2024 Artists Guide
There is a lot of information you need to read before applying - particularly for performers (less so for visual artists), so make sure to read this whole page first. We put the links to the applications at the top for quick access, but again, read this WHOLE page first!
If you don't have a full show, but still want to participate - check out our "2024 Other Opportunities" Page!
If you don't have a full show, but still want to participate - check out our "2024 Other Opportunities" Page!
Performance Applications - Step One
If you've already read EVERYTHING below, here is the application button:
At the end of the applications it sends you to Paypal to pay. If you need that link again. just select the button below. (It is the same link as at the end of the applications.) Thanks!
Visual Art Applications
VISUAL ART - if you are interested in applying for our Visual Art category, we have a group show for those with just a few pieces - up to 3 (virtual and in person), and a Full Visual Art Show category if you want to put on a full show (virtual and in person).
GROUP SHOW IN PERSON: The group show is $15 for one piece, $25 for two pieces and $30 for 3 pieces. If anything sells, the artist keeps 85% and we just have a 15% fee which includes any credit card fees.
FULL SHOW IN PERSON: For an in person, FULL visual art show you will need to find a gallery nearby. Application/Registration is $35, and no % if you sell anything (but your gallery might charge you fees or % - so check with them.) - Application is same as performance application - just skip unnecessary questions like length of show time.
GROUP SHOW IN PERSON: The group show is $15 for one piece, $25 for two pieces and $30 for 3 pieces. If anything sells, the artist keeps 85% and we just have a 15% fee which includes any credit card fees.
FULL SHOW IN PERSON: For an in person, FULL visual art show you will need to find a gallery nearby. Application/Registration is $35, and no % if you sell anything (but your gallery might charge you fees or % - so check with them.) - Application is same as performance application - just skip unnecessary questions like length of show time.
Performers Find a Venue - Step Two
You are welcome to be creative and find something new and exciting. If you need some ideas - we created a little page that might help.
Performer Registration - Step Three
If you've already applied (Step One), and already found a venue (Step Two), you're read for Step Three - Registering to Participate!
Contact - you can preread the contract before registering if you want. If you have any questions - feel free to email us!
| 2024_pittsburgh_fringe_contract.docx.pdf |
We'll be sending a link to this contract so you can sign it online easily.
If you miss the link at the end of the registration form - you can use this one to pay the fees via PayPal.
Make sure to put the name of the SHOW you are registering as a note in the payment - so we can be sure you paid.
Marketing Information - Help us Market Your Show!
Have you've read all the information below. already applied, found a venue, and registered to participate, and read the marketing page? Then we need your marketing information! We will send forms to registered performers.
Make sure you read everything below, and ask us if you have questions!
READ everything below BEFORE applying! :)
WELCOME
Thanks for considering the 2024 Pittsburgh Fringe! We want to to help make your show successful. We want to help give artists a platform. And with that comes making the festival as successful as we can. But we all work together. We look to you, our participants, to help build buzz around the community, help drive ticket sales, and hopefully garner some donations to keep the Fringe Festival going for years to come. We don't curate our shows and therefor are not eligible for most of the grants in the Pittsburgh area, so we are an entirely volunteer run organization. Our volunteers believe in the work that we are doing, you're doing, and want to help you succeed. We're proud to work with talented artists, and we're thrilled to bring such innovation and creativity to Pittsburgh.
Changes
In 2019 we made some major changes.: we changed neighborhoods, and we changed to a more Edinburgh Fringe model (also like Rochester Fringe, and Hollywood Fringe in the U.S.). However, because of COVID and 3 years of virtual festivals, we feel like we are starting everything all over! We know artists and in person audiences probably are unsure how it all works after so much time off; we don't have the number of volunteers we used to have, and we haven't been able to keep up close relationships with local venues as much as we would have liked. So in some ways it's back to the beginning for our small fest. In light of all of this, last year we wanted to keep our festival small and local. This year we are welcoming out of town performers, but please know, we can only manage so many as we are still short on volunteers. We also are building audiences back up, so can't promise we will have much in the way of audience for out of town folks. We think out of town folks will do best if they know people in Pittsburgh already, not only for audience, but because we don't have as much of a volunteer or support system for out of town folks having lost it all during COVID times. We hope out of town artists understand that they are loved and appreciated, but in order to sustain the Pittsburgh Fringers and the festival, we need to focus our efforts where we are this year.
Neighborhood
Our neighborhood Fringe Zone is the Bloomfield, Garfield, Friendship, East Liberty neighborhoods - particularly along the Penn Avenue arts corridor. Here is a map of the basic festival area.
Model
In 2019 we started a transition to the Edinburgh Model, and we're still working on this change due to the pandemic. What is the Edinburgh Model? We accept shows that want to present, but shows need to find and book their own venues. While we are still assisting with the change, we will be helping with a few venues, while we finish our model transition. (This is also why we must keep the festival small this year; we can only help so many shows find venues.) So after you apply, you will need to find a venue that accepts you.
