The Orlando Fringe Festival is a huge deal, because it’s the granddaddy (Grandmother? Grandparent?) of all U.S. fringe festivals. It’s been around since 1992. So to be living in Orlando is pretty special. When I lived in Indianapolis, I attended the Indianapolis Fringe Festival quite regularly and covered it for the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and my own blog, Laughing Stalk.
Now it’s time for the Orlando International Fringe Festival, which is held in the Lowndes Shakespeare Center and several other locations throughout the city, putting on 100+ shows in 2 weeks. It’s enough to make Fringe Festival fans frolic with fervor.
To attend the Fringe, you need to buy a $10 button and then buy a ticket to get into each individual show. You buy the button to be a part of the Fringe, you buy the ticket to support the artists.
The great thing about the Orlando Fringe Festival is that 100% of all ticket sales go back to the artists.
The Orlando Fringe prides itself on being 100%. As they say on their website:
The Orlando Fringe produces The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, the longest-running Fringe in the United States, which strives to be unjuried, uncensored, accessible for artists and audiences alike, with 100% of ticket sales given back to the artists.
Since many of these artists are from out of town, they fund their trips to Orlando with ticket sales. If they’re lucky, they break even. If they’re even luckier, they make money. So let’s help them get lucky make money.
To attend the Orlando International Fringe Festival
If you want to see any of the plays, get your schedules here, available as a PDF or an Excel spreadsheet. And don’t forget the shuttle schedule, because there’s no parking at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center.
You can buy your tickets here, as well as see the lineup of shows.
Personally, I’m looking forward to Paul Strickland’s Absurd It Through the Grapevine (I saw Paul at the Indy Fringe a few times) and Love Crumbs (I’m friends with one of the performers).
Orlando Fringe Venues
Lowndes Shakespeare Center
Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803
- Shuttle Stop
- Pink Venue
- Brown Venue
- Blue Venue
- Visual Fringe HQ
- Courtyard Stage and Bar
- Box Office
Orlando Museum of Art
2416 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803
- Gold Venue
- Club Fringe Lounge
- Volunteer Check-In
- Artists Lounge
Orlando Family Stage
1001 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803
- Scarlet Venue
- Green Venue
- Silver Venue
- Peach Venue
- Box Office
Orlando Garden Club
710 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803
- Kids Fringe
Savoy Orlando
1913 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32804
- BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue)
Renaissance Theatre Company
415 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803
- Shuttle Stop
- BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue)
If you’re interested in reviewing a Fringe show and publishing it here on Orlando Theatre Review, email me at orlandotheatrereview [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll make that happen!
Photo credit: Program by Orlando Fringe.
Photo credit: Photo of 2023 opening ceremony by Gontran Durocher (courtesy of Orlando Fringe)