ROCHESTER FRINGE ANNOUNCES YEAR 11 LINEUP; TICKETS ON SALE AT NOON (EDT)
More than 500 shows at 30+ venues Sept. 13-24
Rochester, NY (July 11, 2022) – Organizers of the Rochester Fringe Festival announced today that the eleventh annual festival will include more than 500 performances and events – ranging from comedy, dance, kids’ fringe, and multidisciplinary shows, to music, spoken word, theatre, and visual art & film – from Tuesday, September 13 – Saturday, September 24, 2022.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer such a diverse array of shows this year,” says Rochester Fringe Festival Producer Erica Fee. “The energy felt throughout the city during the 12 days of Fringe is truly incomparable!”
The Spiegeltent and its adjacent Spiegelgarden will return to One Fringe Place (corner of Main and Gibbs Streets, across from Eastman Theatre). Today’s announcement reveals that a new variety show created and directed by Fringe favorite Matt Morgan and starring Matt Morgan and Heidi Brucker Morgan will make its World Premiere in that magical venue for 13 performances: Cirque du Fringe: Afterglow. The production will feature the Morgans in their first partnered return to Fringe since 2019 and features an all-new cast.
“I’m so excited to get back to my home away from home, the epic Rochester Fringe,” says Brucker Morgan. “We will finally be reunited… and it feels so good.”
2022 headline acts include:
Friday & Saturday on the Fringe ft. The Flying Españas
in Flippin Metal Circus | Sept. 16 - 17 | 7:30 + 9:30 pm. | Parcel 5 | FREE
Welcome to the Thunderdome! Experience the fifth generation of The Flying Españas in an adrenaline-pumping WORLD PREMIERE that fuses feats of daring with death-defying acrobatics and heavy metal. Be awed by the flying trapeze, hear the roar of the massive motorcycle highwire overhead,, and witness the epic Wheel of Destiny – all set to a live soundtrack from NYC-based band Mountain Girl. Not your parents’ circus… But they’re keeping it in the family.
C’est Pas Là, C’est Par Là | Sept. 16 - 17 | 8:30 p.m. | City Blue | FREE
Direct from France comes the U.S. premiere tour of C’est Pas Là, C’est Par Là (It’s Not Here, It’s Over Here) from groundbreaking, immersive artist Juhyung Lee. Inspired by a pro-democracy rally in Seoul, Lee and renowned art collective Galmae have created a collective arts experience that involves the community working together to unravel five kilometers of string.
Fringe Finale Weekend ft. BANDALOOP | Sept. 23 - 24 | 7:30 + 9:30 p.m. | Martin Luther King, Jr. Park | FREE
To further its commitment to providing incredible arts experiences in public spaces, the Fringe announces the return of vertical performers BANDALOOP, who will use climbing technology to dance on the side of 21-story Five Star Plaza at 100 Chestnut Street as crowds watch from Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. California-based BANDALOOP was a massive hit at Fringe in 2012 and 2013, attracting tens of thousands. From the Seattle Space Needle and the New York Stock Exchange to Yosemite’s El Capitan, BANDALOOP honors nature, community, and the human spirit as they re-imagine dance, activate
public spaces, and inspire wonder and imagination in audiences around the world.
Fringe Street Beat | Sept. 24 | Prelims: 5-7:30 p.m., Finals: 8-9:30 p.m. | Martin Luther King, Jr. Park | FREE
The annual all-styles dance and breakdancing competition will feature teams from all over the Northeast competing for a cash prize, with nationally known judges and DJ ha-MEEN. The finals will take place in the “bowl” at MLK between the two performances of BANDALOOP.
The annual sell-out Silent Disco, which the festival introduced to Rochester in 2013, returns for four late weekend nights (Sept. 16, 17, 23, 24) in the Spiegeltent.
All tickets go on sale at NOON (EDT) today online at rochesterfringe.com; by phone: (585) 957-9837 (additional fees apply); and in person at the door of the venue or (beginning September 13) at the One Fringe Place Box Office, corner of Main & Gibbs.
(Note: additional headline programming will be announced in the next few weeks.)
The 2022 festival will also feature more than 125 FREE shows during its 12 days.
The annual, free Kids Day will take place on Saturday, September 24 in the Spiegelgarden, which is also home to the Theatre Bar, food trucks, games, rest rooms, box office; and at The Strong National Museum of Play, where attendees can take part in a Guinness World Record Attempt for Largest Juggling Lesson at 12 p.m. Additionally, a brand-new Dashboard Dramas VIII (four short plays in four parked cars) will return, along with the debut of Bushwhacked British Bake Off: Game of Scones, an improvised take on The Great British Baking Show; and Bushwhacked Bridgerfun Ball(s), a Bridgerton spoof.
