Press Release
Fringe Ignite returns to The Rocks this Friday 2 September from 6pm to late to mark the official opening of Sydney Fringe Festival. A free night of acoustic live music, Fringe Ignite will feature over 20 of Sydney’s best local acts presented throughout locations on Nurses Walk and Kendall Lane, plus the Runaway Gardens. Highlights of the line-up include indie pop duo EGOISM; producer, DJ and Triple J presenter SOLLYY; songwriter and producer Ivy-Jane Browne; songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Chelsea Warner; and folk singer/songwriter Seph Cove. Fringe Ignite is supported by Place Management NSW.
The first physical edition of the Sydney Fringe since 2019, the Festival runs until 30 September with over 500 events including:
- Sydney Fringe Sideshow will activate empty shop fronts and spaces in The Rocks from 6 – 25 September with a program of intimate shows spanning comedy, theatre, music, dance, immersive performance, projection and installation work. Highlights include Lola’s Piano Bar, the ultimate pop-up musical theatre club; Chatterbox Live, a series of shows featuring Sydney’s best storytellers sharing true, life changing stories; and The Mise en Place, a room where food and performance unite for intimate shows including the interactive cooking show I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Cooking For.
- Titanic: The Movie, The Play, presented by Act React at Australian National Maritime Museum from 15 September – 2 October, will see an immersive, interactive comedy performance for all ages that pays homage to the most epic romance of the 90s. The outdoor show will transform the Maritime Museum’s performance platform with a large-scale model of the infamous Titanic passenger liner.
- The multi-award-winning queer-pop-cabaret spectacular YUMMY, presented in partnership with Darlinghurst Theatre Company, bring their vibrant show incorporating drag, dance, circus and burlesque to the Eternity Playhouse from 31 August – 4 September.
- The Touring Hub at the Seymour Centre presents Fringe’s curated selection of 13 award winning acts from Australia and New Zealand from 6 – 24 September. Highlights include Little Dove Theatre Art‘s groundbreaking and touching live art work, Six Women Standing In Front Of A White Wall, investigating the objectification of women; multi-award-winning artist, musician and comedian Selina Jenkins’ performance BOOBS; and celebrated British Australian actor and comedian Damien Warren-Smith, with his alter-ego Garry Starr in Garry Starr Performs Everything.
- Indie Yarns, a First Nations led Q&A with leading independent First Nations artists at the Redfern Community Centre on 3 September that asks the question: How can we celebrate our First Nations stories in an authentic way? Panellists include filmmaker and actor Bjorn Stewart, writer, producer and performer Sandy Greenwood, actor Angeline Penrith, drag performer and artist Nana Miss Koori, and Brolga Dance Academy Founder and member of the First Nations Advisory Panel at Sydney Fringe Jodie Choolburra-Welsh.
- The inaugural LIMITLESS micro-festival, with a dedicated hub at 107 Redfern, celebrates Deaf and disabled artists across a two-week program of inclusive, diverse and show-stopping performances and exhibitions from 6 – 17 September. Highlights include 300 Paintings in Lockdown, comedian Sam Kissajukian’s take on art, the artistic process and mental health; and Crips and Creeps Comedy, an inclusive comedy night celebrating comedians who are marginalised due to sexuality, race, gender or disability. Renowned artist Digby Webster will also be exhibiting a selection of works in the gallery.
- Made in Sydney, presented at the Seymour Centre from 6 – 17 September, supports an exciting program of work by leading Sydney-based independent theatre-makers and artists. The program includes playwright Katie Pollock’s hilarious and powerful one-woman play Rough Trade; Ally Morgan’s one-woman smash-hit cabaret show Not Today; and Introducing Aunty Jude, a funny and heartfelt exploration of women that do things differently through a mix of live music, clowning and the absurd.
- Acoustic Ritual, four acoustic concerts curated by legendary Sydney institution Venue 505. Each free concert features incredible local musicians from varying musical practices playing in the unique George Place foyer from 8am – 10am every Thursday throughout September.
- Fringeville, presented with Georges River Council will fill the Hurstville plaza with roaming performances including jugglers, street theatre, fire dancing and more, plus a comedy bus with live sets all evening. It’s free to all and kicks off at 5pm on 9 September.
- Babylon, ‘Descend into Decadence’ will see Kensington Street‘s pedestrianised precinct transform into a late night street party, including 35 eateries and bars, DJs, art, and roving performers such as Tarot readings, fire breathers and stilts walkers.
- Marrickville Metro Smidmore Sessions will take over Smidmore Street for three days of all ages events from 9 – 11 September, including Young Henrys Best Served Loud series, showcasing some of Sydney’s most talented musicians, and The Factory Theatre bringing some of Sydney’s best comedians such as Cameron James, Floyd Alexander-Hunt, Steph Broadbridge, Sam Bowden, Guneet Kaur and Zeki Jefferys.
- World Square will be the home of Sydney Fringe Festival’s first ever box office in the form of the Cultural Concierge, open from Thursday to Saturday throughout September. The box office will also house an inflatable public artwork by The Beautiful and Useful Studio commissioned by Sydney Fringe Festival and World Square exploring radical self-expression.
- Fringe Kids is set to take over Darling Quarter from 24 September – 30 September during the school holidays. Presented at ARA Darling Quarter Theatre, the exciting line-up of circus performances, street theatre and games include Sydney’s first Monski Mouse’s Baby Disco Dance Hall; family-friendly circus show BasketballMan Can Fly; and award-winning children’s entertainment group The Beanies, as seen on ABC TV Kids, live on stage.
