festival – Nanaimo Fringe Festival

The Nanaimo Fringe Festival – produced and managed by Pacific Coast Stage Company (PCSC) – has been reinstated as a member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF). In order to remain as a member in good standing with CAFF, Nanaimo Fringe is working together in restorative collaboration with CAFF and the performing arts community in Nanaimo, particularly the trans and 2SLGBTQ+ community. Positive steps have been taken by Nanaimo Fringe with continued mentorship, guidance, and support from CAFF.

Nanaimo Fringe and CAFF are actively working towards creating and maintaining a safer, more inclusive, and respectful environment for trans and 2SLGBTQ+ Fringe Festival participants. As a member driven arts services organization, CAFF is committed to supporting Nanaimo Fringe in this restorative process to ensure Nanaimo Fringe is operating in alignment with CAFF’s Guiding Principles. The 14th annual Nanaimo Fringe Festival will proceed from August 8-18, 2024.

Any questions should be emailed to CAFF at president@fringefestivals.com and Tamara McCarthy, Artistic Producer of Nanaimo Fringe, at artists@pacificcoaststage.org.

In true Fringe fashion, Pacific Coast Stage Company is honouring theatre’s innate spirit of experimentation, creativity, and bold innovation by taking our tenth annual Nanaimo Fringe Festival online from August 11-15th, 2020. Celebrate our decennial Festival — at a distance — with all the long-standing joys of uncensored, unexpected and unforgettable Fringe performances broadcast straight to you!

“Adapting our little Fringe for the World Wide Web has demonstrated the resilience and utmost importance of the arts in times of global crisis. We look forward to connecting with new and existing audiences remotely this August, to share the ingenuity of our talented Artists in the face of current adversity.”

— Bryony Dixon, PCSC General Manager

Log-on and tune-in to the @NanaimoFringe Facebook page for 5 evenings of streamed performances by local, Indigenous, national and international Artists with some ASL interpretation/captioning. Get involved with online viewing parties, or host your own comedy-club style gathering for those in your social bubble! Stay safe and connected (while enjoying a laugh or two) as we navigate the previously uncharted waters of digital Fringe-ing together.

View an incredible selection of digitally reimagined, experimental theatre from across Canada and beyond.

Voice your support for these innovative performers via online post-show Audience to Artist talkbacks.

Vote for your Pick of the Fringe and catch an encore of the audience favourite following our online Wrap Party.

This year’s lottery selected lineup includes online adaptations of productions by local Artists: Connor Runnings, Willem Roelants, and Beholder Entertainment (recipient of the inaugural Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre cultural category sponsorship); Saanich based Handmade Ivy Productions and award winning Canadian poet/actor Sarah Wilson; plus International circus group A Good Catch, joining us all the way from Australia!