WA’s Fringe World Festival has revealed its plans for 2021, with the massive event set to be the first major fringe festival as Australia moves towards ending COVID restrictions.
The third largest fringe festival in the world, Fringe World will celebrate its tenth birthday with next year’s proceedings, kicking off on Friday 15th January.
Presented by not-for-profit organisation ARTRAGE Inc, CEO Sharon Burgess thanked the state government and Western Australians for leadership and responsibility through the COVID-19 crisis, and promises more support for artists, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, at next year’s festival.
“Over the past nine years Fringe World has become an essential part of our state’s summer calendar, and we are excited to confirm our plans for the 2021 Festival to give our community something exciting to look forward to,” Burgess said.
“We know that local businesses, venues and artists have suffered due to the impact of COVID-19 and we are committed to looking at ways to support and encourage them to return to the Festival in 2021. We can confirm we will be waiving venue registration fees and further participant incentives will be announced in the coming weeks.”
The open access festival will begin seeking registrations from venues and artists in the coming months, and anticipate the return of The Woodside Pleasure Garden in the heart of Northbridge.
Fringe World Festival Director Amber Hasler said she is excited to give artists an opportunity to share their work after months of restrictions.
“Every FRINGE WORLD Festival is a celebration of the stories of our brilliant artists, including thousands of Western Australian performers, but after the devastation of COVID-19 the 2021 celebration will be even more meaningful and we are so excited we have the Fringe to look forward to,” Hasler said.
Hasler added that the 2021 festival will be employing a range of initiatives to improve access for artists, including flexible timelines and a new Fringe World app.
“The FRINGE WORLD app is almost finished and it’s looking incredible with functionality designed to make it even easier for customers to browse shows, buy tickets, get personalised recommendations and plan their Fringe Binge!”
The app is set to replace the ever-growing physical Fringe World guide, making it more simple for artists to register to participate without that deadline.
Venue registrations open on Tuesday 21st July, and event registrations follow on Tuesday 4th August. For more information, head to fringeworld.com.au
Pictured: Fringe World favourite Le Gateau Chocolat
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