WHO WE ARE
FringeArts is Philadelphia’s home for contemporary performance presenting progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectations.
FringeArts was founded in 1997 as the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, with the intention of providing opportunities for contemporary performing artists to connect with audiences. The first festival took over Philadelphia’s Old City for five days, and featured 60 performing groups that presented their work in theaters, nightclubs, galleries, alleys, abandoned buildings, and at least one parked car.
FringeArts continues to present the Fringe Festival each September. Today, Philly Fringe is a monthlong celebration that fills the city’s neighborhoods with more than 1,000 performances by national, international, and Philadelphia-based artists of all disciplines.
Year-round, FringeArts presents an equally compelling line up of performances at its stateof-the-art venue on the Delaware River Waterfront—a renovated historic pumping station. The FringeArts campus features an adaptable theater space that can be reconfigured for numerous experiences and can accommodate seating for up to 300 guests; a multipurpose studio space; our partner restaurant, Fringe Bar, and the Haas Biergarten.
As the city’s lead experimenter in the arts, FringeArts exposes audiences to unpredictable dance, theater, and music performances by accomplished and emerging innovators who are pushing the boundaries of art-making and redefining the artistic landscape worldwide.
FRINGEARTS 2025 VISION
In 2025, FringeArts focused on serving artists and audiences, cultivating moments of connection across the city of Philadelphia.
“FringeArts is a home for bold artists, projects, and experiments; a place where Philly can come together to celebrate the arts, each other, and the power of community.”
Nell Bang-Jensen FringeArts CEO & Producing Director
2025 PHILADELPHIA FRINGE FESTIVAL
The 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival was record-breaking! It had the largest ever number of artists, performances, and ticket buyers in the festival’s history.
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival puts world-class local artists in conversation with their national and international peers on Philadelphia stages.
In 2025, over 1,200 performances of 350 shows and events took place during the month of September. Audiences increased 15% from 2024, with more than 35,000 attendees. This festival emphasized something we’ve always believed: that the Philadelphia Fringe Festival is a vital part of the cultural fabric of Philadelphia and an essential gathering place for our communities.
FRINGE FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
# of Shows # of Performances
353
# of Tickets Sold
1,267
35,609 | Gross Total Ticket Sales
# of Artists, Performers, & Behind-the-Scenes Staff 3000+ |
$507,501 | # of Unique Ticket Buyers
11,277
# First time Fringe Buyers
6,377 |
# of Ticket Buyers Who Saw 3+ Festival Shows
1,657
| # of Venues
108
# Festival Hubs
5 | # of FringeArts Presents Shows
9 | of the audience is Gen Z or Millennial 50%
# of Shows Curated by FringeArts 9 |
# of Curated Performances 76 |
# of Curated Tickets Sold 4,840 | Gross Curated Box Office Income
$100,694
FRINGEARTS PRESENTS
Each year, the FringeArts Presents lineup features shows curated by FringeArts. These works are from visionaries at the forefront of the global arts scene, some of whom are living and creating in our own backyard. In 2025, the lineup featured artists from Canada, Zimbabwe, Spain, the UK, Los Angeles, New York, and of course the great city of Philadelphia.
LINEUP
Faye Driscoll: Weathering
Patrick Blenkarn & Milton Lim: asses.masses
Beautiful Human Lies, Chapter 4 Choreographed by Rennie Harris, Performed by Megan Bridge nora chipaumire: Dambudzo
Clayton Lee: The Goldberg Variations
1812 Productions / Tanaquil Márquez & Eliana Fabiyi: La Otra
Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips: Around the World in 80 Toys
The Private Theater: Spiritual Experience
Bearded Ladies Cabaret: The Layaway
Media Mentions
TV, Radio, Print, Online
15,023,118
Media Audience
TV, Radio, Print, Online
696,000 Social Media Views
Facebook + Instagram
July 15–September 30, 2025
158,000 Website Visitors
PhillyFringe.org + FringeArts.com
July 15–September 30, 2025
IN THE PRESS
“The festival offers audiences abundance in a time of scarcity.”
