Artist Resource Center

Registration for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival is held at Eventotron.com. 

Registration for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival occurs on Eventotron.com. The information submitted is then used to create your show’s web page, print guide listing, and tickets.

To register, simply create an account on Eventotron, find the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival under the Festivals tab, and click Apply.

Artists must register and finalize all information before June 15, 2024 in order to be included in the printed Fringe Festival Guide. Artists may register early for additional benefits, while those registered after June 15 will be included in the festival, without receiving full festival benefits. To receive the highest quality festival experience, it is strongly encouraged to register your show as early as possible!

Shows are not considered “finalized” until completing and submitting all show information.

All artists must review and agree to the 2024 Fringe Festival Artist Policies & Agreement  before participating in the festival. If you intend to participate, please download and keep this document for reference.

In searching for the perfect venue, an artist’s decision should be guided by a few general considerations. It is important to consider every aspect of the production so as to avoid complications later on.

• Accessibility! Is the venue and the performance space wheelchair accessible?
• In which neighborhood should the show be located?
• How many seats are desired/needed at each performance?
• What are the technical needs of the production?
• What are the staging needs?
• Does the venue have seating, lighting, a PA system, etc.?
• Is it an old building? Is it wired for large electrical loads like lighting and sound equipment?
• Will the neighbors be able to hear the production? Is there a noise curfew?
• Does the venue have electricity, bathrooms, and enough electrical outlets?
• Does the venue have air conditioning?
• Does the venue agreement include rehearsal time?

Artist’s should keep in mind that they are representing the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and the artist community when they are presenting their work. It is imperative that they engage with their venue’s community with the utmost respect. Here are some things to keep in mind to that end:

• If a venue is a nontraditional space or location, be aware of the way that the show might impact the residents in that neighborhood. Be sensitive to late-night noise, trash, light pollution, and disruptions to traffic. The space may not be soundproofed and the neighbors may not be used to the level of noise and foot traffic a performance brings.
• If the show takes place in an outdoor location for a large audience, artists must solicit a permit and/or permission from the local neighborhood.
• The neighborhood around the venue is a great potential audience, so the impression artists make when loading in and presenting a show is key. By being conscientious of their presence and footprint in their neighborhoods, artists can build relationships with neighbors that expand their show’s reach.

Once an artist has found and signed a venue agreement, they are responsible for submitting venue information in Eventotron, the registration and information collection platform. Some venues may already be listed on Eventotron, if an artist cannot find their venue, they can add the information in manually.

FringeArts requires that artists submit the following information about their venue:

• Name of Venue
• Address
• Accessibility
• Capacity
• Is venue a private residence?

Artists should not list a venue in Eventotron as their Fringe Festival venue until they have a signed contract with the venue.

To protect the artist, the venue, and the Festival regarding any claims for injury or property damage sustained by an audience member or other “third party,” FringeArts require that all participants in the Festival obtain general liability insurance covering themselves and FringeArts. Artists must upload a Certificate of Insurance as proof of coverage on Eventotron.com. This insurance must name FringeArts as “additional insured” on the policy.

Liability Insurance Requirements:

• $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 in the aggregate
• Must name FringeArts as “additional insured” on the policy, not as the venue.
• Must list the venue on the policy
• Policy must be in force the entire time the show is running

Artists may secure insurance from any insurance provider as long as the policy fits the above requirements. FringeArts has secured an insurance partner that has a quick and easy policy available designed specifically for Fringe Festival Artists.

Artists looking for Festival insurance may use the FringeArts & Eventsured Partnership Policy

Remember that participants in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival keep 90% of ticket income sold through the Festival Box Office and 100% of their walk up sales. When calculating your total revenue, remember to consider if you expect to sell more in advance or at the door.

Ticket sales = (average ticket price)  x (expected capacity) x (# of performances)

• Price – Consider full price, discounts, and comps. Do not calculate potential ticket income on full price tickets alone.
• Capacity – Consider how many of the available seats do you expect to sell. Do you expect sell out shows, or a percentage of the house? Be conservative with your estimate.
• Performances – Only calculate the CONFIRMED performance instances. Do you already have a venue booked and dates scheduled? How many performances can you realistically present?

Revenue calculation and Expense budgeting should happen in tandem. Knowing your potential expenses will help with fundraising efforts and determine your necessary earned income. When calculating expenses, be sure to overestimate potential expenses.

