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Credit: Sartorial/Sydney Fringe Festival
The Sydney Fringe Festival, a monthlong celebration of Sydney’s vibrant art scene that has grown to become the state’s largest independent arts event, has unveiled its full 2017 program. With over 300 productions spanning physical theatre and circus, music, comedy, visual art, film, cabaret, musical theatre, dance and the spoken-word, Fringe is a reliably expansive survey of and introduction to the city’s next generation of emerging artists poised to make an indelible impact on Australia’s broader cultural landscape (60% of participating artists are under the age of 30).
And while the festival is set to take place across 42 venues city-wide, this year also marks the first that it will be based out of a centralised warehouse hub at Sydney Park in Alexandria, a new home to multiple exhibition, installation, event and performances spaces. The event kicks off, per tradition, with the Fringe Ignite party, which this year has been curated by the incredible performer NGAIIRE. It’s essentially a street festival set to take over Chippendale’s vibrant Kensington Street precinct, which is primed to be taken over by a day’s worth of live music and performances. Another highlight of the program is a two-night Masqueerade extravaganza courtesy of certified Sydney nightlife legends Heaps Gay, who will transform the central festival hub into an unmissable face-obscuring double feature.
The program also boasts two world premiere theatre experiences, including a world-first interactive art exhibition that sees graffitied street art works transformed into animated GIFs in real time by the British artist INSA. A Silent Theatre experience will also invite audiences to bear witness to a performance through the windows of Newtown’s Urban hotel while voyeuristically eavesdropping on the action through headphones. The play itself will be written by four playwrights who will spend four days in the hotel prior to the performance. There’s also an extremely extensive performance, cinema and visual arts program, which can be viewed in full here.
The Sydney Fringe Festival will run from September 2 – 30 at various venues throughout the city. You can find out more information here.
Tile and cover image: Courtesy of Sydney Fringe Festival