—American Theatre Magazine
“In my personal but correct opinion, FringeArts is the best fringe festival in the country.”
—Nothing for the Group
“Some of the best experimental performances of the year.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Every year, Philly’s Fringe Fest delivers some of the strangest and most shocking productions with dazzling results. [Clayton Lee’s The Goldberg Variations] was the craziest production I saw onstage this year and I’m still obsessed.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“7 shows we loved on Philly stages in 2025”
By Frank Schierloh For The Inquirer
most Fringe Fest
By Carolyn Hax Washington Post
Question: Boyfriend and First Wife divorced when their kids were in middle school. A couple of years later, First Wife and kids moved
five states away. Boyfriend paid child support but has had minimal contact with his children in the 40 years since.
Subsequent wives were indifferent to his kids and were content with what was essentially abandonment of them. I am not OK with it and have strongly encouraged him to write to them, apologizing for ghosting them and telling them he would really like to reestablish contact.
He’s not disagreeing with me but he’s not doing anything to bring this about, either.
How hard should I push? We are getting married in just a few months.
Answer: You cannot make him apologize.
More important, you cannot make him apologetic by wanting him to apologize.
So he is not disagreeing with you verbally, OK, but he has applied his agency toward “not doing anything to bring this about.” That means he is effectively disagreeing with you.
In a way, that’s worse. He won’t say who he is to your face.
He won’t say to you, out loud, that you cannot make him someone other than the person who essentially abandoned his children when they were in middle school.
For him not to be that (anymore at least), he would have to feel his own remorse, not yours; think up his own amends, not yours; and make them on his initiative, not yours. With silence, the risk is always that we start imagining what we most want to hear, and not what it’s trying to tell us.
If you are not OK with what he did then or what he has done about it since, then you are not OK with the man you plan to marry.
Question: My partner and I have very different perspectives about being friends with one’s ex. I think it’s possible but only when you can be sure this isn’t a waiting-inthe-wings situation. He thinks it’s highly unlikely that men could be so evolved.
The situation: I had a one-night fling with a friend of 10 years about five years ago. My partner just found out about this and feels very hurt that I have this friendship. My friend is about to propose to his girlfriend, and we catch up twice a year. I think my partner needs to demonstrate some maturity on this, but he cannot wrap his head around it. What can I say to him? Or am I in the wrong?
Answer: Why is this about what you say to him? Your ex is your friend. Your partner trusts you or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t,
FRINGE ACCOLADES
Barrymore Winners
The 2024 Fringe Festival production Poor Judge was the recipient of three 2025 Barrymore Awards: Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical (Pig Iron Theater Company), Outstanding Music Direction (Alex Bechtel), Outstanding Media Design (Mike Long).
Jaffe St. Queer Productions’ Gay Mis, a FringeArts Friends production which played on the FringeArts stage in February 2025, won two 2025 Barrymores: Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical (Danny Wilfred) & Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical (Jaffe St. Queer Productions).
Money Paid Out to Artists
$653,103
Includes artist fees paid to presented artists & 90% Box Office split paid to self-producing Fringe Festival artists.
SUPPORTING ARTISTS
FringeArts is proud to provide resources to artists and support the development of new work.
In 2025, FringeArts held a mix of in person and virtual workshops for artists. Workshops ranged from how-to sessions on producing a Fringe Festival show to hands-on cardboard prop-making, to masterclasses from touring artists. These workshops were free for Philly Fringe Festival participants and provided professional development opportunities for artists at all different stages in their careers and practices. Workshops were led by partner organizations including ArtistsU; Philadelphia Scenic Works; FringeArts staff; and touring artists Agathe & Adrien, Faye Driscoll, Patrick Blenkarn, and Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips.
