The 7th Annual Fringe Festival returns to 7th Ave!

The 7th Annual Tampa International Fringe Festival will be
held May 10th - May 14th in Ybor City.

This year we have 32 companies in 5 venues with some big developments! A full list of all of the shows is at the bottom.

Most notably for 2023, we have a new year-round incubation space: The Fringe Theatre. This small 40 seat black box theatre can be found on the 3rd floor of the Historic Kress Building on 7th. As result, this year our traditional Preview Night converges with the Grand Opening. Our Free (but ticketed) Grand Opening Preview Night, May 10th 6pm, will take place in our Fringe Central, on the 2nd floor of the Kress Building, with guided tours of the new space and a ribbon cutting by Mayor Castor, followed by a fast paced Preview Show where each company will perform a tight 2 minutes of their shows, to help guide festival attendees towards what they want to see. After this event the festival will be officially open, with shows beginning immediately afterwards in all 5 venues!

This year’s theme is “Gotta watch ‘em all!” because we are excited to spread out across Ybor again, and plan to create an air of childhood-like adventure as we all quest to “collect” as many performances as possible in the 5 days. And yes, there is a prize to the winner on awards night!

The nitty gritty about the 7th Annual Fringe Festival:
• Three venues in the Historic Kress Building on 7th: The Fringe Theatre, Screen Door Cinema, & The Cage. Fringe Central is ALSO at the Kress.
• Two venues in HCC YPAB: Rehearsal Hall & The Coop - plus our first outdoor show, The War, an immersive audio experience takes place here.
• Kids Fringe takes place at the Kress, featuring Acrobellum, Paul Strickland, arts & crafts, storytelling, a dance party, stand-up comedy, and more!
• Entry to the shows, and especially the Kress Building, requires a button - free with first ticket purchased, or is pay-what-you-can.
• Individual show tickets range $5-$15 + $3 ticketing/cc fee (-$1 for cash on the door)
• It is possible to see up to 18 shows with our Eliminator Pass this year, or audiences can make a day of it with one of our discounted 3 or 5 Show Packs.
• The Kress Building will have a licensed bar, while the HCC building remains dry.

The Kids Fringe takes place 11am-2pm on the Saturdays and Sundays of the Festival. This is a single ticketed event in which families get to experience 5 different events over the course of the three hours. Attendees will be assigned colored wristbands that will guide them through their journeys. Each of the three venues will have shows on rotation, while Fringe Central will act as a hub full of acrobats and arts & crafts,where everyone will converge at the end for a raucous musical storytelling show by Paul Strickland.

The first original Fringe Festival took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1946, and now there are Fringe Festivals all over the world, featuring work by emerging local artists and professionals. Many names in the theatre and comedy worlds have been “made” at Fringe Festivals. We brought fringe to Tampa because we want to make the indie performing arts popular and accessible for all, and are one of the few platforms in Tampa Bay on which artists can affordably experiment with self-producing and take artistic risks.

WHAT: The 7th Annual Tampa International Fringe Festival
WHEN: May 10 - May 14, 2023 (free Preview Grand Opening May 10, doors 6pm)
WHERE? Two Hubs:
Historic Kress Building - 1624 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605 (Directions/Map)
HCC Ybor Performing Arts Building - 1411 E11th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605 (Directions/Map)

FOR MORE INFO: www.tampafringe.org

2023 Shows
Title ~ Company ~ Origin
*involves returning company/artists

International Shows:
MAXIMUM CRUSOE ~ Jem Rolls ~ UK
*Marcus Ryan: Eat, Pray, Walk ~ World Laughs ~ Australia
*Jon Bennett: AmeriCan't ~ 2Hoots Productions ~ Australia
Paco Erhard: Worst. German. Ever. ~ Paco Erhard ~ Germany
Happy Go Lucky ~ Shoshinz ~ Japan
Action Figure Archive With Steve McLean ~ Steve McLean ~ UK

National Shows:
I Love Liz ~ Project No. 19 Performance Company ~ Orlando, FL
Like an Animal ~ Amica Hunter ~ Portland, OR
Unknown ~ Griffin Sciarra ~ Chicago, IL
The Barn Identity ~ Other Erika Presents ~ Covington, KY
The Broken Penis Story ~ Joey Rinaldi ~ NYC, NY
*Breakneck Romeo & Juliet ~ Timothy Mooney Repertory Theatre ~ Buffalo Grove, IL
*The Sack-quel: Sponsored Superhero ~ Airtight Theatre ~ Winter Park, FL
*RAT MAN HAPPY PLACE ~ Bruce Ryan Costella ~ Orlando, FL
Big Dad Energy ~ Jamie Campbell ~ Kansas City, KS
*SINGLE WIDE SAVIOR ~ Blotter Productions ~ Ozark, AL
The War ~ Phoenix Tears Productions ~ Orlando, FL

Local Shows:
My Year of Saying No ~ Black Har Theatre ~ Palm Harbor
America vs the Healing Ray Gun ~ Create Change Now ~ Tampa
*Light Bringer 2: The Chase ~ LIGHTBRINGER PRODUCTIONS ~ Lutz
The Evolution of Consciousness ~ Celestial Bones ~ Gulfport
*Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History ~ Boiled Horse Productions ~ Tampa
*Tampa News Force Live! ~ Tampa News Force ~ Tampa
*Beige Glitter: gay but not good at it ~ Jeff Klein ~ St Pete Beach
Cat Lim Comedy ~ Dirty John’s ~ Saint Petersburg
*The Velocity of Gary (Not His Real Name) ~ Off Kilter Theatre ~ Odessa
*It Started with a Kiss ~ Rayfield-Deeson Media Players ~ Tampa
*TransMasculine Cabaret, Starring Vulva Va-Voom ~ Vulva Va-Voom & Company ~ Tampa