New Zealand Fringe Festival

The New Zealand Fringe Festival is an open access arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand held over several weeks in February and March each year. The 2020 programme marked the festival's 30th anniversary.[1]

New Zealand Fringe Festival
GenreArts
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Wellington, New Zealand
Inaugurated1990
Previous event1 March 2019 (2019-03-01) - 23 March 2019 (2019-03-23)
Next event28 February 2020 (2020-02-28) - 21 March 2020 (2020-03-21)
Organised byCreative Capital Arts Trust
Websitewww.fringe.co.nz

Background

The festival was established in 1990 and was the first fringe festival in New Zealand. It followed fringe festival models from Edinburgh and Adelaide. The first festival was held at BATS Theatre.[2][3] Initially it ran as a biennial festival to coincide with the New Zealand Arts Festival and was also curated by them until the Fringe Arts Trust (FAT) was formed in 1994.[3]

The current governance is the Creative Capital Arts Trust, an umbrella organisation established in 2011 to manage New Zealand Fringe Festival and the Wellington street festival CubaDupa.[4] Since 2011, NZ Fringe has grown 188% from 52 shows to 150 shows in 2016.[5] The non-profit organisation is governed by a voluntary board of five trustees. Staff have included Eric Holowacz (Chief Executive), Gerry Paul (CubaDupa Festival Director), and Sasha Tilly (Fringe Festival Operations Coordinator).

Programme

New Zealand Fringe is an open access festival, providing various platforms for artists to experiment, present, and show new or refined works.[6] The festival is held annually for three weeks during February/March.[6][7] The festival often has over 150 events with can include more than 600 presentations over the three week season. It includes contemporary work in art forms including audio (podcast), busking, cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, improvisation, music, online, physical theatre, poetry, puppetry, spoken word/story telling, theatre, visual & digital art. New Zealand Fringe is produced and managed by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust, with Eric Holowacz as Chief Executive and a team of professional arts managers and seasonal staff.

Participation

As an open access there are no constraints on the content or presentation of the work. Participating artists pay a one-off registration fee and the New Zealand Fringe assists the artists by providing festival marketing (website, fringe programme, marketing collateral), practical information, and one-on-one advice. As a non-commissioned, open access festival, the production and presentation costs are the responsibility of the practitioner.[8]

New Zealand Fringe Festival runs a Kakano New Works Funding scheme to foster and support new New Zealand productions. There are international festival relationships to create exchange and touring opportunities to New Zealand artists.[9]

Accolades

In January 2014, National Geographic named NZ Fringe Festival one of 10 international ‘Must Do in February Festivals’.[1][10]

In November 2014 NZ Fringe Festival won the Wellington International Airport Regional Community Award for Arts and Culture.[10]

Alumni

Many New Zealand arts and entertainment practitioners and companies have had shows at the New Zealand Fringe including, Flight of the Conchords,[11] Rhys Darby, Strike Percussion, and Footnote Dance.[6][7][12]

References
  1. "Event-o-Rama: 10 Must-Dos in February – Intelligent Travel". Intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com. 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  2. "History". Bats.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  3. Jackman, Amy (2015-02-18). "Fringe Festival celebrates silver jubilee". Stuff. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  4. "Welcome". Creative Capital Arts Trust. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  5. "Wellington's biggest little arts festival turns 25!". thebigidea.co.nz. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  6. "New Zealand Fringe Festival". Fringe.co.nz. 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  7. "Biggest Fringe lineup yet unveiled". Stuff.co.nz. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  8. "Fringe Artist Pack 2015" (PDF). fringe.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  9. "Notes from the Fringe funding forum". fringe.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  10. "25 years of Wellington Fringe". Stuff.co.nz. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  11. "New Zealand Fringe Festival Names Flight of the Conchords' McKenzie & Clement Hall of Famers and Announces Awards". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  12. "New Zealand Fringe Festival Names Flight of the Conchords' McKenzie & Clement Hall of Famers and Announces Awards". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2015-07-31.

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