Get ready to Do the Seattle Fringe 2017!
Seattle Fringe Festival presents 2 weekends of Independent,
and LOCALLY SOURCED LIVE THEATRE March 23 - April 1.
Ticket prices will vary per production from $10 to $15 each -- with rates set by the artists themselves.
This year, Seattle Fringe Festival is expanding the number of producers from 20 to more than 28, in more art forms than ever: Scripted Theatre, Sketch Comedy, Solo Performance, Burlesque, Clown, Improv, Dance, Puppetry, Devised, Experimental, Generative, and more!
Each show is 30-90 minutes long and allows audiences to easily discover many types of live performance. Our low ticket prices and producing fees keep innovative art accessible to everyone who wants to experience the power of intimate theatre!
Ours is a non-juried festival, with producers drawn by blind lottery. Once we've built the schedule, audiences will have more than 150 show times to choose from in our Seattle Center and Capitol Hill Venues! Your donation to Seattle Fringe Festival's campaign helps us fund the production facilities, basic administrative costs of running a festival, and -- most importantly -- the robust marketing efforts that will drive audiences into seats and directly increase the artists' individual revenue for their work.
Seattle Fringe Festival History
Since the festival's relaunch in 2012, this volunteer-organization has been working to reestablish its place as an essential component of Seattle’s ethos of artistic self-production.
In the last four festivals, SFF has
- Paid $74,778 Gross Ticket Sales to Independent Producing Artists
- Welcomed more than 7,450 Audience Ticket Holders
- Presented 85 Producing Artists in nearly 350 Performances
Our Vision for the Fringe
The Fringe Festival relaunched in 2012 as a fiscally sponsored project of Theatre Puget Sound, with a goal of achieving its own 501c3 status within the first 3 years. Because completing the work required to achieve our 501c3 has been challenging for the volunteer Steering Committee to accomplish over and above the work of producing the festival itself, this year SFF2017 has established a 501c3 Task Force: a representational cross-section of community members dedicated to the hands-on work of getting the job done in the next 18-24 months.
New this year, the SFF Steering Committee is expanding coaching and support efforts to independent producers through periodic producer meet-ups, as well as marketing workshops, panels, and feedback sessions. We also have established a new, consolidated interface for communicating SFF2017 Contracts, Policies and Procedures to ensure that everyone has the information they need to navigate the production process successfully.
Additionally, SFF is stretching from a 9-month to an 18-month planning cycle to improve strategic planning, keep SFF in the forefront of artists and audiences’ minds throughout the year, and fine-tune festival operations. By dovetailing the planning of the next year’s festival while finalizing execution of the current festival we ensure operational continuity and community engagement while sustaining our strong volunteer- and community-driven culture.
Among our most exciting goals is a return to inviting touring groups to participate! For the last few years, SFF has strategically limited participation to Western Washington artists while we worked to build a more robust and consolidated audience that facilitates the kind of word-of-mouth most helpful in supporting touring work.
Finally, SFF and TPS recognize that relying solely upon volunteers for year-round operations is not optimal to the organization or the individuals. We will work towards a more conventional staffing model in phases. As a first step, we intend to pay our SFF2017 year-round Steering Committee at least a nominal stipend once operational obligations and expectations for annual carry-over funds are met.
In 2015, the SFF Steering Committee changed its fiscal sponsorship contract model to make it a direct program of Theatre Puget Sound until 501c3 status is achieved. Going into 2016, TPS has amplified its support of the festival with dedicated staff and office resources to help move us towards and set us up for success as we transition to becoming an independent organization.