Common Expenses

• Production – Read your contracts! Venue rental, production labor (may be included with venue), Sound/Lighting equipment (included with venue?), artist fees, sets, etc.
• Marketing – Though FringeArts does market on your behalf, consider your own marketing costs. Printing, distribution, design of assets, online ads, etc. (Can you get your printing done in-kind?)
• Administrative – Don’t forget administrative costs (local travel, insurance, permits)
• Contingency – Always a good idea to add contingency (unexpected expenses always come up and this can minimize surprises to your bottom line. Rule of thumb is 10% of exp)

Actuals

• Record your actuals as you go, to track how your spending and sales compared to what you thought you would spend and earn.
• Keep track of receipts! Good practice is to use the same card/account for all expenses on one project.
• After the production, record your final actuals vs budget, especially if you need to report to funders, or if you’ll do this show again!

Feel Free to use this Fringe Festival Show Budget Template designed by the FringeArts Finance Department.

If you have finance and budgeting questions, contact Finanace@FringeArts.com

Social media is a powerful tool for audience engagement that can create a buzz around a Fringe Festival show. Artists should develop their own social media strategy to promote their show

A social media schedule can look like:

• Facebook – 1 post per day (Create a Facebook Event with link to your PhillyFringe.org event page and invite your contacts)
• Twitter – 3 posts per day
• Instagram – 1 post per day/ 3 or more stories per day

FringeArts is committed to re-tweeting, liking, and favoriting any relevant posts in which we are tagged, so be sure to include @FringeArts in your post to reach our 9,600+ followers on Twitter, 15,000+ on Facebook, and 14,000+ on Instagram.

In order to engage with FringeArts, the Fringe Festival, and optimize social media presence artists should:

• Tag FringeArts in all stories, posts, & tweets
• Use hashtags like #FringeFestival2024 #PhillyFringe2024
• Follow accounts of other artists in the festival & repost their posts
• Join Facebook groups related to the show

Unless a particular show is touring for a long time, or has a very large audience base, it is NOT recommended to create new social media accounts for a specific piece. Leverage the network you already have. Creating a following on a new Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook account is a full time effort, and will not yield the same results as sharing and posting to your existing followers.

Show Titles
Titles are part of the artistic process. The first allegiance should be to the piece itself. Overall, short, evocative titles tend to work best in the Festival Guide.

Show Description 
Audiences turn to the Print Guide and Website during Festival-time, and the description is often the main tool they use to make ticket-buying decisions. So the primary goal in writing a description is to be clear, informative, and interesting.

For the Print Guide, each listing can be 300 characters max, including space. Use it wisely. The Guide listing will already include the genre, title, times, locations, and ticket price. Focus should be on the main elements that will accurately represent the work and set it apart from the rest. Audiences feel empowered to see a show when they have a better sense of what they can expect, even if it’s the unexpected.

The PhillyFringe.org event page has room for a longer description, up to 2000 characters. Artists often find that very long show descriptions are overwhelming to audiences, and can push important show information further down the page. Making sure a show description paints a tantalizing and full picture without giving away too much is important.

If the piece is largely conceptual, it is helpful to find one concrete idea that an audience can hook onto. The larger themes are what audiences would take away, but it’s unlikely they will be able to digest them in the midst of 200 other show descriptions.

It also doesn’t hurt to mention any awards, brief press quotes, or notable performances, if applicable.

While registering your show, you will be asked to upload one square 1080 x 1080 pixel image for the print and web listings.

A great promotional image is the single most important investment to promote a Fringe Festival show. If it’s in the budget, hire a professional photographer. Some photographers offer discounts for artists. If it’s not in the budget, find a friend with a nice camera and ask for their help in exchange for billing in the program. Work with a photographer to come up with eye-catching images. Elements may include a dynamic composition and unusual angles. Promotional images are staged, in locations that evoke the energy of the performance. There should be costume elements, but do not require full staging. These are great for promoting a piece that may not be fully developed.

When creating posters, postcards, and your own promotional materials, the same image you have sent to the festival should be used.

Do’s

• Create/Photograph your own image! (or work with a local artist/designer)
• Use the same image in all of your promotions to increase recognition
• Make sure the image matches the tone of the show

Don’ts

• NO TEXT on the guide image, unless the show has a simple logo. There will be descriptive text in the rest of your listings!
• No Headshots
• No stolen images
• No company logos, guide image should be specific to the show, not the producer
• No ticket prices, times, or dates on the image. That on your web page and print listing, and you can add to any posters/postcard later.
• Don’t overcomplicate it! The image will be used in small print, social media, and online. Complicated, busy images will not look great in all formats. Make sure it is clear and iconic!

