All the world’s a stage, or at least a part of Old Strathcona is for the next 11 days as the curtain rises on the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. Edmonton’s festival is celebrating its 45th year and is the largest and longest-running fringe theatre festival in North America. This year’s festival includes 209 indoor theatre productions, 35 outdoor street performers, a free concert series and more. More than 1,600 artists from Canada and six other countries are participating in the festivities. Between comedy, magic, musicals, burlesque, horror, drama and more, there’s a show for everyone. The festival isn’t just a cultural contributor to Edmonton, it’s also a “huge economic” one as well, Mayor Andrew Knack says. “We’re attracting performers and artists from literally across the world into Edmonton throughout the entire duration of the Fringe,” he adds. “That means people who are staying at hotels, that means people who are eating at our local restaurants and being able to shop at local stores. “That’s on top of the Edmontonians who are going to make their way to the Old Strathcona area.” Coun. Michael Janz echoes the sentiment, saying the arts don’t get enough credit for the economic impact they provide. “We often think about oil and gas or forestry or the big economic engines, but the arts are equally as important,” he said. “Every dollar we put into the Fringe generates multiple dollars back in return.” The festival drives more than $20 million in local economic impact, according to executive director Megan Dart. “We hear from our incredible hospitality neighbours that Fringe is the best 11 days of their entire year,” she said. Last year, the artists performing at the Fringe Festival collectively took home around $1.4 million from ticket sales. Dart says this year is on track to meet or exceed that total. Not all the economic benefits come right away like they do for bars, restaurants and hotels, some businesses see the boost later. “Some of our retail businesses find that what they get is increased foot traffic, but people aren’t necessarily shopping right at the moment,” said Andrea Donini, the executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association. “What most of them see is that they’ll get a significant bump further into the year, where people come back and say, ‘I was here during Fringe. I saw this. I needed to come back for it.’” “This is how we really diversify our economy, and if anything, I think the city’s guilty of not giving enough to the Fringe,” Janz adds. “It puts Edmonton on the map for tourism, for future investments, for future job opportunities. “When you have big companies that can locate or relocate anywhere, they want to go where their employees want to be, and having opportunities like the Fringe gives something for their family, their children, their community to do and be proud of and and and be involved in.” Edmonton Fringe hits the stage running with performances starting at 8 p.m. Thursday and running until Aug. 23. “Shows are selling out, so make sure that you’re planning your shows well in advance because once the show is sold out, it’s sold out,” Dart said. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny
