Boulder Fringe Festival 2016

“The Fringe gives a voice or a place for the voices of those who we wouldn’t see in mainstream performance or production.”

The Boulder Fringe Festival runs August 17th through August 28th. It’s the twelfth anniversary of the festival and there will be 12 days of events. Alexis Cooley, Executive Producer of the festival says a fringe festival is a thoroughly unique theater experience.

“They’re full of independent and original artists producing new works, works that are on the edge of what we see on a normal basis. Sometimes those push the envelope. Sometimes the performances and the shows are really based on seeing how far they can go to infiltrate or get an idea for a new thing. Whether it’s a topic like body diversity and acceptance or if it’s about something like using art as a means for social change. So a lot of times the Fringe gives a voice or a place for the voices of those who we wouldn’t see in mainstream performance or production.”

Performances take place at a variety of venues around Boulder from Boulder Creek to different cafes and churches around the city.

“It’s art in unusual or unexpected places. So we have a burlesque troupe performing at the Pine Street Church. We have clowns in the FUMC sanctuary, we have a couple of performers who are performing BYOV or Bring Your Own Venue, and so three different shows throughout our festival are actually in spaces that they worked to produce in. So there’s a beautiful dance performance being held on Boulder Creek and a few other performances of that natures. So the venues themselves are already places where you wouldn’t expect to go see art however we believe at the Fringe that art in unexpected places is what makes us the next step towards an art destination as a city.”