Artists should launch email invite campaigns to their shows

Personal Emails – Craft a personal invite to the performance and ask your contacts to share to their networks; always link to the show web page.

Mailing List Emails – If an artist has a mailing list of past attendees, bulk invite those audience members to upcoming events. ALWAYS BCC!

Local Newsletters – Philadelphia is home to two special email lists to which artists can post. We suggest signing up for these news letters and send information about performances. Please note that these lists are not moderated by FringeArts.

• Theatre Philadelphia – https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/theatrephiladelphia
• Philadelphia Dance – https://philadelphiadance.org/listserv/

FringeArts does not print or distribute individual posters or postcards for each show in the festival. It is always good to have some kind of print promotional material for a show. What kind of print promotional material this may be depends on the budget. Professionally printed postcards and posters are ideal, but a hand printed flier is a cheaper option. Artists have found success sharing printing materials with each other, such as two-sided postcards.

Artists should ask to leave postcards and fliers in local businesses (bars, coffee shops, grocery stores, other theaters, gyms) especially in the immediate area around the venue. Artists should bring marketing materials to the Festival Campus at 140 Christopher Columbus Blvd for FringeArts to display. Hanging posters and flyers on public property is illegal and will result in fines, so make sure not to poster on any telephone polls, walls, or fences!

A few Local Printers:

• Fireball Printing
• Signarama
• Color Reflections
• Marathon Printing
• M3 Printing

When promoting your Philadelphia Fringe Festival show, it is important to include the Philadelphia Fringe Festivals Logo. Check back here for updated 2024 Logos.

How to use the logo:

Do

• position the logo in a clear space, with not too busy a background
• make sure it’s legible by choosing a color that doesn’t conflict with your artwork, and avoid low contrasting text
• only use the logo for promotional and marketing materials for shows registered in that years festival
• use the white logo on dark backgrounds and slate logo on light backgrounds

Don’t

• stretch or squeeze the logo
• rotate or crop the logo
• add any extra text to the logo
• use the logo for promotion of performances taking place outside of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival
• use previous iterations of the logo
• use the FringeArts company logo

Artists self-producing Independent Fringe Festival shows are not authorized to use the FringeArts logo or claim that the performance is presented by FringeArts in their promotional efforts. FringeArts manages the festival platform and artist services but does not produce or present the independently participating shows within the festival.

When in doubt, use the language below.

Full Festival Description:

This performance/event is part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, a city-wide celebration of innovation and creativity in contemporary performance. Each September, the Festival explodes into every nook and cranny of Philadelphia with more than 1,000 artistically daring performances. 

The 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, presented by FringeArts, runs September 5-29.

Short Festival Language:

Part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

This performance is part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. 

This performance is presented by [Artist/Company/Producer Name] as part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. 

If you don’t have your own, feel free to download and use this Press Release Template.

DO NOT mass email press releases or BCC several contacts. Each one should be sent individually to a specific contact with a personalized introduction.

Depending on the venue and production, a Fringe Festival presentation may require front of house staff and volunteer support to run smoothly. Artists should consider their need for these front of house positions in addition to their production staff.

Box Office/Check In – Responsible for checking in patrons and selling walk up tickets. Box Office staff should stay outside of the venue while the show is happening to watch for late arrivals and walk ups.

House Manager – The house manager will be responsible for managing box office and volunteers, as well as communicating with production staff to get the show started.

Ushers – Depending on the size of the venue, the production may require 1-2 ushers per show. These ushers report to the house manager and are responsible for seating and assisting patrons.

While the Festival Box Office manages online pre-sales, artists will be responsible for managing check in and walk up sales to their performances. It is highly recommended that the artist secures one or two volunteers to manage the check in and sales experience.

Check In – Final Ticket Reports and Door Lists from FringeArts will be sent to artists 2 hours before showtime.  Artists should then print this document, or forward to whoever is responsible for check in at the door. When ticket buyers arrive, if they have already purchased a ticket in advance, their name will be on the door list.

Door Sales – Not all Fringe Festival audience members purchase tickets in advance. All artists should make sure that there is an easy way to purchase tickets at the door. Artists should be prepared to accept ticket payments through a digital payment method (Paypal, Venmo, Zelle), or have change available to receive cash payments. Artists should arm their front of house staff with necessary equipment such as a laptop with a charger, printed QR code for payment links, wifi or hotspot, and/or a cash bank with small bills and change.

It’s recommended to record names and email addresses from walkup ticket sale patrons for your future mailing lists! FringeArts requires artists to submit door sale and total attendance numbers.

