Capital Fringe

Capital Fringe is an independent performing arts festival held in Washington, DC, United States every summer in July. Founded in 2006, it is one of the longest fringe theater festivals in North America. It runs over three weeks, offering a rich and diverse programming.

One of the main goals of the Capital Fringe Festival is to introduce wide audiences to experimental and innovative work by contemporary artists by showcasing independent theater, dance, music and unclassifiable forms of live performance and visual art. It is also designed to nurture and develop the cultural life of the American capital.

Capital Fringe is held every summer in downtown Washington. For three weeks, the center of the city is transformed into a giant performance space where American and international artists showcase various forms and genres of art including theater, dance, music, circus, cabaret, visual art and design, and more. Shows take place in a variety of venues throughout the city, from traditional theaters and concerts halls to bars and empty shop windows.

Like most other fringe festivals, Capital Fringe is an open (unjuried) festival. It means that there is no selection and anyone can participate. The Capital Fringe Festival operates on a first come/first served basis because the number of venues is limited. There is no censorship at the festival and there will never be. The organizers never intervene in the artistic content of participating acts.

Capital Fringe runs over three weeks in July, attracting around 40,000 attendees. It offers around 800 individual performances of more than 100 productions by 5,000 exploratory artists. Some productions are ticketed but there are quite a lot of free shows and other free events around the city. Since its inception, Capital Fringe has become the second largest fringe festival in the United States and one of the most anticipated cultural events in Washington, DC.

Alongside the annual summer festival, Capital Fringe hosts a year-round series of concerts, performances, exhibitions and other cultural events at Logan Fringe Arts Space, the festival’s own arts facility and community center. The program gives local artists, producers, curators and creative entrepreneurs to connect with new audiences. Other programs curated by Capital Fringe include Fringe POP (Performance over Projection) and Fringe Music.