16th Annual

– NANAIMO FRINGE FESTIVAL –

FESTIVAL RUNS: August 6-16, 2026

Performing at the Port Theatre with the support from you and your team was such a confidence builder, I hit the ground running at the San Francisco Fringe Festival and crushed it for my hometown crowd. Nanaimo goes down as my best Fringe experience ever.”
Bennet Caffee, 2022 Nanaimo Fringe Festival Artist

We Provide

A welcoming & innovative festival in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
5 scheduled performances
Basic outfitted venue
One technician, and front-of-house management
Box office volunteers, at-door and advance ticket service
Up to 3 hours technical rehearsal on August 4 or 5 during the day
A listing in our program (with short description and graphic)
Blanket festival promotion
Local media contact list
Fringe Artists with 100% Box office receipts (you are responsible for ensuring your company pays all applicable taxes on revenue generated);
Safer Spaces Policy can be read here.

You Provide

A fully produced (in-person) show (maximum 70 minutes in length, 60 minutes preferred), ready to be seen by an audience
Performances happen between 11 am and 11pm daily – you and your group must be available within these times to perform. You will receive a schedule in June.
An email address and contact person we can reach on a regular basis
Tech and promotional details. Questionnaires and deadlines will be provided.
All your food, travel, work permit (if required), production, royalty, union fees, and artist fee expenses (including relevant tax fees)
Your own show-specific promotional materials (posters, flyers, media releases), distributed by you
2x posters for your show that the NanFringe can display at the Fringe Hub
Any specialty technical equipment (including projectors, monitors, lapel mics, pianos, keyboards, fog machines, etc.)

Schedule Details:

Performances can have a maximum running time of 70 minutes. no exceptions.
For each performance, companies are given 15min of setup, 15min for the audience to load in (additional setup can happen during audience load in) and 15min for the audience to load out and strike.

Application Fee:

The total Festival Fee is $275.
$30 of this fee is a non-refundable application fee.
All applications need to pay the non-refundable fee of $30 to be entered in the lottery.
If selected at the lottery, groups will be invoiced the remaining $245 to be paid within 7 days.
Payment of the application fee ($30) is due at time of application.

Accommodation:

We cannot guarantee visiting companies free accommodations in Nanaimo, but we will do our best to arrange billets for as many people as we can.

Selection Process:

Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals – we usually accept 1 group from the Touring Lottery. You can find more information on the CAFF Touring Lottery here.
Lottery – On MARCH 18, 2026 we will hold a lottery to select artists for the 2026 Nanaimo Fringe Festival.
Lottery Selection Categories: Local (6), BC based, outside of local region (4), National & International (2)
We accept up to 12 groups per festival. Once we fill those initial spots we continue to select groups to go into the wait-list.

Withdrawal deadline: APRIL 15, 2026

If you notify us in writing of your intention to withdraw on or before April 15th, the $245 participation fee will be refunded. After this date your fees are non-refundable.

If we are forced to cancel your show due to COVID-19, we will refund any affected artists 100% of their $245 participation fee (with the exception of those who received artist bursaries from Pacific Coast Stage Co.).