Small and Local
As we mentioned above, we have very limited volunteer staff, and venue availability. In order to be able to focus on the artists as much as possible, that means the festival will be smaller this year. We also cannot support too many non-local companies this year, so we can put our efforts towards local shows and a few out of town shows. We have a lot of out of towners interested every year (more than locals), and we can't help them as much as we would like, nor can we get them the audiences they want. So we will be limiting how many we can help this year. Shows that have local friends and family will have a much easier time this year.
Our small and local theme for this year, also means we will have only very small limited paper schedules or lists. Most of our marketing will be focused online to keep paper printing costs down. This also means we won't be selling guide ads this year.
Our small and local theme for this year, also means we will have only very small limited paper schedules or lists. Most of our marketing will be focused online to keep paper printing costs down. This also means we won't be selling guide ads this year.
Longer Festival Ten Days, Multiple Shows
We've listened to our artists and audiences, and will be expanding the length of our festival to ten days. This is so that audiences have more time to visit more of the shows, and artists might have a better chance at getting reviews. (With some local changes, this has not been as easy to get shows reviewed post COVID.) We don't intend this to make the festival bigger, but rather to spread the shows we usually get over a longer period of time so everything is more manageable for everyone. Our fringe this year will be April 18th - April 27th.
2024 DATES FOR PERFORMERS TO REMEMBER:
NOW: VENUE REGISTRATION OPEN
All venues interesting in soliciting participants can register with the Fringe starting this day. The more the merrier, we’d like a nice selection for participants. Note that we highly encourage DIY venues – Fringe venue created from found spaces.
January 12th: APPLICATIONS OPEN
All shows interested in participating can start the application process. If you have a venue idea already, you can register your venue whenever you have that idea.
Anytime: VENUE SEARCH
If you find a venue in our neighborhood area, please feel free to book anytime!
January 20th: FRINGE REGISTRATION OPEN
Remember, mounting a show in the Pittsburgh Fringe is a three step process. Registration and paying your Fringe registration fee is your final step. Time between now and January 20th can be spent creating your show and marketing, and booking your venue. We strongly suggest booking your venue as early as possible. You can book your own venue whenever you want.
FEBRUARY 27: LAST DAY FOR REFUND
If you change your mind about anything, today is the last day to request a refund on Participant Registration fees. Please email us to request your refund. (FYI: Application Fees are always non-refundable.) The extended refund date is for those of you who truly tried to find a venue, and could not find one. If you turn down venue offers, you will not be eligible for the refund. The refund extension is just to give security in our new system for those who end up without a venue. It will not be offered next year. This refund is not for those who just change their mind. But we want those trying to find venues to be secure that if for some reason you cannot find a venue (and you try to find one), we are happy to refund your registration fees.
MARCH 16th: Primary REGISTRATION DEADLINE
This means that you need to have a venue booked and your registration paid. After this date, it may be hard to get things up and going for you. We do not guarantee anything after this deadline. There is certainly no refunds for anyone to registers after this date - so you might want all your ducks in a row before registering.
MARCH 23rd: SHOW BLURB MARKETING DEADLINE
We need to collect information for our marketing efforts, mostly online this year. A picture (Square Picture 3 inches x 3 inches and 300 dpi or better) and a 40 word blurb is our primary method of advertising. But we also accept video advertisements, and help you with other marketing efforts. See marketing page for link to this form. After this deadline we cannot guaratee we can get all your information up and going in a timely manner. We turn our attention to other parts of the festival after this - so there is no guarantee we can manage all our usual marketing methods for you.
ROLLING BASIS: WEBSITE ENTRY APPROVED
We will send you a proof of various online entries (mostly website, ticket site, etc.) for your approval as we finish them (we will work on these on a rolling basis as you register). You will have a few days to approve the proof. Also, if you see something about your show wrong ANYWHERE, please notify us anytime! We want all the information correct.
APRIL 14-17 (or whenever you scheduled it with your venue): REHEARSALS
Depending on your agreement with your venue, you may be rehearsing prior to the start of the festival, or you may be rehearsing earlier in the day before your first performance. Please remember to make these arrangements with your venue in advance. This is between you and your venue.
APRIL 17: ARTIST PRE-FESTIVAL EVENT
Join us as we usher in another year of Fringe with a networking celebration!
APRIL 18-27: FRINGE FESTIVAL 2024
These are the big dates!
APRIL 27 or 28th: AWARD CEREMONY
We hope to be able to resume our award ceremonies.
Stay tuned for other special festival events. We hope to have another Variety Show, hope to revive our Story Slam, and hopefully another community type event.
2024 COSTS FOR PITTSBURGH FRINGE PERFORMERS:
APPLICATION FEE:
There is a $35 non-refundable fee for each performance or exhibition to just start the application process. (If you do a BYOV venue (Bring Your Own Venue), there is no cost to register a venue, just to apply then register your show. You may also make that venue available to other performers, or just for your own show. You would be able to charge others to use the venue you found.)
