The fringe festival concept may have been conceived in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947, but these eclectic gatherings of art and theatre have taken off in cities all across America in more recent years. In some communities, fringe festivals are enormous events that last multiple days, drawing hundreds of performers and thousands of spectators. When organized properly, fringe festivals have the ability to not only benefit a local art community, but can also be an immense boost the local economy of the host city. The Minnesota Fringe, which has been in existence since 1993, for example, sold over 50,000 tickets and had nearly 900 performances across the 11 day festival in 2013.
In only its third year, the Annapolis Fringe Festival (scheduled for October 26) wants to lay a strong financial foundation for this year, as well as future festivals. Although a great team, led by Anna Perry of Metropolitan Restaurant, Katherine Burke of Annapolis Collection Gallery, Doug Smith from the MainStreets Annapolis Program, and Ann Hillyer of Annapolis.com, has been assembled to organize the festivities and fundraising this year, coordinating an event of this magnitude takes money, time, and resources to achieve. Simply put, this group of volunteers cannot do it alone, and is calling on the citizens and businesses of Annapolis for help. Money is needed to pay for some of the headline artists and printing costs and volunteers are needed the day of the event. This organization has already received funding from The Arts Council of Anne Arundel County and is looking for other organizations and businesses to sponsor the event. Donations of even the smallest amounts will make a huge difference in ensuring the financial success of this year’s event and setting a sound financial footing for an even bigger event next year.
If you are an adorer of art, or Annapolis, and want to help the fringe festival see similar success to its counterparts around the country, donations of your time and/or money are a great way to show your support and ensure the future of such festivals. For information about volunteering, please contact event coordinator Anna Perry at epolycarp@gmail.com. To make a tax deductible donation to the Annapolis Fringe Festival, please contact Annapolis.com’s Ann Hillyer at amh@maryland.com.
To buy tickets to the show or to learn more about our performance schedule, please visit www.AnnapolisFringeFestival.com.
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