In December, in partnership with the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, FringeArts announced a new creative residency program: the Albert M. Greenfield Residency at FringeArts. This program leverages FringeArts’ resources and space to promote the development of new work in a trust-based selection model. Three companies or artists will be selected for the program’s inaugural year in 2026. The artists selected for this residency will receive residency funding, mentorship opportunities from FringeArts staff and outside voices, access to the FringeArts space to develop their work, and opportunities to connect and cross-pollinate with other artists from their cohort. The inaugural year of the Albert M. Greenfield Residency at FringeArts will be supported by a grant from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, which strengthens the fabric of life in the City of Philadelphia by empowering grantees in areas of arts and culture, education, human services, and civic initiatives.
Artist Testimonials on the Impact of Philly Fringe
“Really was thankful for the abundance of resources, the network, and the workshops specifically.”
“The audience was so warm and receptive! We always appreciate how Fringe is a great way for us to expand our audience and reach people who otherwise may not have heard about us.”
“Amazing that more than half of our audience just found us through the Fringe ticketing website.”
“Audience cheered and hooted and hollered at the end of my show. It would be nice to have Fringe every day of my life.”
“It’s just a beautifully run festival, the people are so caring and the work that gets done is incredible!”
“All it takes is a $20 registration fee to be included in the Fringe guidebook, listed on the website and helped with ticketing. Fuller said the Fringe folks even gave him a trifold sign for outside his house to alert passersby to the artistry within.
‘It’s a really great entry level and it’s great that they do all that to allow up-and-coming artists to experiment,’ [2025 Festival Artist Victor Fuller] said.”
—Billy Penn
FREQUENT FRINGERS
In 2025, 36 intrepid audience members saw over twenty Philly Fringe shows apiece during the month of September.
These Frequent Fringers featured a wide range of folks from across our community, including artists, press, FringeArts staffers & Board Members, and Philly Fringe super fans. We asked a few of them about their experiences and the reasons they love the Philly Fringe. Below, hear from three anonymous audience members on their experiences of the festival.
How long have you been Frequent Fringing?
I started “frequent fringing” around 2017, when I accidentally stumbled into my first Fringe show and immediately fell in love with the raw creativity and experimentation. Ever since then, it’s become a yearly ritual—part inspiration, part escape, part spiritual recharge.
After seeing so many shows and traversing the city, do you have any particularly memorable experiences you want to share?
We have climbed up fire escapes and through windows with signs that request we close the window so “the birds don’t come in,” we’ve gone down storm doors into underground speakeasies, and we’ve gotten very good at predicting which buzzwords in the program will indicate unexpected nudity.
Our festival had over 350 shows. How do you approach designing your own festival schedule?
We make a spreadsheet, and color coordinate to determine who wants to see what when. We also try to coerce other people to attend with us, which is sometimes hit or miss, but usually we get a good number of people who will see one or two with us! Yet to find someone else willing to attend all 26…
FRINGEY FIGURES
FringeArts & the Philly Fringe celebrate the weird, the unexpected, and the offbeat. In a word, the fringey.
From logistical challenges to epic performances, read about a few of 2025’s strangest stats.
0.68
Miles of gaff tape Holding it all together.
2
Hours on the Astral Plane
At asses.masses, audiences spent 8.5 hours collectively gaming as a herd of donkeys. They chose to spend 2 hours on the Astral Plane level.
2
Shows titled “The Waiting Room”
Both artists elected to add a subtitle to avoid confusion.
5
Shows in private residences
The Philly Fringe has a storied history of strange venues from parked cars to bathroom stalls.
8
Bill Goldberg lookalikes
Cast for Clayton Lee’s The Goldberg Variations
90
Shows performed for just one audience member at a time
128
Hours spent in the dark in the FringeArts theater.
Phone calls to Harrisburg
To try to get an elevator certification expedited.
150
13 Pounds of clay thrown at a wall by the performers of Dambudzo.
YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMMING
FRINGE FESTIVAL ENCORES
March 21–23, 2025
Audience: 512
3 Shows • 5 performances • 3 participating artists
Alex Tatarsky headlined a weekend of solo performances showcasing the art of clowning with their hit semi-auto-biographical tour-de-force, Sad Boys in Harpy Land. Named “The Year’s Best Theatre” by The New Yorker and “24 Things That Stuck With Us in 2023” by The New York Times, the show was developed in part at a residency at FringeArts in 2020. Evening performances of Sad Boys in Harpy Land were followed by late-night shows from 2024 Philly Fringe favorites Sohrab Haghverdi and Sterling Duns
“The absurdity in ‘Sad Boys in Harpy Land’ reminds us that absurdity is all around and that sometimes coming together to laugh and cry is enough in the present moment.” —ArtBlog review
FRIENDS OF FRINGE
Jan — June, 2025
Audience: 3,673 • 24 shows • 45 performances • 25 participating artists & companies
Partnerships featured productions from Ninth Planet: fallawayinto, Jaffe St. Queer Productions: Gay Mis, Miniball 2025, Bowerbird: Pure Lucia, Pig Iron School Class of 2025: Mod Podge, Emily Bate:
ABBAsaloutely fABBAlous, Henlo Bullfrog and Cyrus K. Stratton: Be A King & more.
PCCF
Philadelphia Contemporary Circus Festival
May 23–June 1, 2025
Audience: 2,548 • 25 Shows • 15 Workshops, PopUps & Ancillary Programs • 50 Performances • 26 participating artists & companies
PCCF presented artists from our vibrant and growing contemporary circus community and brought groundbreaking artists from across the nation and beyond to Philadelphia.
SCRATCH NIGHTS
Jan–June 2025
Audience: 256 • 4 performances • 22 participating artists & companies In 2025, FringeArts’ long-running works-in-process series returned. Each Scratch Night, a handful of artists from across disciplines brought an informal showing of something they’re working on. Audiences provide feedback to help with the development of the work.
FEASTIVAL
Culinary + Performing Arts: The Perfect Pairing
On Wednesday, October 22nd, beloved FringeArts fundraiser FEASTIVAL returned for the 14th time, bringing together creative bites from over 20 of Philadelphia’s culinary leaders, with thrilling performances. The event was co-hosted by culinary luminaries Kiki Aranita and Michael Ferreri.
Artistic experiences featured performance installations from Brian Sanders’ JUNK; a Cocktail Advice Booth from local author, playwright, and nationally syndicated advice columnist R. Eric Thomas; and circus acts from 7textures.
Participating restaurants included A.kitchen, Almanac, Bloomsday, Buddakan, Ember & Ash, Fette Sau, Fringe Bar, Forsythia, Huda, Irwin’s, Kiddo, LMNO, Luk Fu, Morimoto, Moshulu, Poi Dog, Post Haste, Rice & Sambal, Roxanne, Spice Finch, Stina, The Twisted Tail, Urban Farmer, and Wilder.
FEASTVIAL offered a truly unique experience for attendees. Guests dined and mingled with a number of the city’s most acclaimed chefs, while some of the city’s most talented performing artists moved through – and sometimes above — the space, creating unforgettable vignettes paired with some of the city’s best cuisine.
FRINGEARTS BY THE NUMBERS
In 2025, FringeArts had a 2.2 million dollar annual budget.
2025 Expenses by Category
2025 Income by Category & Type
Purples: Earned Income
Earned vs. Contributed Income
Oranges: Contributed Income of Ticket Income Was Paid to Artists 92%
2025 SUPPORTERS
Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation
Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation
The Charlotte Cushman Foundation
Rabinowitz Family Foundation
Scholler Foundation
The Janet Yaseen Foundation
Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation
Lida Foundation
Sarah Anton
Donald Baines
Anjan Chatterjee
THANK YOU!