FRINGE REGISTRATION FEE:
Deadline Prices
You can be part of the festival if you register by deadline:
YOUR PRODUCTION COSTS:
Budgets for each production are different. Often to keep costs down, fringe shows tend to have minimal sets, costumes, props, and equipment. Fringe shows are often able to load-in or load-out in 5 or 10 minutes. The focus is often on the performers, artists, and the work. However, you are also welcome to do an elaborate set if you can work that out with your venue.
VENUE RENT:
Venue rents vary. Some venues may charge no rent, but will keep a percentage of box office. Others may charge a small amount for rent, but will allow participants to keep all or most of the box office. Or they may be a mix. Some venues may be free, but ask you to encourage your audience to buy a drink at their establishment. Some fees may include technical, some may just be a bare room. Please make sure to be very clear with your venue about what is and is not included in your deal. We are hoping on average that for a 1 hour show with minimal load-in and load-out, and some very basic lighting and sound equipment that costs are around $20-$100 per performance for those venues that charge up front, or 10%-30% of box office for those venues that work off of the box office split. Some venues might be a small amount up front, and a smaller %. These prices are usually calculated after the percentage to the fringe festival (see below). But it all depends on the venue, as it is up to each individual venue.
PERCENTAGE TO THE FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The Fringe keeps 15% of ticket sales to help cover its costs (marketing, advertising, centralized box office, promotional events, publicity, festival insurance, websites, online tech, supplies, expenses, etc.). We also have to cover credit card fees in some instances. This cost is automatically deducted.
INSURANCE:
Make sure you discuss this with your venue. You may be covered under your venue, but make sure this is part of your discussion. We also have a policy for the festival as a whole, but this may not adequate for your company or venue. We also may have some restrictions on what our insurance covers (think fire, alcohol related, circus type acts, or other dangerous acts), and thus these type of shows may be limited or require additional insurance to be in our festival. If you have any questions, or are unsure about anything, please discuss it with us.
MARKETING:
The Fringe will market as a whole, but you will want to market your show beyond festival marketing. Reserve some money in your budget for marketing your show. Ideas include:
There are also plenty of low cost marketing options. Local Facebook event pages, or artist pages. We also highly suggest figuring out which niche audiences might be attracted to your show, and then find Facebook groups in that niche, or organizations, or publications that are part of that niche group and let them directly know about your show. We also know you are a highly creative group, so you will think of some amazing cool ideas for marketing.
There is a $35 non-refundable fee for each performance or exhibition to just start the application process. (If you do a BYOV venue (Bring Your Own Venue), there is no cost to register a venue, just to apply then register your show. You may also make that venue available to other performers, or just for your own show. You would be able to charge others to use the venue you found.)
FRINGE REGISTRATION FEE:
Deadline Prices
You can be part of the festival if you register by deadline:
- One production with multiple, ticketed (or pass the hat) performances: $135 REGULAR DATE
- Art exhibits free for patrons: $0
- One production with free, non-ticketed performances: $50 REGULAR DATE
- Free performances will require audiences to have a Fringe Button for entry. Can be ticketed or not. (Cannot be pass the hat.)
- One production with one ticketed (Or pass the hat) performance only: $70 REGULAR DATE
- Exhibitions: $0
- Educational workshops, etc.: $15 REGULAR DATE
- Can be ticketed for free workshop, or you can charge. If a free workshop, will requires audiences to have a Fringe Button. (Cannot be pass the hat.)
- You may register an educational event for $0 if you have already registered and paid for another show
- Teen and College Fringe productions are 50% discounted. (from early or regular fees, based on when you register)
YOUR PRODUCTION COSTS:
Budgets for each production are different. Often to keep costs down, fringe shows tend to have minimal sets, costumes, props, and equipment. Fringe shows are often able to load-in or load-out in 5 or 10 minutes. The focus is often on the performers, artists, and the work. However, you are also welcome to do an elaborate set if you can work that out with your venue.
VENUE RENT:
Venue rents vary. Some venues may charge no rent, but will keep a percentage of box office. Others may charge a small amount for rent, but will allow participants to keep all or most of the box office. Or they may be a mix. Some venues may be free, but ask you to encourage your audience to buy a drink at their establishment. Some fees may include technical, some may just be a bare room. Please make sure to be very clear with your venue about what is and is not included in your deal. We are hoping on average that for a 1 hour show with minimal load-in and load-out, and some very basic lighting and sound equipment that costs are around $20-$100 per performance for those venues that charge up front, or 10%-30% of box office for those venues that work off of the box office split. Some venues might be a small amount up front, and a smaller %. These prices are usually calculated after the percentage to the fringe festival (see below). But it all depends on the venue, as it is up to each individual venue.
