World Fringe Day: The Heart of Fringe
Happy World Fringe Day! Celebrating 70 years of creative freedom!
As the 2017 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival is swiftly approaching on July 28th, we are celebrating a very important day today, World Fringe Day!
70 years ago, the first ever Fringe was formed, and now, hundreds of Fringes across the world have July 11th to celebrate the first-ever World Fringe Day!
What started it all: “The Edinburgh Festival Fringe began in 1947 when eight groups arrived in Edinburgh hoping to perform at the newly formed Edinburgh International Festival but were refused entry to the program.
Rather than being discouraged from performing, they went ahead and performed on the “fringe” of the Festival anyway and so the Fringe was born.
Year on year more performers flocked to Edinburgh to be part of the Fringe; an open access festival where, in the spirit of the original eight, no one is denied entry, making it the largest platform on earth for creative freedom.
This initial act of defiance was also the spark that ignited fringe festivals around the world, and soon after Fringes began to establish in other cities, countries, and continents.
The Fringe model has become a global revolution reaching around the world from Australia to France, Canada to Prague, South Africa to Brighton, China to Brazil, and everywhere in-between providing platforms for artists to present their work and make cultural connections that transcend national boundaries.”
Fringe history from https://www.worldfringeday.com/abou…
Getting to the heart of Fringe: Anyone who has attended a Fringe knows that it is a good time—hundreds of artists, a non-stop party, live street artists and musicians—but when you come out to the Fringe, you are not only in for a good time: you are helping keep the arts community alive. You are supporting local artists, international artists, and helping artists finally share their stories and art without outstanding production fees, creative censoring and other restrictions.
Fringes connect artists with new audiences, other artists, and to the community. Today, many individuals who are working across global art industries owe their careers to having started out at a Fringe.
To date, the Great Salt Lake Fringe has paid out over $50,000 to 300+ artists, employed 100+ young people as staff and volunteers, and presented the world premieres of 50+ original productions.
The Great Salt Lake Fringe is uncensored, unadjudicated, and unrestricted. Artists hold the power, and have the opportunity to create art that matters to them.
It is the Fringe that offers a platform for all artists and arts lovers, and we hope to see you there! Join us: Join us for theatre, dance, visual art, and more on July 28th-August 6th for the 3rd annual Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival.