SYRACUSE FRINGE FESTIVAL 2013

This website was created to promote the first Syracuse Fringe Festival giving voice to local and regional artists and acts that push against the traditional boundaries of the performing arts. The Syracuse Fringe Festival was considered the first festival of its kind in the central New York region. Its goal was to provide an atmosphere that showcases and supports the talent and innovation of local artists while simultaneously immerses audiences in new art that stimulates a co-production of culture. After a first successful festival applications were made available for 2014. When friend who live in Syracuse told me about they were going to have their very own music Fringe Festival, I thought the concept was great. Just what was needed. I drove up from New York City to attend and had a fantastic time. One act that jumped out at me was a kind of country/punk/jazz group called Pink Octopi. Their music was amazingly different yet engaging. They all were dressed in weird outfits that included Batman t shirts and silver pants. I approached them after their set and bought their cd and signed up for their mailing list. I was also struck by their t shirts - these were Batman designs I had never seen before - and I'm a Batman fan from way back. Turns out that the online store that carries the shirts was a sponsor of the band, which is quite awesome by itself. The website is MoonAtMidnight.com and they're one of the only places I'm aware of that has a complete collection of Batman t shirts going back to the comic book days. Anyway, the band members were super friendly, I got their schedule and intend to follow them when they perform near NYC.

Sometime after 2014 this site's domain registration expired and the site disappeared from the web. I recently discovered the domain had become available so I bought it will the goal of bring back 2013 archived content and the spirit of the original goals for the festival. Perhaps someone else will be inspired to continue with another fringe festival in Central New York State. We miss you.

HOW: Here’s how our Fringe Ticketing system works:

$3.00 will buy you a Festival access button. This will get you into our lounge and cash bar! Once you have this button you can buy as many single performance tickets you want to all the unique performances – and you’ll want to see everything we have to offer! These button proceeds go to support Syracuse Fringe operations year round so we can bring you “Art on the Edge” in every season Syracuse has to offer (fall, winter, spring… and Construction).

Fun Fact: Your Festival button will also get you certain discounts at local joints around town! You can buy these access buttons online below or at the Festival box office!

Single tickets to individual performances cost $7.00. Half of those proceeds go directly to the artists! This way they can buy drinks, invest in their own art and maybe even eat! The other half helps to cover the fees associated with producing the festival! All these tickets are only available at the festival box office during festival hours!

FRINGE SPECIAL: We are offering a limited number of “One Night Stand Passes”! This Fringe deal gets you 2 access buttons (one for you and a special lucky someone) and 4 performance tickets! ONS packages are available for purchase online ($30) and you’ll pick the shows when you show up!

So…what are you waiting for…We dared ya…Are you ready to FRINGE!

Get my Festival Access Button or One Night Stand Pass!

(once ordered, we will have your button at the festival box office!)

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The first Syracuse Fringe Festival begins today with eight performances and a reception at Community Folk Art Center. For three days, the festival will present 10 shows, each about an hour long. Performances vary from a one-woman and one-man show of personal stories to a suite of plays, modern dance, improv comedy and singing in the center's dance studio and black box theater.

The festival is the dream of three Le Moyne college graduates, Class of 2012. Jacob Ellison, Justin Sullivan and Kelsey Moriarty raised money for the festival through the crowd-financing online website, Kickstarter.

During the festival, a lounge has been set up with interactive exhibits, live music and cash bar for access pass holders. It will be open 4 to 10:30 p.m. today through Saturday at CFAC.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: Syracuse Fringe Festival.

WHEN: 5 to 10:45 p.m. today through Saturday.

WHERE: Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

TICKETS: Sold at the door and cost $3 for a one-time admission pin and $7 for individual performances.

INFORMATION: Call 256-0278

 

SYRACUSE FRINGE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

THURSDAY

5 to 6 p.m.
"Enlightened Men," dance studio.

"The Trial," black box.
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
"Divine Milieu: The Last Confession of Teilhard de Chardin," dance studio.
"Spring Collection," black box.

8 to 9 p.m.
"Total Request Live," dance studio.
"Pork Pie Hat," black box.

9 to 9:30 p.m.
Opening festival reception and ceremony.

9:45 to 10:45 p.m.
"Spatial Profiling," dance studio.
"A Little Tipsy," black box.

FRIDAY

5 to 7 p.m.
Opening reception for Community Folk Art Center's summer exhibition, "Give and Take:
he Currency of Culture."

5 to 6 p.m.
"Divine Milieu: The Last Confession of Teilhard de Chardin," dance studio.
"The Trial," black box.

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
"Pork Pie Hat," dance studio.
"A Little Tipsy," black box.

8 to 9 p.m.
"Total Request Live," dance studio.
"From Cuba to 'Cuse," black box.

9:30 to 10:30 p.m.
"Spatial Profiling," dance studio.
"Spring Collection," black box.

SATURDAY

5 to 6 p.m.
"Total Request Live," dance studio.
"A Little Tipsy," black box.

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
"Divine Milieu: The Last Confession of Teilhard de Chardin," dance studio.
"Spring Collection," black box.

8 to 9 p.m.
"Enlightened Men," dance studio.
"Spatial Profiling," black box.

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Article about the Syracuse Fringe Festival 

Friends to stage first Syracuse Fringe Festival on June 20-22 at Community Folk Art Center

By Melinda Johnsonon
May 21, 2013
Syracuse -- Summer is the festival season in Central New York, and a new fest has reserved three days in June. The Syracuse Fringe Festival is scheduled for June 20 to 22, 2013 at Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Jacob "Jake" Ellison and Justin Sullivan are co-founders of the performing arts festival. The friends, Le Moyne College 2012 graduates who acted in the school's theater productions, hatched the idea over drinks last summer.

"It was something that stuck and something we really gravitated to and believed we could make work here in Syracuse area with help from various arts communities and performers that we have in the area," said Ellison. "We decided to dive in and do our best to make it happen."

Syracuse Fringe Festival will feature 12 to 15 performers, everything from dance, music, comedy to theater. Original and established works will be presented. The 10 artists who have been accepted are from Central New York and outside the state, said Ellison. Openings remain for five more acts. The deadline for applying has been extended to Wednesday.

Performances will be held in CFAC's black box theater, art gallery and dance studio.

"It just provides us a chance to get audiences and artists interacting in very unique and, we think, intimate spaces that can really create something cool and really establish a neat community," said Ellison, who grew up in DeWitt.

Artists can present their works three times over the three-day fest, if they choose. Each performance must be contained to 60 minutes.

Organizers are funding the festival with $2,000 raised from the online crowd-financing site, Kickstarter, and from private donations. Sponsorships and donations still are being accepted. It's an all- volunteer operation that includes a marketing director, managing director, technical director and volunteer coordinator.

The original fringe festival began in 1947 at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. Artists who had not been invited to perform at the formal festival took action. They created performance spaces in church basements and vacant storefronts _ on the fringe of the festival. Now the yearly Edinburgh Fringe Festival has become a popular international festival. Worldwide, fringe festivals encourage innovative and experimental performances and take a minimalist approach to sets and presentations. Syracuse's production joins more than 20 fringe festivals staged in the United States.

Ellison admits he and Sullivan, now a graduate student at Syracuse University, may have had an ulterior motive in launching the event. "The whole idea for the fringe festival was perhaps a little bit of a selfish way to get ourselves back involved in the theater and doing something that we really have a passion for, said Ellison.

Syracuse Fringe Festival's talent lineup will be finalized Sunday. The festival will be 6 to 11 p.m. June 20 and 21 and 3 to 10 p.m. June 22. Tickets will be sold at the door and cost $3 for a one-time admission pin and $7 for individual performances.