The 36^th annu­al Win­nipeg Fringe The­atre Fes­ti­val returns for anoth­er year of weird and won­der­ful indie the­atre, tak­ing over the city with more than 140 shows at 27 venues from July 19 to 30. The fes­ti­val show­cas­es old favourites and new works rang­ing from heart­felt dra­mas to hilar­i­ous come­dies and a few shows that are tru­ly unclas­si­fi­able. Old Mar­ket Square will become a hotspot of beer gar­dens, diverse food options, local arti­sans, free enter­tain­ment and Kids Fringe, act­ing as a hub for Fringers. 

Advance tick­ets and pass­es are now on sale and are avail­able at win​nipegfringe​.com or in per­son at 174 Mar­ket Avenue. Tick­ets are $12 and we offer $6 advance tick­ets for chil­dren (12 and under) at the Kids Venue. Pro­grams are avail­able for only $10 at the Roy­al Man­i­to­ba The­atre Cen­tre, McNal­ly Robin­son Book­sellers and select Man­i­to­ba Liquor Marts. A Fringe pro­gram pro­vides a full list­ing of shows, venues and oth­er essen­tial infor­ma­tion to help nav­i­gate the festival.

As always, UMFM’s intre­pid the­ater reporter Justin Olynyk, host of Play It Again (Wednes­day nights at 8PM), and UMFM’s crack team of review­ers will be in the mid­dle of the action check­ing out some of the great plays and telling you all about them — you can get their thoughts dai­ly here!

It’s a Fringe-For-All

• PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN EXPE­RI­ENCES: To make Fringe an expe­ri­ence that every­one can enjoy regard­less of their bud­get, two new Pay-What-You-Can expe­ri­ences will be offered: an inter­ac­tive mys­tery and an open mic show. PWYC door tick­ets will also be avail­able for every Kids Venue per­for­mance to make sure that all lit­tle Fringers and their fam­i­lies can have access to the arts.
• ASL-INTER­PRET­ED PER­FOR­MANCES: With an ASL-inter­pret­ed per­for­mance every day, Fringe hopes to make the fes­ti­val more acces­si­ble to those who are hard of hear­ing or Deaf. The shows cho­sen for ASL inter­pre­ta­tion show­case the breadth of Fringe’s pro­gram­ming with dra­mas, come­dies and fam­i­ly-friend­ly performances.

HIGH­LIGHTS OF THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL

• HALF THE PRICE, TWICE THE FUN: Par­tic­i­pat­ing com­pa­nies are offer­ing over 50 per­for­mances to be sold at 2 for $12, high­light­ed in our pro­gram. Grab a pal, see a show and sup­port these gen­er­ous companies! 
• THE SOUND OF FRINGE: Local bands in our noon-hour con­cert series and night­ly fea­tured acts (8pm and 10pm) promise to enter­tain the crowd at Old Mar­ket Square. Check out a vari­ety of acts such as Dirty Cat­fish Brass Band, DJ Hun­ni­cutt, Doc­tor Rock­to­pus, Dr. Hot­bot­tom, Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir, JD Edwards, Mama Cutsworth, Romi Mayes, The Noble Thiefs, Those Guys and more!
• GRAB A BITE: Refu­el with local offer­ings like Blue Haze Bar­beque, Farm Dogs, India Palace Restau­rant, KYU Grill, Lemon Heav­en, Mini O’s Mini Donuts, Miss Christine’s Kitchen, Nucci’s Gelati, The Chur­ro Stop and The Melt­down.

GET INVOLVED

• PATRON REVIEWs: Fringe is by the peo­ple and for the peo­ple, so share your reviews for oth­er Fringers to enjoy. Head over to win​nipegfrin​gere​views​.com to read reviews or write your own.
• VOL­UN­TEER: Be part of the summer’s hottest fes­ti­val by vol­un­teer­ing! Roles include sell­ing tick­ets and ush­er­ing for shows, help­ing to keep drinks flow­ing at our bev­er­age pavil­ions, facil­i­tat­ing fun with our young Fringers at Kids Fringe, answer­ing patron ques­tions and keep­ing our indoor and out­door spaces tidy. Appli­ca­tions are being accept­ed until July 15. For more infor­ma­tion and how to apply, vis­it win​nipegfringe​.com or email volunteers@​winnipegfringe.​com