FRINGE WORLD to be the first big Fringe to return post COVID-19

Western Australia’s FRINGE WORLD Festival has announced its plans for the 2021 Festival, with the popular event set to be the first major Fringe performance opportunity for artists, post COVID-19 restrictions.

FRINGE WORLD is the third largest Fringe in the world and 2021 will be a 10th birthday celebration for the Festival, which will take place from Friday 15 January to 14 February.

Presented by non-for-profit registered charity ARTRAGE Inc, CEO Sharon Burgess said that thanks to the strong state government leadership and the efforts and responsibility shown by Western Australians, the organisation is proceeding with plans for a 2021 Festival that will include additional support for venues and artists.

“Over the past nine years FRINGE WORLD has become an essential part of our state’s summer calendar, and we are excited to confirm our plans for the 2021 Festival to give our community something exciting to look forward to,” Ms Burgess said.

“We know that local businesses, venues and artists have suffered due to the impact of COVID-19 and we are committed to looking at ways to support and encourage them to return to the Festival in 2021. We can confirm we will be waiving venue registration fees and further participant incentives will be announced in the coming weeks,” Ms Burgess added.

The open access Festival will open its venue registrations soon and venues across the state are invited to be part of the Fringe. The most recent relaxation of restrictions means that the Festival is planning for the return of The Woodside Pleasure Garden, which will feature all the food, entertainment and great atmosphere that the people of Perth have grown to love.

FRINGE WORLD Festival Director Amber Hasler said that she is excited to confirm the Festival’s plan for 2021 and to give artists the confidence of an upcoming performance opportunity, after months of quarantine restrictions.

“Every FRINGE WORLD Festival is a celebration of the stories of our brilliant artists, including thousands of Western Australian performers, but after the devastation of COVID-19 the 2021 celebration will be even more meaningful and we are so excited we have the Fringe to look forward to,” Ms Hasler said.

Ms Hasler added that the Festival has a range of strategies to make it easier for artists to take part, including flexible registration timelines and a new FRINGE WORLD app.

“The FRINGE WORLD app is almost finished and it’s looking incredible with functionality designed to make it even easier for customers to browse shows, buy tickets, get personalised recommendations and plan their Fringe Binge!”

An added bonus of the app for artists is that it will remove the need for a printed FRINGE WORLD guide and free up artists to register their event with more flexible registration deadlines, which will be crucial given the moveable nature of COVID-19 restriction changes. There will also be environmental benefits, towards not printing hundreds of thousands of copies of the Festival guide.

Venue registrations will open on 21 July and event registrations will open on 4 August. Click here to find out more about participating in FRINGE WORLD 2021.

The FRINGE WORLD app is being developed by Perth digital consultancy Equilibrium thanks to support from Woodside.

FRINGE WORLD gratefully recognises the support of its partners including: Principal Supporter: Lotterywest; Government Partners: the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries; the City of Perth; and Principal Partners: Woodside; and Gage Roads Brewing Co.
 

CONTACT

Jo Hos, Marketing Director
0430 552 962 / jo@artrage.com.au