Melbourne Fringe develops, champions and celebrates the independent arts by working year-round to provide artists with the tools to create, present and promote their work, building a vibrant community of audiences and artists devoted to artistic discovery.
Since the first Fringe Festival in 1983, Melbourne Fringe has grown to become the largest open access multi-disciplinary festival in Victoria and an iconic event for the City of Melbourne, with the 2014 Festival being the biggest in Melbourne Fringe’s 30 year history.
The 2014 Fringe Festival ran from 17 September to 5 October and was a record breaking year, with 400 shows, exhibitions and events registered in the Festival (an increase of 27 per cent) and over 320,000 attendees from across Victoria (an increase of 12 per cent). Over 6000 artists took part, presenting work in 164 venues across the City of Melbourne.
With an economic impact of $13 million dollars, and over 10 per cent of all Melbourne Fringe audiences travelling to Melbourne for the Festival, Melbourne Fringe has become a major cultural and tourist event, with significant social and economic impact for artists and audiences.