PERCENTAGE TO THE FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The Fringe keeps 15% of ticket sales to help cover its costs (marketing, advertising, centralized box office, promotional events, publicity, festival insurance, websites, online tech, supplies, expenses, etc.). We also have to cover credit card fees in some instances. This cost is automatically deducted.
INSURANCE:
Make sure you discuss this with your venue. You may be covered under your venue, but make sure this is part of your discussion. We also have a policy for the festival as a whole, but this may not adequate for your company or venue. We also may have some restrictions on what our insurance covers (think fire, alcohol related, circus type acts, or other dangerous acts), and thus these type of shows may be limited or require additional insurance to be in our festival. If you have any questions, or are unsure about anything, please discuss it with us.
MARKETING:
The Fringe will market as a whole, but you will want to market your show beyond festival marketing. Reserve some money in your budget for marketing your show. Ideas include:
- Placing an ad in the printed newspapers
- Place an ad on the Fringe website
- Print flyers and posters to distribute yourself, or you can hire a distribution company
- Buy ads on social media
There are also plenty of low cost marketing options. Local Facebook event pages, or artist pages. We also highly suggest figuring out which niche audiences might be attracted to your show, and then find Facebook groups in that niche, or organizations, or publications that are part of that niche group and let them directly know about your show. We also know you are a highly creative group, so you will think of some amazing cool ideas for marketing.
2024 How to Apply:
INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS
Fringe is usually open to anyone, (but this year we have to limit out of town performers)! To apply, you must be able to put together a fully fledged show. You’re not just writing a script or only coming up with a concept: you have to actually produce your show! As this is a fringe festival, the shows are NOT produced by the festival, and the venues themselves receive your “ready to go” shows that you’ve created. It offers you freedom and creative license to mold your own ideas into a fully realized performance as your own independent producer! (If you have something smaller you want to try out, consider applying for our variety show.)
For those who are new to the process, or unsure how this new process is going to work, the Fringe is happy to meet with you, talk to you on the phone, or answer questions via email or social media. We also hope to do some information sessions or workshops. So keep an eye open for those, but regardless, we are always happy to help you through the process!
STEP ONE: CREATE YOUR PROJECT AND APPLY:
Applying online is STEP ONE. So as soon as you realize you want to perform, get online and apply!
TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT
As part of this step, you will be asked to sign the Terms of Service Agreement. If you want to read it in advance just follow this link: Terms of Service Agreement.
Link to 2024 Show Application
STEP TWO: FIND A VENUE(S):
Ready to take the next step? Get ready to hunt for a venue. We hope to made this process easier by securing a list of venues interested in hosting Fringe programming. But we don't have that many at this time. Take a look at venues we've used in the past, and feel free to approach new spaces. A lot has changed in the neighborhood since 2019!
Already have leads on a venue in the Fringe Zone? You can register your own venue for free. Participants converting unlikely spaces into full-fledged Fringe venues is the lifeblood of the festival. You might also open your new venue to other fringe projects, offsetting your costs by having them pay a modest fee towards your expenses, and expanding opportunities to other artists.
Remember, Fringe venues can be anywhere: theatres, clubs, bars, restaurants, found spaces, outdoor spaces… anything you have rights/permission to control for the duration of your event/performances/exhibitions. All we ask is that you keep it in the Fringe Zone, to make it easy for audiences to experience and walk to as many shows as possible. Fringe audiences like to pack in as many experiences as possible during the festival, and close venues help with this experience.
If you have trouble finding a suitable venue, or want to find a fun found space for your specific show, or have trouble booking a venue or communicating with your venue, contact us at [email protected]
ONE SHOW / ONE VENUE
We have a one show / one venue rule. Once you confirm your show with a venue, you cannot perform that same, exact show at any other venue. On the Fringe website, your show will be listed as playing at one venue only. If you are an actor in a play or a musician in a band, you may perform at more than one venue IF you are also in a totally different play or band. (For example, John Doe can perform in Romeo & Juliet at one venue, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at another venue, but the same exact production of Romeo & Juliet cannot be performed at more than one venue.) That said, any individual or group may submit multiple productions to the Fringe: simply start a new application.
STEP THREE: REGISTER WITH THE FRINGE
When you pay your registration you secure your spot as a festival participant. This avails you to all the benefits of participation.
Important note: It is you responsibility to ensure you book a venue (this will most likely include additional fees). We will also refund your registration if you struggle to find a venue and the request is made by the refund deadline noted above. (Applications are never refundable.)
Link to 2024 Registreation Page - emailed to those who applied.
Link to 2024 Marketing Information Picture/Blurb (you need a venue and to have registered before filling this out) - emailed to those that registered.
CONTRACT
As part of this step, you will be asked to sign a Contract.
BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION
We have tried to keep our registration costs as low as possible so all can participate. Most of the money raised through registration will be spent on marketing the festival itself, and boring things like insurance and admistration costs. Remember: We don’t guarantee you an audience, however we do everything we can to make sure people know about the Festival as a whole. Attracting festival-goers to see your show is a task you need to tackle yourself (we will help you along).
