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Never Been To Fringe Festival? This Is What You’re Missing!

Fringe Festivals are dedicated to promoting independent performers and artists while also providing opportunities for people from all walks of life to see cutting-edge theater and live performances at a low cost.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Source: Wikipedia

The Festival gets its name from eight theater groups who weren’t invited to the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. Despite not being invited, they still showed up and performed outside of the scheduled program. This earned them the name “The Fringe Of The Festival.” More performers gradually followed their example, and in 1958, the Festival Fringe Society was formed. They gave artists an uncensored space to perform their craft, and the rest is history.

The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) has defined five criteria under which fringe festivals should operate. These criteria are:

  1. Participants will be selected on a non-juried basis through a first-come, first-served process, a lottery, or other method approved by the Association.
  2. The audience must have the option to pay a ticket price, 100% of which goes directly to the artists.
  3. Fringe Festival producers have no control over the artistic content of each performance.  The artistic freedom of the participants is unrestrained.
  4. Festivals must provide an easily accessible opportunity for all audiences and all artists to participate in Fringe Festivals.
  5. Festivals will promote and model inclusivity, diversity and multiculturalism and will endeavor to incorporate them into all aspects of our organizations.

Top Five Fringe Festivals Worldwide

  1. Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  2. Fringe World
  3. Adelaide Fringe Inc.
  4. Edmonton International Fringe Festival 
  5. Brighton Fringe

The Vancouver Fringe Festival

Vancouver Fringe Festival
Source: Vancouver Presents

The Vancouver Fringe Festival is the event of a lifetime. It’s consistently voted Vancouver’s Best Arts Festival by Georgia Straight readers – and for a good reason. 

Artists get an opportunity to form a connection with the audience at the Fringe. It is an uncensored, judgment-free zone where everyone is welcome to perform. All proceeds from the event go towards the artists.

During the Vancouver Fringe Festival, mainstage events occur at the Revue Stage, Performance Works, and the Waterfront Theater, all located on or near Granville Island. The Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV) category allows artists to present original work in unique settings, such as site-specific sites in distinct indoor and outdoor settings.

It takes place over 11 days in September and attracts over 40,000 attendees. It is produced annually by the Vancouver Fringe Theater Society, with over 500 volunteers supporting 700+ performances and attracting over 40,000 attendees.

If you’re in the area, it’s a must-visit!

Art-BC is your cultural guide to Canada’s province on the Pacific! Explore our website to find out everything you need to know about British Columbia’s art scene.

Filed Under: Blog

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Upcoming Community Events

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Wellness Travel BC Events

Wellness Travel BC
Vancouver
Date:
April 11, 2025
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April 11, 2026
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Find more info on upcoming events at wellnesstravelbc.com.   Be sure to subscribe to the Wellness Travel BC newsletter to keep up-to-date with wellness-focused events in British Columbia and elsewhere! Read more...
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David Spriggs: First Wave | Penticton Art Gallery

Penticton Art Gallery
Penticton
Date:
July 4, 2025
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October 25, 2025
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Known for his pioneering work at the intersection of sculpture, painting, and spatial illusion, David Spriggs challenges the boundaries of perception through his large-scale, multi-layered compositions. Constructed from transparent images layered to form three-dimensional visual phenomena, his installations appear to float and shift as viewers move around them. The exhibition features the following two major works: https://davidspriggs.art/artwork/ • First Wave (2021), Read more...
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Bill Reid Gallery I Public Programs

Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
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Date:
July 23, 2025
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December 31, 2025
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Discover Indigenous Northwest Coast art and culture through our public programs. We offer a diverse array of events for all ages, including artist talks, hands-on workshops, storytelling, panel discussions, and more. Learn More Read more...
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20 Years of South Asian Arts: A photographic journey of dance, theatre, and music

Surrey Art Gallery
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Date:
August 2, 2025
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November 2, 2025
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Surrey, BC – Surrey Art Gallery is pleased to partner with South Asian Arts Society and Monsoon Festival of Performing Arts to host 20 Years of South Asian Arts: A Photographic Journey, on display from August 2 until November 2. Admission is free. A collaborative initiative between the Gallery and South Asian Arts Society, this exhibition marks a dual celebration Read more...
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Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum | Bulkley Valley Museum

Bulkley Valley Museum
Smithers
Date:
August 15, 2025
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November 15, 2025
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The Bulkley Valley Museum is pleased to present “Hope Meets Action”, a travelling exhibit created by the BC Black History Awareness Society in partnership with the Royal BC Museum. The exhibit reclaims and retells the complicated history of Black British Columbians, and traces an unbroken line of strength and resistance from the distant past to the present and into the future by highlighting the Read more...

To Be Something More | Kelowna Art Gallery

Kelowna Art Gallery
Kelowna
Date:
August 23, 2025
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February 1, 2026
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To Be Something More marks the latest chapter in Sandeep Johal’s ongoing exploration of women’s resilience. Through painting, collage, textiles, and a large-scale immersive mural, Johal uses her signature Indo-folk feminine aesthetic to confront the harsh realities of the female experience while infusing her work with vibrant colour, joy, and beauty. This new body of work celebrates the strength, endurance, and Read more...
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VIS Studio: Fall 2025 Art and Sculpture Classes

Joel A Prevost – Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio
Nanaimo
Date:
September 1, 2025
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November 30, 2025
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Highlights (learn more / register): Click the blue link for more information. – Urban Sketching with John Hofman — Sun, Sept 21, 28 & Oct 5 | 1 – 4 pm – Garden of Eden — clay sculpting with Joël A. Prévost — Thu, Oct 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 | 7- 10 pm – The Eyes Exploration — Joël A. Prévost — Tue, Oct Read more...
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Pitt Meadows Art Gallery Exhibitions

Pitt Meadows Art Gallery
Pitt Meadows
Date:
September 4, 2025
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December 19, 2025
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Pitt Meadows Art Gallery – Main Gallery  James Groening: Memories – September 21 to October 27 In Cree, “mihko kiskisiwin’ means “blood memory”. Elders have long said that memory is in the blood and bone, that stories are not only passed on verbally, but genetically as well. As the descendent of a residential school survivor, James Groening’s exhibition, Memories, is Read more...
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