Edmonton International Fringe Festival wraps up with record-setting ticket sales

Nearly 810,000 people took in the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival over the past 11 days, bringing in nearly $1.2 million for the artists.

The 36th annual edition of the festival wrapped up Sunday night in Old Strathcona. This year, festival goers bought a record-setting 130,000 tickets.

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“Every year this festival grows and keeps gaining momentum, with record-setting ticket sales this year. We are always looking for ways to take it to the next level and make it better for all who come,” artistic director Murray Utas said.

“Our job is to create a space for artists to get their work to the masses and we think we’ve done that. We saw so many new works this year and performers from all over the world came just to entertain Edmonton. We are so pleased to wrap up another year and already can’t wait for 2018.”

Watch below: Hear from the fringe festival’s artistic director about this year’s success. 

1:39 36th annual Edmonton fringe festival wraps up for another year

This year’s festival theme was “A Midsummer Night’s Fringe,” which was chosen by the public following a contest for the best theme. The festival offered 1,600 performances at 41 venues and three outdoor stages. It takes more than 1,200 volunteers to execute the fringe festival in Edmonton each year.

Last year, the fringe saw a record 850,000 visits, and festival-goers bought a whopping 122,000 tickets.

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Organizers are already asking for submissions for next year’s theme.

If you weren’t able to participate in the festival, it’s not too late. Four of the top shows from this year’s festival will continue in what’s called the holdover series, which runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

This year’s holdovers include Drunk Girl from TMI Productions, Legoland from Blarney Productions, My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice from Dead Rabbits Theatre and Prophecy from Impossible Mongoose.

For more information on the holdover series, visit the fringe festival’s website.