The 31st annual Edmonton International Fringe Festival came to a close on Sunday, and it smashed records all the way through. After years of stalled ticket sales, something seems to have changed in the market for ticketed shows: 104,142 tickets were sold in 2011 and 112, 006 in 2012. Great weather is only one factor, [...]

Mack and I spent our Sunday at the Fringe. It was another scorcher, which meant many roving artists lucky enough to score an air-conditioned venue made sure to mention it in their elevator pitches. Mack does his best village child impression We took in three shows (the best of the bunch was Seven Ways to [...]

The Fringe threw its biggest party in thirty years, and more people than ever before showed up! I’m ecstatic that the festival attracted its largest crowds this August, but more than that, finally blew past the 100,000 ticket barrier (selling a total of 104,142 tickets)! I’m sure some of this had to do with the [...]

It’s not a secret that the Fringe is my favourite summer festival. The shows, the food, the buskers, the atmosphere – it’s a combination that rightly attracts an incredibly diverse crowd. I really admire what the Fringe is doing to try to build their audience from the ground up, tackling the age-old issue of those [...]

We spent most of the weekend at the Fringe, which not only meant watching quite a number of shows, but also having the opportunity to sample food from several vendors, both on and off the Fringe site. Green onion cakes are a perennial Fringe favourite A vendor dedicated entirely to chocolate covered bananas! Deli Manjoo, [...]

Our last day at this year’s Fringe was short and sweet – two plays nearly back-to-back, which, given that the skies threatened rain all day, meant that the prospect of getting drenched waiting in line was somewhat lessened. We started the afternoon off at a new Fringe venue – The Laugh Shop – to see [...]

The food at the Fringe has been disappointing so far this year – Funky Pickle’s booth is nowhere to be seen, and the vendors we have visited on site have not been very good. Mack’s mini doughnuts were a little sad, and sweet potato fries from The Punky Potato only resembled its namesake in colour. [...]

Since volunteering for Front of House, it’s become a habit of mine to always seek out the main show boards at the information tents or box office at the Arts Barns. I like to see what shows have been selling out, particularly after good reviews in the Journal. I checked them out this afternoon while [...]

Our first day at the 2009 Fringe involved two plays, a lot of nibbles, and the obligatory grounds exploration. I was particularly interested to see Revolution Square, billed in the program as a multi-use area and internet cafe. What it is in actuality is a beer tent that substitutes coffee for beer, with four computers [...]

My long list of love, in honour of the 28th incarnation of the Edmonton International Fringe Festival that runs August 13-23, 2009. Online Ticketing: the public at large was in arms when online ticketing was introduced two years ago, particularly because beloved at-the-door sales were sacrificed in the process. Since then, door sales have returned [...]