Tickets on sale for Fringe Fest in Jefferson Park
Tickets are now on sale for the seventh annual Chicago Fringe Festival which will be held Aug. 31 through Sept. 11 at various locations in the Jefferson Park business district.
Entry to the festival, called Chicago’s "Best Performing Arts Festival," by the Chicago Reader, requires a one-time button purchase of $5, after that all individual performances are $10. “Kids Fringe” also requires a one-time button purchase of $5 for adults, plus each show has a separate admission of $10 for adults and $5 for children age 12 years and younger.
Passes with a discounted ticket price are available when attending multiple performances: a four-show pass is $36, a 10-show pass is $80 and an unlimited pass is $175. Each venue will have a box office for day-of purchase. Tickets also may be purchased at www.chicagofringe.org.
The festival features about 200 shows and 47 performing groups. The shows, which were selected by lottery in February, include comedies, dramas, dance pieces, musicals, performance art and the unclassifiable. This is an uncensored, unjuried festival that returns 100 percent of ticket sales to the artists. In its first six years, Chicago Fringe has returned more than $172,000 to artists.
This year also marks the return of “Kids Fringe” with family-friendly performances dedicated to audience members age 5 to 12, along with free workshops and activities.
The 2016 Chicago Fringe Festival includes performance groups from around Chicago, the United States and the world, including local performers, Nick DiMaso, Loft Productions, Johnny Garcia, Coffee & Whiskey Productions, Larry Todd Cousineau, Hellbent Productions and Azusa Productions. Kids Fringe artists include Shut Up, Barrel of Monkeys, Smarty Pants, FEMelanin and Karen Yatsko.
A free preview party will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave., offering three-minute previews by the participating artists.
Festival venues include the Congregational Church of Jefferson Park, 5320 W. Giddings St. , the Gift Theater, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. , and the Windy City Music Theater Black Box Studio, 5340 W. Lawrence Ave.