Once you have paid your registration fee, you are entitled to these benefits:
PROMOTION
Inclusion on the Fringe Website and all the festival-wide promotions.
TICKET SALES
Ticket Sales through Fringe box offices located on the web, and at any fringe central locations. By registering your show with the fringe, you also agree to all the festival wide ticket and pass promotions including but not limited to Fringe Button Discount, Festival Passes, Volunteer Passes, VIP Passes, Industry Passes, Artist Passes, and Press and Media Passes. You also agree to selling your tickets through our box office system.
SUPPORT
Access to our participant support team to help you through your Fringe experience. Email [email protected] for help.
FUN
Access to social events for fun and networking.
2024 Ticketing and Pricing:
TICKETING
This section will introduce you to Fringe ticketing.
PERCENTAGE TO THE FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The Fringe keeps 15% of ticket sales to help cover its costs (marketing, advertising, centralized box office, promotional events, publicity, etc.). We also have to cover some of the credit card fees as part of this %. This costs is automatically deducted. Keep this in mind when deciding your ticket prices. A chart is at the bottom of this section discussing the ticket return for each ticket type.
TICKET PRICES
This year we want to offer $5, $10, $15 or $20 tickets. The choice is yours. We highly suggest most shows select $15.
In the past our tickets were a standard $15. We recently added a lower ticket price for artists who had short shows, or were Teen or College Fringe shows. To stay consistent for audiences, we suggest most shows select the $15 ticket price. Remember if you think this is too high, that our audiences are used to paying this price, and for those price conscious audiences we offer multiple discounts to save money. While you may select any of these prices we have the following guidelines. If your show is under 50 minutes, we highly suggest you only charge $5 or $10. If you are a teen or college fringe production, regardless of length of show we suggest you charge $5 or $10 or make it free with a button. Before deciding your prices, make sure you read about the festival discounts and promotions, and make sure to take those into consideration when selecting your ticket price. Free Shows during the festivals that are not in a public location, will require audiences to present a festival button to attend or buy a festival button to attend. Buttons are $5, and offer $3 discounts to all shows, as well as entrance to free shows and workshops.
TICKET DISCOUNTS
We plan to offer the following discounts. Keep this in mind when selecting your ticket pricing. Being part of the festival means you agree to the following:
Fringe Buttons:
To help support the festival, we sell festival buttons each year. While these buttons are optional (unlike some festivals that require them in order to attend a performance), we use them to create community. We think that audiences can recognize other festival goers by noticing those wearing buttons (or festival pass lanyards), and will know who to strike a conversation up with about what shows they have seen. When buying tickets, patrons can use the buttons to receive a $3 discount on a ticket, or use it to attend any of our free shows and special events. (This would make your tickets either $2, $7, $12 or $17.)
Fringe Day and Weekend Passes:
To encourage audience members to be a true fringe audience, we have day and weekend passes. One price for as many shows as they can attend during the duration of the pass. To make this work, we have to do a few things. First we reserved 10% of ticket sales to be held so pass holders can get in at the door with their pass. (While they can order the passes in advance and online, they need to arrive at Fringe Central to pick up the appropriate lanyard prior to the show. They can then show up at least 10 minutes before the show, and hopefully get right in for the 10% of the seats we reserve for them. They cannot reserve pass seats with a lanyard, which is why we hold this small percentage so they can get in at the door. If pass holders do not show up these tickets will be released for regular sale at the door 10 minutes prior to the show.) For shows that are charging $15, artists will receive $6 per pass holder that chooses to attend their show. ($5 will receive $2, $10 tickets will receive $4, $15 tickets will receive $6, $20 tickets will receive $8.) While the amount is lower than full price, it is what mathematically works for us to offer these passes at a reasonable price. We also found that it is much easier for artists to convert a pass holder into an audience member than other people. Pass holders have already paid, and you only have to convince them to attend your show over another show. It is a great way to get last minute audience members into your show, and increases your festival audience overall. (These are also some of the most dedicated audience members!) We will also limit pass holders this year to only 30 total pass holders, which will keep your passes payments as a special patron, instead of the norm.
Volunteer Passes:
Volunteers who work a certain number of hours are able to earn passes to shows. These passes are only allowed to be used for a show on a standby basis, thus protecting artists from losing money from paying patrons.
VIP Passes:
We identify VIPs as people who either help the festival in a significant way, or help artists in significant ways. This allows us to keep our participant fees lower, and to help out of town artists find housing.
Industry Passes:
While this is still a very small area at our festival, we try to attract organizations that are likely to be looking for shows to book in the future, booking agents, artists agencies, venue managers, those running other festivals, and other fringe directors. We hope by encouraging these folks to come to our festival, your show may get an amazing opportunity post fringe.