Returning Fringe favorites include:
- Gospel Sunday, Fringe’s annual celebration of local gospel greats on Sunday, September 18 at 2 p.m., hosted by Rev. Dr. Rickey Harvey in the Spiegelgarden.
- Pedestrian Drive-In, nightly films (with audio delivered via provided headphones), outdoors in the Spiegelgarden on the big screen.
Located in neighborhoods scattered throughout the heart of the city, the 2022 venues include: One Fringe Place (location of Spiegeltent and Spiegelgarden), Parcel 5, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Aerial Arts of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, and Miller Center), The Focus Theater, Garth Fagan Dance, Geva Theatre Center, George Eastman Museum, Java's, JCC Rochester, Joseph Avenue Arts and Cultural Alliance, La Marketa at The International Plaza, The Little Theatre, RIT City Art Space, MuCCC (Multi-use Community Cultural Center), Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo), Rochester Music Hall of Fame, School of the Arts, Salena's, Sloan Performing Arts Center at the University of Rochester, The Spirit Room, The Theatre @ Innovation Square, Writers & Books. Site specific locations include: City Blue, Ellison Park, Mt. Hope Cemetery, ROC City Circus, St. Joseph’s Park, The Strong National Museum of Play, and Third Presbyterian Church.
More about Rochester Fringe Festival: From its five-day debut in 2012, the 12-day Rochester Fringe Festival has become the largest multidisciplinary performing arts festival in NYS and one of the top three attended Fringe Festivals in the U.S. More than 500,000 people have attended nearly 4,000 performances and events at the Rochester Fringe Festival since its inception. It is one of about 250 Fringe festivals in the world, with Edinburgh being the original Fringe. Rochester Fringe Festival’s mission is to offer a platform for artists to share their creativity and develop their skills while also providing unparalleled public access to the arts. The Fringe strives to be diverse and inclusive, and to stimulate downtown Rochester both culturally and economically. It features international, national, and local artists. From comedy to theatre, from music to dance, from visual art and film to spoken word, and from children’s entertainment to multi-disciplinary collaborations, the festival’s diversity also extends to venues that span the gamut from parked cars to grand theatres. The 2019 Fringe featured more than 650 performances and events – over 200 of them free – in 25+ downtown venues and broke all previous attendance records with more than 100,000 visitors.
2022 sponsors include: New York State Council on the Arts; University of Rochester; City of Rochester; Monroe County; Ames Amzalak Memorial Trust; Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation; Rochester Area Community Foundation; Rochester Institute of Technology; Nocon & Associates; Waldron Rise; Elaine P. & Richard U. Wilson Foundation; Louis S. & Molly B. Wolk Foundation; Konar Enterprises; Mary Mulligan Trust; the French Embassy of the United States; FACE Foundation; Villa Albertine; ; Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation; VisitRochester; Nazareth College; Monroe Community College; St. John Fisher University; The Pike Company; 13WHAM TV; CITY Newspaper; D&C Digital; WXXI; Fred & Floy Willmott Foundation; Wegmans; Hyatt Regency Rochester; ESL Foundation; Canandaigua National Bank; Genesee Beer; The Rubens Family Foundation; City Blue; Aspire Transformation Services; Benderson Development; Hamilton A/V; Wilkins RV; McCarthy Tents & Events; Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care; The Harley School; Boylan Code; Bond Schoeneck & King; Yelp; and the House of Guitars
The presentation of C’est Pas La, C’est Par La (It’s Not Here, It’s Over Here) by Compagnie Galmae – Juhyung Lee, is made possible by the support of FACE Contemporary Theater (a program of Villa Albertine and FACE Foundation), in partnership with the French Embassy in the United States; with additional support from The Ford Foundation, Institut français, the French Ministry of Culture, and private donors.
COVID-19 update: The Rochester Fringe Festival and each venue in the Festival independently establishes its own masking and vaccine guidelines. For the Spiegeltent and outdoor venues, the Fringe does not currently require vaccination checks or masking at this time. To confirm the rules in place at the time of a Festival performance, the Fringe has published the vaccine and masking requirements of each venue at rochesterfringe.com/covid-protocols; these rules will be continually updated so you should check them at the time of a performance you plan to attend. The Rochester Fringe Festival encourages mask wearing regardless of the rules set forth by each venue.
Media please note: Media passes will be distributed after Labor Day. If you or your outlet has not been included in the past, please contact Fringe publicist Leah Stacy. Fringe press assets can be found at rochesterfringe.com/press.
