Calgary Fringe Vision and Mission Statements

VISION:

Enriching Calgary and beyond by providing accessible and unique theatre performance and arts educational experiences.

MISSION:

Celebrating creative freedom by providing artists and audiences unique opportunities to participate in accessible and inclusive theatre.

VALUES:

  • Integrate, not segregate. We are one world, one family.

  • Safer space for brave ideas and big artistic risk. This is where chance encounters grow into meaningful collaborations, where messy first inklings become brilliant realizations. 

  • Everyone is radically welcome. Our currency is kindness. We champion the dream of making it: making art, making community, making change, making memories. 

  • Community care and accessibility, striving to make theatre accessible to everyone in a responsible, mindful way.

  • Offering a hand up, not a hand out. We uplift and support each other to be the best versions of ourselves.

HOW WE ACCOMPLISH THIS:

For Performing Artists …

  • Performance opportunity at each summer’s Calgary Fringe Theatre Festival:

    • Fringe Managed Venue (Lottery Drawn artists) receive a minimum 6 guaranteed performances over the 9 day Festival, with full venue and technical services provided. Venues are assigned per show technical requirements. All participating artists are selected by random draw.

    • Artist Managed Venue (First Come, First Served artists) perform in found venue spaces with show dates and times as determined by the venue and the artist. The Calgary Fringe typically sources out these found venue spaces within the Fringe Festival area, then offers these spaces to artists who did not make the random draw on a first come, first served basis. Artists are responsible for all venue and technical services in these venues.

    • What else FMV and AMV artists get from us:

      • 50% of performance spots reserved for the General Artist Category; 50 % of performance spots reserved for the IBPOC/Equity Seeking Category.

      • Professional Development Workshops in the months leading into the Festival.

      • Box office/Front of House services.

      • Billet accommodations for traveling artists, when available.

      • Overall festival marketing support.

      • 100% of the base ticket price (excluding ticketing surcharges and government taxes) goes directly back to the artist.

For Performing Artists and Arts Workers …

  • Training and mentorship support through our Fringe U(niversity), an experiential entrepreneurial programme specially designed to give emerging artists and arts workers the tools they need to become their own boss - empowering them to take control of their own futures and to create more work opportunities for themselves in the arts that they love! For more details of our Fringe U activities, click here.

For our Community …

  • Working in partnership with visible minority groups through organizations such as ActionDignity, Immigrant Council for Arts Initiative (ICAI), and Institute for Canadian Citizens by providing opportunities for engagement and participation as an artist, arts worker, volunteer, board member, or patron.

  • Providing more accessibility choices for our community through such things as providing relaxed performances, limiting physical barrier access to performance venues, Pay What You Want ticket options, and VOD of pre-recorded live performances.

  • Collaboratively working together with Fringes from all across the globe via the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals and the World Fringe Network to better support the artists and model diversity and inclusivity within our Fringe Festivals and organizations.

  • Inviting patrons, as Co-Creators of the art being created on stage, to attend the performances and offer valuable feedback to the artists, assisting them in the continued development of their work.

  • Keeping tickets at affordable prices to allow for greater audience participation in attendance.

Calgary International Fringe Festival Society is a registered Charity Organization with Canada Revenue Agency.  Charity Number 867143877RR0001.