Festival Venues
Become a Festival Venue
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival takes place all over the city in theaters, bars, office spaces, parks, and more. Any space willing to host an artist and their performance is welcome to participate! Fringe events can take the form of intimate interactive experiences, visual art installations, full theatrical productions, or anything else an artist imagines.
The Festival operates under a Bring Your Own Venue model. This means that artists who register and self-produce their performances are responsible for finding and securing their own venues.
Once the venue agreement is made, all show information and venue details are the responsibility of the artist to submit as they are acting as the producer of the event. The venue is not responsible for communicating with FringeArts or submitting any information to the festival but venues may contact FringeArts at any time with questions.
If you are interested in hosting a Fringe Festival production or event, contact Simon Rabinowitz, the Fringe Festival Manager at Simon@FringeArts.com
Attracting Festival Artists
There are a few great ways to attract artists to use your venue for their Fringe Festival productions. If you are looking to host festival shows and don’t know where to start, contact the Fringe Festival Manager at Simon@FringeArts.com.
Discounts & Space Sharing – Offering up discounted rental rates during the Fringe Festival shows your commitment to supporting artists! Advertise any discount packages through your channels and contact the Festival Manager to pass the news along to artists. Fringe performances can be very low maintenance and require little set/tech, which means it is easy to host multiple performances and for artists to share space.
Helping Artists Promote- Venues with a dedicated following and community may want to offer some marketing support to the artists that they host. This could be through the venue’s website, social media, mailing list, etc. Festival artists can be savvy self promoters and a marketing exchange with the artist may prove beneficial to your venue!
Rehearsal Space – Don’t wait until September to host Festival artists! A highly sought after resource before the festival begins is rehearsal space! If your venue is available for rental as rehearsal space in the summer, contact the Festival Manager.
List Your Venue
A great way to get in front of artists is to list your venue on popular databases.
Artist Services & Agreements
When engaging with Fringe Festival Artists, venues should consider what type of arrangement they will offer and what services are included. Having a written contract outlining the terms of the agreement, services included, and responsibilities of both parties is very important for the venue and the artist.
Once the agreement is made, the artist is ultimately responsible for relaying venue and show information to FringeArts.
Rentals – The most common venue arrangement. The artist pays a fee for the use of the performance space and any other services that come with the rental of the space. These services may include use of technical equipment, technical staff, concessions, or front of house staff. Make sure the artist is aware if they will need to provide additional staff and volunteers that are not included in their rental.
Ticket Split – Some venues offer up their space for free or a low cost in exchange for a percentage of ticket sales. Keep in mind that pre-sales will go through the Fringe Festival Box Office and will be paid out to the artists after the festival, so the venue and artists will be responsible for reconciling any owed ticket income.
Presenting/Partnering with an Artist – If your venue or organization is interested in “presenting” the Fringe Festival production you are hosting as part of your season, be sure that the artist understand where and how you wish to be credited.
Always remember that Fringe Festival Artists are required to sell at least 80% of their pre-sale tickets through the Fringe Festival Box Office. If your venue or organization has its own box office, you may want to consider how that will work with the Fringe Festival policies.
Festival Venue Benefits
- Listing in Philadelphia Fringe Festival Print Guide
- 30,000 Guides Distributed Annually
- Map link and listing on show ticket and web page on PhillyFringe.org
- over 700,000 page views every September
- Social Media engagement during peak Festival time
- Ticket sales managed by Fringe Festival Box Office
Fringe Festival Hubs
Festival Hubs are vibrant centers of activity managed by independent venues and organizations hosting multiple events and artists throughout the Fringe Festival. Hubs take on a more involved role than traditional venues as they work with FringeArts to offer increased services and opportunities to artists, audiences, and the community.
Hubs help artists to engage in cost and space sharing while receiving special marketing and partnership benefits from the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Each Hub offers different services and experiences, and engages with artists in different ways. Many Hubs prepare an open call for applications, while others curate their experience based on a theme or genre. There is no one way to be a Hub!
If you think your organization or venue would make a good Fringe Festival Hub, contact the Fringe Festival Manager at Simon@FringeArts.com.
