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‘The audience appetite is there’: How smaller Fringe World plans to dazzle Perth post-COVID in 2021

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Simon CollinsThe West Australian
VideoThe spread of the virus from hotel quarantine continues to escalate.

Fringe World will celebrate its 10th birthday next year with a smaller festival backed with incentives designed to encourage cash-strapped venues and artists to return for the world’s first post-pandemic Fringe.

The most significant initiative will see not-for-profit Artrage, which presents the hugely popular event, waive venue registration fees ranging from $2000 for up to 500-capacity venues down to $100 for less than 50-seater venues.

Artrage chief Sharon Burgess said the festival, scheduled to run January 15 to February 14 next year, aimed to remove barriers to participation.

“We’re acutely aware of the damage and the financial hardship that organisations and independent venues, the bricks and mortar venues, and our beloved artists have gone through,” she said yesterday.

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A smaller Fringe World will be looking to pack a punch in 2021.
Camera IconA smaller Fringe World will be looking to pack a punch in 2021. Credit: unknown/Supplied

While the recent relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions means that the Woodside Pleasure Garden in Northbridge would return as a major hub, there would be less pop-up venues and more shows in existing businesses.

Ms Burgess said that Fringe World would “share the risk” with artists, adding that while she estimated the 2021 event would be around 40 per cent smaller than previous years, Perth’s appetite for entertainment would ensure strong attendances.

“We believe the audiences will come in their droves and we believe the (festival’s) footprint will be smaller so there be busier venues,” Ms Burgess said.

“There will be the same demand but reduced supply.

“We know the audience appetite is there,” she added. “You only have to look at the weekend and people queuing up to get into night clubs.

“People want to get out and they want to start reconnecting.”

Sharon Burgess.
Camera IconSharon Burgess. Credit: IAIN GILLESPIE/The West Australian

She said that waiving venue fees represents a “significant” hit to the festival’s budget but that it was important to minimise risk and maximise opportunities for participants.

While organisers had considered an online-only festival, Ms Burgess said the “amazing work” by the State government and community in fighting the coronavirus outbreak had given them the confidence to stage the event in 2021.

This year’s Fringe World saw an increased attendance from 2019, when close to 415,000 people saw ticketed events, but a dip in revenue from the $12.1 million spent at the box office due to there being less big ticket productions, such as La Soiree.

“More people saw more shows for less money,” Ms Burgess said.

We will be out cap in hand, looking for in-kind support.

Fringe World will release a full impact report from the 2020 event later this month.

Artrage is also developing a mobile phone app that will remove the need to print hundreds of thousands of copies of the festival guide and give artists more flexibility in registering shows.

Venue registrations open on July 21 with event bookings beginning on August 4.

Ms Burgess said that more incentives will be rolled out soon but will be depend on support from festival partners.

“We will be out cap in hand, looking for in-kind support whether that be marketing, accommodation, rehearsal spaces...”

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