The 2021 FRINGE WORLD Festival has wrapped, and whilst we've got 100 shows running in our Encore program til 28 Feb we want to take a moment to thank a range of people without whom we would not be able to present the Festival. 

Artists 

The 2021 Festival featured 2,400 artists who performed in more than 500 events at more than 100 venues around Perth. 

Most of our artists this year were Western Australian, and all of them presented shows during very challenging circumstances due to the border restrictions, capacity restrictions and lockdown. 

FRINGE WORLD exists as a platform for any artist to participate. Some of our artists are world-class professionals, and some of our artists are just starting out in their career – and for most many of them FRINGE WORLD is a performance opportunity that they would otherwise not have access to. 

As an open-access festival, FRINGE WORLD doesn’t choose what shows are in the program, and we’re so grateful that artists continue to choose Fringe as a platform for their work. 

The Festival traditionally concludes with the presentation of the FRINGE WORLD Awards, which are based on Weekly Award Winners judged throughout the Festival. Due to the lockdown and show cancellations the Festival made the difficult decision to not present the 2021 FRINGE WORLD Awards with the prize money being diverted to Fringe Fund. This was a blow to artists and we are sorry that we did not get the opportunity to celebrate them through the Awards. 

We encourage you all to support the artists who are presenting in the Encore season.  

Find out what shows are in the Encore.

People of Perth 

We are so proud to call WA home and so thankful for the support of our community who came out to see shows this Fringe. 

We love how much you love your Fringe, and your support this year given how tough it’s been for everyone, is much appreciated. 

The lockdown and subsequent capacity restrictions meant that we had to cancel more than 75,000 tickets. This caused confusion and frustration with customers, and rightly so as many of the decisions had to be made with short notice due to the changing situation. 

We are very grateful for your patience during this time. If we haven’t responded yet to your email, it’s not because we don’t care it’s only because of the sheer volume of correspondence that we are dealing with. All emails will be responded to, it will just take some time for this all to happen. 

We are also very honoured by those customers who went above and beyond to donate to support artists that were affected by the lockdown and other COVID-19 related issues this Festival. So far more than $80,000 has been raised by individual donations and some significant donations from companies and foundations. This support will be of great help to our artists. 

If you would like to support artists, you can donate to the Fringe Fund.

Staff and volunteers 

With more than 100 venues presenting shows in the Festival, you can only imagine how many people work to put on the shows and venues. 

Our volunteers are also a huge part of the FRINGE WORLD story each year. From volunteer photographers and Fringefeed reviewers who contribute their time to help with show promotions, to the FOH and operational volunteers who helped out at our two biggest hubs, The Woodside Pleasure Garden and Girls School. 

We will be sharing some stories soon about some of the special volunteers and staff that ARTRAGE would like to make special mention of. 

Partners 

We gratefully recognise the support of all our partners but in particular: Principal Supporter: Lotterywest; Government Partners: the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and the City of Perth; and Principal Partners: Woodside; and Gage Roads Brew Co.  

Lotterywest is our Principal Supporter, and they’ve been with the Festival since the beginning. In addition to supporting the 2021 Festival, ARTRAGE (the producer of FRINGE WORLD) also received a Lotterywest COVID-19 Relief Fund Grant, providing critical financial support to the organisation and ensuring the survival of the Festival this year. 

Our FRINGE WORLD app launched for this Festival would not be possible without support from Woodside and our app developers Equilibrium. It was Woodside’s idea to produce the app, and thanks to their support we’ve been developing it for 14 months so that it can be the best tool for customers and artists. 

Most of our partners have been with us for many years, and they all share a passion for what the Festival delivers back to our community. At a time of crisis such as what we've experienced this year with COVID-19 and the subsequent restrictions, the support of our partners is all the more meaningful to us.

Our full partner list is here.

ARTRAGE Board 

FRINGE WORLD Festival is presented by ARTRAGE Inc, a non-for-profit registered charity that is one of the oldest arts organisations in WA. 

As an NFP we have a voluntary Board who contribute their time and business expertise to the organisation.  

We are very appreciative of our Board, whose guidance and acumen is an asset to the Festival. 

Read about our Board here.

Alongside FRINGE WORLD Festival, ARTRAGE also currently produces two cinemas Rooftop Movies (est. 2012) and Girls School Cinema (est. 2018).  

Photo by John Marshall