13th Annual

– NANAIMO FRINGE FESTIVAL –

FESTIVAL RUNS: August 10 – 20th, 2023
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 31st, 2023

Artists submitting this application will perform an in-person show at the Nanaimo Fringe

LOTTERY RESULTS ANNOUNCED: April 2nd, 2023

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 event in Vancouver Island’s Hub City of Nanaimo
6 scheduled performances (fewer with significant scheduling conflicts); stand-up Comedians will headline one late-night venue only
Basic outfitted venue (for in-person presentations)
One technician, front of house management
Box office volunteers, at-door and advance ticket service
Up to 3 hours technical rehearsal
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); Stand-up Comedians receive 100% of their Box Office revenues, less honoraria (totalling no more than $100) for their local warm-up acts.
Safer Spaces Policy can be read here.

You Provide

A fully produced (in-person) show, ready to be seen by an audience
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
Any specialty technical equipment (including projectors, monitors, lapel mics, pianos, keyboards, fog machines, etc.)

Schedule Details:

60 min run time is recommended. Up to 70 min is permitted.
45 Minutes recommended set for stand-up comedy (each headliner will be supported by local warm-up acts curated by guest Fringe Stand-Up Comedy Producer, Peter Hudson)
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 $250 ($80 for stand-up Comedians). $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 $220 ($50 for stand-up Comedians), 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 April 2nd we will hold a lottery to select artists for the 2023 Nanaimo Fringe Festival. Usually 50% of the spots go to local groups, 25% go to other Canadian groups and 25% go to International groups.
In 2023 we are adding 4 nights of stand-up comedy. Each night will be headlined by a different lottery selected stand-up Comedian, supported by local warm-up acts.
We accept up to 11 groups per festival (plus 4 stand-up Comedians). Once we fill those initial spots we continue to select groups to go into the wait-list.

Withdrawal deadline: May 1, 2023.

If you notify us in writing of your intention to withdraw on or before May 1st, the $220/$50 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 $220/$50 participation fee (with the exception of those who received artist bursaries from Pacific Coast Stage Co.).

2023 Lottery Launch Details & Artist Application