Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2011

Fringe is one of Vancouver’s most loved and celebrated theatre festivals (the Vancouver International Fringe Festival in its 2011 edition). This yearly event happens over the course of 11 days, in different venues across the city, offering over 600 performances.

Basically, over 80 different groups and theatre companies come together to celebrate the art. It’s such a huge success that attendance is expected to be around 30,000, and for the past 5 years it has been named Vancouver’s Best Arts Festival by the Georgia Straight. This is it’s 26th year running.. As a matter of fact, one of the first plays I (Jessica) ever saw in Vancouver was a Fringe production, and I still remember it clearly.

Fringe is also a charity that relies on volunteers and donations to keep running. The vision behind the mission is that new and established participants are drawn into the festival, and that new and seasoned viewers come out to see them. The entire environment revolves around community, collaboration, supporting artists, and having great quality and uncensored shows.

Another great aspect, aside from the hilariousness and great values, is that each play is selected by random lottery. That means no judges were used to decide the lineup. There is a mix between Mainstage plays, which are the traditional type of theatre where the audience goes to a Playhouse or stage to see the performance. There is also another type called BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) where the producers create site-specific performances around the city in unconventional ways.

There is a lot more that can be said about Fringe, so we would definitely recommend their website to do so. The last big thing to know and not to miss is the Pick of the Fringe: pretty much the most popular shows that go on during the festival. They get an extra little run at the end of September, giving everyone a second or third time to see them, or a first if you missed it! If nothing else, this is the place to be. The best shows of a very popular theatre festival.

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
September 8-18, 2011 — Pick of the Fringe September 22-25

EDITOR’S NOTE: We at Hummingbird604.com (Raul, with the amazing help of Anabelle and Jessica, my lovely interns) will be working really hard to provide you with a lot of coverage for these wonderful plays. Stay tuned and follow the Fringe 2011 tag. For tickets and to download the iPhone app, click here.

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