Press and Media Passes:
We really work hard on having as much press and media attending your shows as possible. We also have organizations that are reviewing your shows, and those that are independently evaluating shows for our award ceremony that may be attending your show with these passes.
Artist Passes:
We think that building an artist community is important for a successful festival. Artist passes allow you to see other shows in the festival on a stand-by basis. This is a great way for artists to work together, to spread the word, to fill a house, and to learn by seeing what else is happening at the festival. These passes are only allowed to be used for a show on a standby basis, thus protecting artists from losing money from paying patrons.
This section will introduce you to Fringe ticketing.
PERCENTAGE TO THE FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The Fringe keeps 15% of ticket sales to help cover its costs (marketing, advertising, centralized box office, promotional events, publicity, etc.). We also have to cover some of the credit card fees as part of this %. This costs is automatically deducted. Keep this in mind when deciding your ticket prices. A chart is at the bottom of this section discussing the ticket return for each ticket type.
TICKET PRICES
This year we want to offer $5, $10, $15 or $20 tickets. The choice is yours. We highly suggest most shows select $15.
In the past our tickets were a standard $15. We recently added a lower ticket price for artists who had short shows, or were Teen or College Fringe shows. To stay consistent for audiences, we suggest most shows select the $15 ticket price. Remember if you think this is too high, that our audiences are used to paying this price, and for those price conscious audiences we offer multiple discounts to save money. While you may select any of these prices we have the following guidelines. If your show is under 50 minutes, we highly suggest you only charge $5 or $10. If you are a teen or college fringe production, regardless of length of show we suggest you charge $5 or $10 or make it free with a button. Before deciding your prices, make sure you read about the festival discounts and promotions, and make sure to take those into consideration when selecting your ticket price. Free Shows during the festivals that are not in a public location, will require audiences to present a festival button to attend or buy a festival button to attend. Buttons are $5, and offer $3 discounts to all shows, as well as entrance to free shows and workshops.
TICKET DISCOUNTS
We plan to offer the following discounts. Keep this in mind when selecting your ticket pricing. Being part of the festival means you agree to the following:
Fringe Buttons:
To help support the festival, we sell festival buttons each year. While these buttons are optional (unlike some festivals that require them in order to attend a performance), we use them to create community. We think that audiences can recognize other festival goers by noticing those wearing buttons (or festival pass lanyards), and will know who to strike a conversation up with about what shows they have seen. When buying tickets, patrons can use the buttons to receive a $3 discount on a ticket, or use it to attend any of our free shows and special events. (This would make your tickets either $2, $7, $12 or $17.)
Fringe Day and Weekend Passes:
To encourage audience members to be a true fringe audience, we have day and weekend passes. One price for as many shows as they can attend during the duration of the pass. To make this work, we have to do a few things. First we reserved 10% of ticket sales to be held so pass holders can get in at the door with their pass. (While they can order the passes in advance and online, they need to arrive at Fringe Central to pick up the appropriate lanyard prior to the show. They can then show up at least 10 minutes before the show, and hopefully get right in for the 10% of the seats we reserve for them. They cannot reserve pass seats with a lanyard, which is why we hold this small percentage so they can get in at the door. If pass holders do not show up these tickets will be released for regular sale at the door 10 minutes prior to the show.) For shows that are charging $15, artists will receive $6 per pass holder that chooses to attend their show. ($5 will receive $2, $10 tickets will receive $4, $15 tickets will receive $6, $20 tickets will receive $8.) While the amount is lower than full price, it is what mathematically works for us to offer these passes at a reasonable price. We also found that it is much easier for artists to convert a pass holder into an audience member than other people. Pass holders have already paid, and you only have to convince them to attend your show over another show. It is a great way to get last minute audience members into your show, and increases your festival audience overall. (These are also some of the most dedicated audience members!) We will also limit pass holders this year to only 30 total pass holders, which will keep your passes payments as a special patron, instead of the norm.
Volunteer Passes:
Volunteers who work a certain number of hours are able to earn passes to shows. These passes are only allowed to be used for a show on a standby basis, thus protecting artists from losing money from paying patrons.
VIP Passes:
We identify VIPs as people who either help the festival in a significant way, or help artists in significant ways. This allows us to keep our participant fees lower, and to help out of town artists find housing.
Industry Passes:
While this is still a very small area at our festival, we try to attract organizations that are likely to be looking for shows to book in the future, booking agents, artists agencies, venue managers, those running other festivals, and other fringe directors. We hope by encouraging these folks to come to our festival, your show may get an amazing opportunity post fringe.
Press and Media Passes:
We really work hard on having as much press and media attending your shows as possible. We also have organizations that are reviewing your shows, and those that are independently evaluating shows for our award ceremony that may be attending your show with these passes.
Artist Passes:
We think that building an artist community is important for a successful festival. Artist passes allow you to see other shows in the festival on a stand-by basis. This is a great way for artists to work together, to spread the word, to fill a house, and to learn by seeing what else is happening at the festival. These passes are only allowed to be used for a show on a standby basis, thus protecting artists from losing money from paying patrons.
