Local theaters plan Atlanta Fringe Festival

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• Atlanta, this could be you. A street scene from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival originally started as an offshoot of the Edinburgh International Festival in the 1940s. The Fringe festival, unlike its bigger sister, allowed indie and underground theater companies and artists—amateurs and professionals alike—to showcase their work, and it’s a combination that worked: it has since become one of the largest and liveliest arts festivals in the world, inspiring a host of Fringe spin-offs in New York, Sydney, DC, Chicago, Prague and many other cities around the world. Now, a group of local theaters want to bring a touch of the Fringe spirit—in which multiple theaters, cafés, restaurants, storefronts, parks, and street-corners become venues for performances of all kinds—right here to Atlanta.

The first Atlanta Fringe Festival is slated to take place in Little Five Points in August of 2011, organized by The Little 5 Points Business Association, 7 Stages, Dad’s Garage, Twinhead Theatre, and the neighborhood of Little 5 Points. Fringe Festivals generally pick performers on a very democratic, level playing field, and try to keep entry, participation, and ticket fees low. Performers of theater, improv and stand-up comedy to music, dance, visual art, and burlesque are asked to submit their ideas. The Festival will also be holding a contest for its logo design, as well.