Fringe Brisbane and Anywhere become Anywhere Fringe
Brisbane’s festival of performance anywhere but a theatre – Anywhere Festival – and the reimagined Fringe Brisbane are joining forces to become Anywhere Fringe Brisbane Festival in 2024.
Anywhere Fringe is the logical and exciting next step by the creative team behind Anywhere Festival in May and Fringe Brisbane in October and November.
Anywhere Fringe is the crystallising of the out of the box thinking of Anywhere Festival – the festival of nooks and crannies celebrating thirteen years – with the reimagined fringe model and festival hubs of Fringe Brisbane.
“Anywhere Festival has been Brisbane’s unique take on fringe festivals since it was created in 2011,” said Paul Osuch, Artistic Director of Anywhere.
Anywhere Festival was created in a time when Brisbane didn’t have many traditional performance spaces.
“That’s why we created a festival that didn’t use any traditional venues, instead only using nooks and crannies: alleys, backyards, rooftops, offices, warehouses, anywhere but a theatre.”
Since then, Brisbane has grown up and there are many wonderful independent venues.
“During Covid we had so many incredible shows and independent venues want to be part of Anywhere Festival because no other festivals were running and we were already up and going in June 2020 before nearly anyone else in the world,” said Paul.
“The problem was that regular venues didn’t fit into Anywhere Festival because it is all about nooks and crannies. Our tag line was ‘anywhere but a theatre’ ;-)”
Fringe Brisbane was created as a separate festival with a focus on hub locations where audiences could experience many shows in one place.
“In the first year alone had 472 performances of 101 productions across Brisbane – more performances than Brisbane Festival, which is pretty incredible for a first festival.”
The opportunity came up to reconsider the timing of both festivals and the idea of a combined festival gained a lot of steam and became the next logical step. A festival of all genres of performance from theatre and comedy to circus, dance and spoken word as well as music from classical to contemporary, immersive performances, participatory works, escape rooms and film.
“19 July to 4 August 2024 was an obvious choice for many reasons. It’s ideal for the fringe circuit, with Darwin Fringe in July, us, Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, Sydney Fringe in September and Melbourne Fringe in October.”
Anywhere Fringe encourages performance in unusual spaces, with the advantages of hub venues where there are lots of things going on and audiences can get many different experiences in one hit and discover acts they wouldn’t have otherwise.
Anywhere Fringe gives creators the flexibility to produce work how you want instead of how we want.
“We wanted to create the festival that gives performers the flexibility to leverage us to achieve more than they could independently and to finally really perform anywhere.” said Paul.
“For audiences, it’s to give audiences permission to jump in and experience performers and shows they wouldn’t have otherwise while also exploring every corner of this wonderful river city.”
Anywhere Fringe is open now for artists to start the conversation with us through anywhere.is or directly at eventotron.com. Venues will be coming online soon and the deadline to lock in details is 8 March for the Anywhere Fringe running 19 July to 4 August 2024. Stay tuned to socials @anywherefringe or our web site as we make more announcements.
Key Facts
- Anywhere Fringe will run 19 July to 4 August 2024 anywhere in Brisbane city limits.
- Anywhere Fringe brings Fringe Brisbane Festival and Anywhere Festival together to make what will be the biggest festival of performances in Brisbane in 2024.
- Anywhere Fringe is by the team with thirteen years of experience creating Fringe Brisbane Festival and Anywhere Festival
- Anywhere Fringe will replace Fringe Brisbane Festival and Anywhere Festival in Brisbane with Anywhere Festival Moreton Bay returning for a fourth year as a standalone festival from 9-26 May 2024.
- The festival will include performances in nooks and crannies (Anywhere Festival) and performance spaces (Fringe Brisbane)
- Registrations for Artists and events open 12 February to have details locked in for the program by 17 March 2024.
- The Social handles are @anywherefringe on Instagram and anywhereFringe on Facebook #anywherefringe #anywherefringe2024
