San Diego International Fringe Festival

The San Diego International Fringe Festival is an annual non-profit festival dedicated to fringe theater and other performing arts. It has been held in San Diego, California every year since 2013. Despite being one of the youngest fringe festivals in North America, it has already become a major cultural event in San Diego.

The San Diego International Fringe Festival, also known as SDFringe, is based on the same principles as most other fringe festivals. The world’s first open access performing arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, was founded in 1947 as an alternative to the curated Edinburgh International Festival. Its success has since led to the emergence of numerous fringe festivals around the world, including the San Diego International Fringe Festival.

SDFringe is based on four key principles: open access (no selection committee), no censorship, no jury, 100% of the ticket income is given to the artists. The event is organized by contACT ARTS, a non-profit arts organizations that focuses on supporting emerging talent and enriching the community, in association with the Actors Alliance of San Diego. As all profit is given to the artists, the festival is funded by sponsors and donations.

The San Diego International Fringe Festival features performers from all over the United States and abroad. The festival encompasses all forms of performing art including theater, comedy, cabaret, circus, dance, music, poetry, spoken word, film, puppetry, street performance, and more, as well as visual art and design. The main goal of the festival is to discover, encourage and support artists, producers, venues and businesses, ensuring that performers and attendees have the best imaginable experience.

The San Diego International Fringe Festival runs over 11 days in summer, presenting dozens of shows at a variety of venues (including the Historic Spreckels Theater and the Lyceum Theater) every day. Each performance lasts for 45 to 60 minutes. The tickets are quite affordable ($10 maximum) and there are many free shows (for example, all outdoor performances are free). Ever since its inception, SDFringe has been very popular among performing arts enthusiasts. For instance, in 2014 it sold 10,000 tickets to ticketed shows and attracted over 62,000 attendees.

Although SDFringe is an unjured festival, it presents a number of awards to outstanding artists, directors, choreographers, shows, etc. to celebrate their contribution to the development and popularization of contemporary performing arts.