Viva Las Fringe Originally uploaded by AccessWinnipeg

So you don’t want to go to Kid Rock tonight?  Well there ARE other options.  22 other options…at this year’s Fringe Festival. 

Check out show schedules HERE.


 

The 21st annual Winnipeg Fringe Festival begins next week – Wednesday July 16th and is running until the 27th.

If you are not familiar with the Fringe Festival, it’s a collection informal inexpensive plays by local, national and international theatre companies. The term “fringe theatre” is term used to describe “alternate theatre”. Although the theme for the 21st annual Fringe Festival is “Las Vegas”, the plays vary from serious to comedic to crude.

Plays are at local venues all over the city. They will be running during the day and well into the evening. Each play has different show times each day. Some days have over 100 shows running. You can check out the packed schedule along with show descriptions here.

Individual tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door and range from $5 to $9. There is a $1.75 surcharge for advance tickets and only 50% of the tickets are available to reserve in advance. There are different ticket packages to save some money which you can check out here.

After the first few performances of each Fringe play, CBC releases a comprehensive review of the play. It’s a great resource to deciding what play to attend, however once a play is highly rated, you need to show up early to ensure you can get tickets! You will be able to find reviews here. Some of the shows have been running in other cities. Doing a little research you can get some reviews before the shows even open up here.

The Fringe Festival is more than just plays. There will be entertainment throughout the weeks at Old Market Square along with a plethora or local merchant tables and food vendors.

The thing I like best about the fringe is that 100% of the ticket price goes to the artist. You definitely don’t see that happening very often.

For more information check out the Fringe Festival .