2020. Artists painted across boarded up buildings to express the raw emotions of the community. Their messages throughout the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement resonate with us.
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September 9 – October 4 | Journey to the Kingdom of Hypnos | Available for Streaming | $9 | Tickets
Held on the Internet.
Do you remember where Sleep is, Dear Ones? Mnemosyne invites you to close your eyes and journey to the court of that benevolent Greek god-creature of Slumber. But beware, here in the Underworld the River of Oblivion is spilling over her shores and threatens the Waking.
This will introduce you to a place you’ve rarely been deep enough to find. The source of your sleep.
Stand near, listen, and remember your way to this place again and again. Travel and discover the vast environs of collective unconsciousness… all whilst the outside environment restricts where our physical forms may go.
*This immersive audio experience is meant to be listened to on headphones.*
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September 9 – October 4 | The Birth of Jawn: Exploring Philly with a King | Available for Streaming | Pay What You Can | Tickets
Held on the internet.
Follow in the footsteps of Jawn Wooders, drag king and “Philly’s Finest Person, Place, or Thing”, as he walks home after his first drag set – just as the pandemic arrives. Jawn will guide you on a real-life/digital journey from the 9th St. Market to the Gayborhood in this immersive audio experience.
Explore Philly through the eyes of a drag king and see our city through a queer lens. Find artwork hidden in plain sight. Navigate memories of the past and look for what still remains. Follow Jawn’s story on your journey in a performance that mixes story-telling with real-life/digital exploration.
What have we lost in the past year? What comes next as we rebuild our creative lives?
This show is Pay What You Can and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. All ticket proceeds will be split 50/50 between the artist and The Painted Mug Cafe, a new venue run by queer artists for queer artists. More information can be found at www.thepaintedmugcafe.com.
A video promo for this show can be found at Jawn Wooders’ YouTube page.
Follow Jawn on Facebook or Instagram for more information and updates on additional online events.
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September 9 – October 4 | Pennsylvania Academy of Dance Arts Presents the Greatest Showman | Available for Streaming | $120 | Tickets
Held on the internet.
Pennsylvania Academy of Dance Arts (PADA) is a community of people who love and appreciate the art of dance. The PADA takes on their first Fringe Festival with their rendition of The Greatest Showman. Under the direction of Kimberly D. Landle and Pamela Sterner, the students navigate through a beautifully crafted film taking on the characters and storyline.
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September 9 – October 4 | The Book of Snorin’ – Sleep Apnea the Musical | Available for Streaming | Pay What You Can | Tickets
Held on the internet.
If you snore or love a snorer, then Stew Walker’s show featuring ‘Stewpid’ songs about snoring and sleep apnea will not only amuse you, but it could save your relationship or even your life! This hilarious show follows Australian musical comedian Stew Walker on his quest to treat his sleep apnea and escape the bungalow blues.
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September 9 – October 4 | How Many Times | Available for Streaming | FREE | Tickets
Held on the internet.
As a result of this pandemic, each of us have had our structures dismantled to wildly different degrees; while some have adjusted by staying the same, others have completely reinvented the structure of their day-to-day. We are presenting a digital experience that considers the cycle of breaking and re-adapting, thinking about what it looks and feels like to move towards new or revert to old structures and forms within ourselves.
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September 9 & 10 | we already must be dead | Thur @ 10 pm & Fri @ 8:15 pm | Pay What You Can | Tickets
Held at MAAS Building at 1325 N Randolph St. MAP
we must already be dead is an experiment in the choreographic possibilities of an overhead projector. Different scenes utilize different techniques, from shadow puppetry to animation, with BREAKTIME alternating roles of operating the projector, performing before it, and performing with it in a disjointed dreamscape, unified by obsolete machinery.
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September 9 – 12 | The Floods (more info) | Gallery Hours Noon – 6 pm | FREE | Tickets
Held at the Crane Arts Icebox at 1400 N American Street. Map
A massive video experience (96x20ft) in the Crane Ice Box immerses spectators in a kaleidoscopic journey in marshlands and industrial wastelands of the Anthropocene now being transformed by floods. Combining video, music, and poetry, computers generate an extraordinary, forever-changing spectacle. Viewers can move about the space or make use of optional seating. Crane Arts is an accessible building with facilities, and the Icebox is an accessible space.
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September 9 – 23 | Ghost Town: The Musical – A Concept Album | Available for Streaming | $10 | Tickets
Held on the internet.
Olive lives in Mars, NE, mourning her mother’s death. She and her girlfriend plan to move away – until Olive meets her town’s ghosts, preserved only by slivers of memory others possess of them. Olive finds herself stuck, wondering – Is honoring the memory enough if you’re not there to relive it? Ticket buyers will be contacted with a link to stream the album and a password to access the stream after purchasing their ticket.
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September 9 – 26 | Bon Appétit! By Julia Child & Lee Hoiby (During a Pandemic) | Available for Streaming | Pay What You Can | Tickets
Held on the internet.
A comic culinary extravaganza that taps the wit and antics of one of America’s best-loved television personalities, Julia Child, the mother-of-all-foodies! Imagine what would happen if SHE had to do her show during the Pandemic! That’s this show, a one woman opera by Lee Hoiby. This is a virtual only encore presentation of our Fringe 2020 show!
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September 9 – October 1 | Overboard! at Cannonball | Times 9 pm or 10 pm | FREE | Tickets
Held at MAAS Building at 1325 N Randolph St. MAP
OVERBOARD! is Cannonball’s nightly offering of music, cabaret, sideshow, circus, storytelling, strange anthems to toaster ovens, and ecstatic participatory rituals that will be sure to be the perfect end to your night at the Fringe. OVERBOARD! takes place in the beautiful Maas Garden Bar, one of Philly’s ‘best-kept secrets,’ where there’s room to have a drink with a friend, sidle up to the stage, or enjoy a pizza from the wood-fired oven (available on certain nights).
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September 9 – 26 | 20 Years of 9-11: Memories of a Witness | times listed below | FREE | Tickets
Held at multiple locations. You can live stream or visit in person.
Imagine you are an 18-year-old college freshman, resident of NYC for one week. On your way to class, you are swept into the chaos of the World Trade Center’s twin tower attack. For Liz, this nightmare is the truth.
Remembering the 9-11 disaster 20 years later, this one person performance examines the concept of memory: where it lives, what it does to us, and what it means. Join Liz as she shares what it is like to be a witness to the horrible day that changed the world.
MORE SHOWS TO BE ADDED TODAY
Buy Tickets
Fringe Festival
Location
City-Wide | Held in different Philadelphia neighborhoods
Dates
September 9 – October 3, 2021
Cost
Costs vary at different events | Shows Listed By Days | Buy Tickets
Web Site
Photo Courtesy FringeArts
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