2024 Ticket Reimbursement Amounts:
The several price bands are as follows:
Regular Price Band - RECOMMENDED PRICE
Venue
If you've made a split arrangement with your venue, the above amounts may go to your venue first, and then be forwarded to you. Check with them about how exactly the ticket split will work. Is it Gross or Net? Are there any expenses they will take out first? Don't be shy to ask in advance, and be very clear about the math in a split deal.
Regular Price Band - RECOMMENDED PRICE
- Ticket prices are $15. (85% = $12.75)
- Fringe Button discount minus $3 = $12 (90% = $10.20)
- Artists or Venues receive 85% of actual paid price (Ticket price minus any discounts), or flat fee as indicated below for paying pass entries. Talk with your venue before signing with them about how they intend to handle ticket money.
- Day and weekend passes (Full amount - no % reductions.) = $6 per paid pass entry. (Flat $6 per pass entry, no 15% will come from the pass amount. But talk with your venue about how they intend to handle this.)
- This does not include performer rush passes, VIP passes, Press passes, Industry passes, Volunteer passes or other comp tickets.
- Ticket prices $10. (85% = $8.50)
- Fringe Button discount minus $3 = $7 (85% = $5.95)
- Artists or Venues receive 85% of actual paid price (Ticket price minus any discounts), or flat fee as indicated below for paying pass entries. Talk with your venue before signing with them about how they intend to handle ticket money.
- Day and weekend passses = $4 per paid pass entry. (Flat $4 per pass entry, no 15% will come from the pass amount. But talk with your venue about how they intend to handle this.)
- This does not include performer rush passes, VIP passes, Press passes, Industry passes, Volunteer passes or other comp tickets.
- Ticket prices $5. (85% = $4.25)
- Fringe Button discount minus $3 = $2 (85% = $1.70)
- Artists or Venues receive 85% of actual paid price (Ticket price minus any discounts), or flat fee as indicated below for paying pass entries. Talk with your venue before signing with them about how they intend to handle ticket money.
- Day and weekend passses = $2 per paid pass entry. (Flat $2 per pass entry, no 15% will come from the pass amount. But talk with your venue about how they intend to handle this.)
- This does not include performer rush passes, VIP passes, Press passes, Industry passes, Volunteer passes or other comp tickets.
- Ticket prices $20. (85% = $17)
- Fringe Button discount minus $3 = $17 (85% = $14.45)
- Artists or Venues receive 85% of actual paid price (Ticket price minus any discounts), or flat fee as indicated below for paying pass entries. Talk with your venue before signing with them about how they intend to handle ticket money.
- Day and weekend passes = $8 per paid pass entry. (Flat $8 per pass entry, no 15% will come from the pass amount. But talk with your venue about how they intend to handle this.)
- This does not include performer rush passes, VIP passes, Press passes, Industry passes, Volunteer passes or other comp tickets.
Venue
If you've made a split arrangement with your venue, the above amounts may go to your venue first, and then be forwarded to you. Check with them about how exactly the ticket split will work. Is it Gross or Net? Are there any expenses they will take out first? Don't be shy to ask in advance, and be very clear about the math in a split deal.
PROMOTION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION
We want to help you market your show. While the marketing of the show is ultimately your responsibility, we do a number things festival wide to help you market your show. But we need you to help us. We need information for the website, brochure, and press releases about your show. We have detailed the information that we need below. If you have any questions, or need help creating an image - please let us know.
Image Policy:
For the Website:
For any possible print material (not guaranteed):
For Press Releases and other PR:
We will do general PR for the festival, including a press release to local press. Please go through our PR to make sure we are not bombarding the large papers. Because of this we have had great coverage in the past. They cover the large papers (Trib, Post-Gazette, and City Paper), and some radio. But there are plenty of smaller neighborhood papers and university papers that we welcome you to reach out to!
We need the following for our PR efforts:
Image Policy:
- Even though we will not jury Fringe content, all published materials must be PG rated.
- Unless your image is just your logo, please avoid putting text on your images. Some social media outlets reject images with text, as they prefer the text in the posts so robots can read the text to the blind. So it is best to avoid text on your images.
For the Website:
- 3x3 in. 300 DPI image (or better)
- Cast/crew list (you can update this later)
- 50 word description of your company (you can add this later if you want)
- 40 word description of your show
- Age restrictions and other applicable information (if changed from your original application)
For any possible print material (not guaranteed):
- 40 word description
- 3x3 in. 300 dpi image (this does not guarantee the final image will be this size)
- Age restrictions and other applicable information (if changed from your original application)
For Press Releases and other PR:
We will do general PR for the festival, including a press release to local press. Please go through our PR to make sure we are not bombarding the large papers. Because of this we have had great coverage in the past. They cover the large papers (Trib, Post-Gazette, and City Paper), and some radio. But there are plenty of smaller neighborhood papers and university papers that we welcome you to reach out to!