To the generous donors from our Board & Producers’ Circle
Michael & Ellen Singer Coleman
Chris Deephouse & Donna Hunt
Mark & Tobey Dichter
Ricki & Andrew Eisenstein
Steven Engelmyer & Lisa Wershaw
Tony Forte & Ryan Hummel
Sandi Foxx-Jones
David & Linda Glickstein
Michael Golden & Shelley Green
Aleksandr Goranin & Michelle Hong
Christie Hartwell
Eve Hyppolite
Thomas & Robin Kaney
Arthur M. Kaplan & R. Duane Perry
Tim King
Carol Klein
Nancy Lanham
Lee van de Velde
Susan Leidy
David & Susan Lipson
Tom Lussenhop
Marty Maynard
Tom & Linda McCarthy
Monica McGrath
Josh Mervis
David Molter
Jennifer Nguyen
Jake & Cathy Reardon
Anne Robinson
Franklyn & Cintra Rodgers
Rosanne Sarkissian
Salem Shuchman & Barbara Klock
Deborah Solo & Angel Franqui
Theresa Spencer
Lynne & Bert Strieb
Ginny & Jason Susini
Judith Tannenbaum
Anne & Michael Vogelmann
Anne & Ed Wagner
Karol M. Wasylyshyn, Psy.D.
Richard Woosnam & Diane Dalto
Anonymous
FRINGEARTS STAFF + BOARD
STAFF
Nell Bang-Jensen CEO and Producing Director
Melissa E. Bridge Managing Director
Devi Bass Director of Venue & Patron Services
Mikaela Boone Programming Director
Amanda Drayton External Affairs Associate
John Frisbee Director of Development
Kay Ruthemeyer Hammer Director of Production
Melissa Negro Director of Marketing & Communications
Simon Rabinowitz Artist & Development Programs Manager
Nick Rahn Head of Audio & Technical Coordinator
Carolyn Schlecker Senior Adviser Operations
Ayla Taffel
Head Electrician & Associate Production Manager
BOARD
Mark Dichter Chair
Anthony P. Forte Vice Chair/Secretary
Lisa P. Young Treasurer
Donald Baines
Nell Bang-Jensen
Crystal Brewe
Anjan Chatterjee
Sarah Eberle
Eve Hyppolite
Virginia G Susini
David Lipson
Tom Lussenhop
Alyssa Pope
Jake Reardon
Darryl Ridgeway
Theresa Spencer
Karol Wasylyshyn, Psy.D.
Paul Wright
PHOTO CREDITS
Front Cover: nora chipaumire: Dambudzo. Photo by Kevin Monko.
Inside Front Cover: FringeArts. Photo by Kevin Monko.
Page 2: FEASTIVAL 2025. Photo by Andrew Piccone.
Page 4: Faye Driscoll: Weathering. Photo by Kevin Monko.
Page 6: The Private Theater: Spiritual Experience Photo by Wide Eyed Studios.
Page 11: Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips Masterclass. Photo by Johanna Austin.
Page 12: Milton Lim & Patrick Blenkarn: asses.masses Photo by Johanna Austin.
Page 14: Alex Tatarsky: Sad Boys in Harpy Land. Photo by Kevin Monko.
Page 15: (Middle) Finding Joy. Photo by Steve Sarafian. (Bottom) Scratch Night. Photo by Johanna Austin.
Page 16–17: FEASTIVAL photos by Andrew Piccone..
Pages 18: Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips: Around the World in 80 Toys. Photo by Johanna Austin.
Page 21: FringeGala. Photo by Johanna Austin.
Page 22: Alex Tatarsky: Sad Boys in Harpy Land. Photo by Kevin Monko.
Page 23: Agathe & Adrien: N.Ormes. Photo by Michael Takes Pictures.
Back Cover: Photo by Kevin Monko.