Artists should consider developing their own run of show procedures depending on their needs. Here is a sample checklist:

PRESHOW: 

• Check in with Venue Manager and/ or Stage Manager
• Give Box Office bank to box office associate (count cash in box to make sure it is at the appropriate amount)
• Set up check in equipment/ Box Office Table Set late seating reserved signs/ other special reserved signs
• Set up Volunteer table with stuffers, programs & badges
• Greet ushers at 1 hour before curtain, hand out badges, and suggest a bathroom break while they stuff programs
• Review usher instructions with the ushers and station ushers to their appointed locations by 25-30 minutes before show

OPENING THE HOUSE: 

• Open House w/ SM or VM
• Walk around the lobby and assist where needed : Ask people to take their seats at 7 minutes to show start time

5-10 MINUTES TILL CURTAIN: 

• Check in with the Box Office
• Check in with the Stage Manager/ Venue Manager

SHOWTIME: 

• Give the Stage Manager/ Venue Manager “thumbs up” to start the show anytime between 3 and 5 minutes after scheduled curtain time.
• Have ushers and volunteer ticket seller take an available seat, if no seat available issue comp voucher

AFTER SHOW STARTS: 

• Escort late patrons to Late Seating at designated times
• 20-30 minutes into show: put away TicketLeap equipment

AFTER THE SHOW: 

• Open doors after curtain call is over
• Have the Ushers pick up programs & trash in the house and lobby. Keep reusable programs
• Collect volunteer badges and dismiss ushers
• Sort through programs that Ushers said were O.K, re-stuff and replace for use again.
• Turn in House report via email or drop off
• Check Out with Venue Manager

1. TICKETING POLICY & FEES

• Artists may only offer ONE ticket price option for their event (unless offering Pay What You Can Pricing) + a Student & 25-and-under discount. 
• Artists set their own ticket price, but will honor FringeArts discounts indicated below. 
• Artists must have at least 80% of ticket inventory available through the Festival Box Office. 
• FringeArts will retain 10% of any revenue from tickets sold through the Fringe Festival Box Office. 
• Artists may keep 100% of revenue from tickets sold on their own and at the door of the show.
• Ticket buyers will pay a $1-3 processing fee (depending on ticket cost) added for all credit card transactions (FringeArts does not retain these funds. They are remitted to a third party). 

2. SALES REPORTS

The FringeArt Box Office generates ticket reports for participating artists to keep track of their ticket income and expected attendance

• Weekly Sales Reports will begin in early August, sent to the main admin contact email provided by the artists. This report can only be sent to one person and includes patron email addresses and any associated discounts.
• Daily Sales Reports will begin mid-August 
• Final Sales Reports and door lists will be sent two hours before every performance. The Festival Box Office will stop selling tickets two hours prior to the start of each performance. 

3. TICKET DISCOUNTS

• Students & 25-and-Under are entitled to $5 off the standard ticket price of any show with tickets over $20. These can be purchased as pre-sales or walk up by showing a student ID/ ID. 
• FringeArts Members receive 20% off for all shows with ticket prices OVER $15 . 
• Groups of 10+ are eligible for a 25% discount (Arranged in advance through the Box Office) 
• Press Pass entitles holder to two free tickets (Arranged in advance through the Marketing Dept)
• Artist Badges: all festival artists are entitled to attend any Fringe Festival show for $5 if there are any available seats at showtime. To receive artist budges, names and email addresses of each shows artists/team members must be submitted through Eventotron.com

4. ATTENDANCE TRACKING

• All at-the-door ticket sales must be recorded and reported in Eventotron.com (registration platform) after the festival by the survey deadline.

5. PATRON CONTACT INFORMATION 

• Patron information will be released to Artists upon receiving an email request no later than 90 days after the close of their show. In order to be eligible to receive this information, all artists must have submitted all final documents to FringeArts including W-9s and box office reconciliations.
• Artists may not share patron contact information with other patrons (ex. mass emailing ticket buyers without BCC)

6. CANCELLATIONS, CLOSINGS, & SHOW RELATED CHANGES 

• Artists must contact the Independent Artist Program Manager (April@FringeArts.com) with any and all show changes immediately. 
• Shows may not be canceled except for extraordinary circumstances (ie: an outdoor production being rained out). 
• Shows may not be canceled due to low attendance. 
• Presentations taking place during open gallery hours such as visual art installations and durational performances must be accessible during all hours advertised. If an advertised date or time listed on festival platforms is no longer available to the public, artists must contact April@FringeArts.com immediately.