We need the following for our PR efforts:
- 40 word description (use brochure show description here to be consistent).
- Photo Requirements: .jpg format files that are approximately 10mb file size when open. That’s roughly 300 dpi+ at 9 inches x 12 inches for the image dimensions.
- URL and any social media tags or addresses
- NOTE: The media selects the images they want to use. If you give us amazing images, you are much more likely to see your image in a paper. (Research to see what pictures the media has selected in the past. It is usually a very interesting or odd image, or something with a face. It is never a rehearsal image or cast picture. And always has great lighting. Ideally work with a professional photographer or a friend who does photography for these images. And plan to have then sooner rather than later. If you miss the deadlines the media have (we never know their requirements until 24 hours in advance), you miss getting on that media. So be ready as soon as you can.
2024 Site Specific Shows
Since anyone can be a venue manager, you can also be the venue manager for just your own show. It is like BYOV at many other fringes. We are hoping to encourage you to interesting found space venues, as one of our best shows have used cool found venues. Or think of a portable venue, that you can drive or park in our footprint. We have places for something like this! Fringe’s are known for their weird quirky show locations, and we would love to have more of this. If you are thinking a cool location would really help your show, and can't find one. Ask us! some ideas from past years include:
1. A beautiful Victorian bed and breakfast lobby area
2. A swimming pool
3. A smokey dingy basement room
4. A small brewery pub
5. An old stone basement of the bed and breakfast
6. Possibly an apartment, but it might be difficult to get until the last minute when they are sure no one will rent it
7. A hospital is close by…. So maybe something interesting could happen there.
8. Bowling Alley - The Presbyterian Church has a little proper bowling alley with raked seating. That could be a cool show.
9. A Cemetery - This could be great!
10. A hotel room or conference room.
FYI: these are not confirmed found spaces, as we can’t ask around, or help you brainstorm without a specific show in mind. Some are from our past locations. But we are happy to brainstorm with you, if you think that would work for your show.
FYI: Also, for a truly unique location, we can be flexible on location. But please ask first for an exemption based on your very unique location idea.
Other things...
Rehearsal Schedule
Work this out with your venue when you apply, or closer to the time. At least get a commitment about how long your rehearsal time will be. Most fringe venues can only give you 1 1/2 hours total for get in, get out, and rehearsal. Usually fringe shows just get used to the space, and do a cue to cue. If you need true rehearsal space, talk to us. We might have some ideas.
Tech Questions
Work out your tech questions with your venue before you accept. You may even want specifics in your venue deal. As you show may change closer to the festival, make sure to revisit this information with your venue also closer to the time.
Web Proof Link
Our new system will have a way for you to approve a proof of the website. Please keep an eye on your emails to proof these quickly.
Logos for your publicity
Feel free to use our logo in your publicity. Keep the colors and dimensions as close as you can. Below are a few different types of files of the logo. If you need something else, or have a question, please email us.
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Social Media and other Publicity
While you are ultimately responsible for marketing your show, we do as much total festival publicity as we can. The better the material you give us, the more coverage you will get. Great pictures we can use on Instagram? We will be more likely to post. A great high resolution picture can also get you print and online media in major news channels. Don't scrimp on great photographs!
Make sure to tell us any weird or awesome things about your show. You can also give us links for us to put on our website, or anything else that could be useful for us to use for publicity. It may be an interesting tidbit that we can use for a tweet, or a link to a video marketing your show. Or you just made a new Instagram account, and you now want us to link to it. Feel free to give us as much information as possible so we can do our best to publicise the whole festival (and maybe with your show's image!).
Subgroups - Are there certain groups or organizations that are likely to enjoy your show? Tell us your ideas. We can work together to try to market to corresponding groups.
Idea: Is your show about surviving cancer? Then you might want to contact a cancer survivor network. There are a lot of different social groups organized locally for all sorts of different things. Show about knitting? Let's find knitting organizations to tell about your show. Look on Meetup.com or facebook for these corresponding groups. But let us know too, in case we know of something specific!
Make sure to tell us any weird or awesome things about your show. You can also give us links for us to put on our website, or anything else that could be useful for us to use for publicity. It may be an interesting tidbit that we can use for a tweet, or a link to a video marketing your show. Or you just made a new Instagram account, and you now want us to link to it. Feel free to give us as much information as possible so we can do our best to publicise the whole festival (and maybe with your show's image!).
Subgroups - Are there certain groups or organizations that are likely to enjoy your show? Tell us your ideas. We can work together to try to market to corresponding groups.
Idea: Is your show about surviving cancer? Then you might want to contact a cancer survivor network. There are a lot of different social groups organized locally for all sorts of different things. Show about knitting? Let's find knitting organizations to tell about your show. Look on Meetup.com or facebook for these corresponding groups. But let us know too, in case we know of something specific!
