2010 Minnesota Fringe Sponsorship (advertisement)

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About Minnesota Fringe

In general

Q. What is Fringe?
A. Minnesota Fringe is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect adventurous artists with adventurous audiences. The biggest way we do this is by organizing the Minnesota Fringe Festival, an annual eleven-day performing arts extravaganza. In 2009, we issued 46,216 tickets to 162 shows. Fringe shows are 60 minutes or less and there's a 30-minute break between each show.

Q. When is Fringe?
A. Thursday, August 5 through Sunday, August 15, 2010 is our next festival. Give or take, Fringe is always the first two weekends (and the sandwiched weekdays) of August each year.

Q. Where is Fringe?
A. In 2009, there were 14 venues standard Fringe venues and eight BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) locations for site-specific works in Minneapolis' West Bank, Uptown, North Loop, Northeast and downtown neighborhoods. For the first time in our history, St. Paul hosted a venue in 2009.

Q. How long has Minnesota Fringe been around?
A. Since 1993. We're celebrating our 17th anniversary in 2010.

Q. How do I volunteer to help with the Fringe?
A. Sign up online or read more about the different sorts of things you can do as a Fringe volunteer.

Q. How were previous years' festivals?
A. Download our wrap-up press release for the 2009 festival or check out our 2008 annual report and our 2007 annual report (PDF) to find out more.

Q. How do I find out more about the Fringe?
A. If your question has not been answered here, please send us an email and we will answer your question to the best of our ability. Or give us a call at (612) 872-1212.

The artists

Q. How are Fringe shows selected?
A. They're not! Fringe is unjuried; there is no selection panel that decides who deserves to perform. Applicants are instead selected by lottery. If an application wins the lottery, they have a guaranteed spot in the festival. If they don't win the lottery, they're placed on a waiting list. If someone drops out of the festival, we offer the slot to the first applicant on the waiting list.

Q. Why a lottery?
A. Until 2003, Minnesota Fringe was first-come-first-served: whoever turned their application in first was given a spot in the festival. But on the first day we accepted applications in 2004, we received more applications than we had performance slots. Hence the lottery.

Q. How much does it cost artists to be in the Fringe?
A. There's a $25 nonrefundable application fee and, if an application is drawn to be in the festival, the base producing fee is $400. Minnesota Fringe has a graduated fee, so companies who receive larger venues or more access to technical equipment (such as video projectors) pay more than artists who request smaller venues and less tech. The application fee covers venue rent for five shows, tech and box office staff, a listing in the printed program, information on the Web site and 65 percent of the box office receipts. Anything beyond the application fee that our participating artists spend is up to them.

Q. Are artists guaranteed anything?
A. Artists are guaranteed 65 percent of their box office sales. Although we promote the festival and provide our artists with as much guidance as we can, it's up to individual artists and companies to make their shows a success.

The festival

Q. How are venues assigned?
A. Each participant is asked about the sort of space they need (stage size, seating capacity, audio-visual capabilities, etc.). We try to make sure each show is assigned the venue that best fits what the producer requested. Because space is limited, we can't always give a best-case scenario to our producers. But that doesn't stop us from trying.

Q. How are shows scheduled?
A. Attendance data from previous years is calculated to determine which performance times are historically the most and least attended. The schedule is then divided into five strata from best to worst and each show is assigned one time slot in each strata. This ensures that everyone's odds at ticket sales are even. And because staff neutrality is important, the festival is scheduled anonymously: Every show is assigned a unique numerical ID and the staff does not know which artist matches to what number until the whole festival's been scheduled.

Q. How much are tickets?
A. In 2009, tickets were $12 at the door and $14 in advance with discounts for seniors, students, Minnesota Public Radio members and kids. All attendees must purchase an admission button, good for admission to the festival plus loads of discounts around town.