NEW ORLEANS FRINGE FEST PLANS RETURN FOR 2026
A scene from 'Numb' by Goat in the Road at the 2014 New Orleans Fringe Festival (photo: Goat in the Road)
NEW ORLEANS FRINGE FEST SET TO RETURN IN 2026
By Bradford Rhines
"It's alive!"
That’s the tagline for the newest iteration of the New Orleans Fringe Festival, an offbeat performing arts festival currently being jolted back to life. The local Fringe enjoyed a popular and successful run from 2008-2014 before a somewhat contentious shut down, but now over a decade later, the festival is eyeing a highly-anticipated return for 2026.
To kick things off, organizers are presenting 'A Night of Fringe' this Friday at the New Marigny Theater as both a fundraiser for the 2026 event and a sneak peak of the kinds of acts to be featured at next year’s festival.
“The main goal is community,” said Grace Batz, one of the co-producers of New Orleans Fringe. “All of these different artists and performers have their individual audiences, but if we put our heads together we can have an event where all of those things can be together and work with each other to gather a larger audience.”
Friday night’s showcase will embrace the organizers’ “theater for all” ethos, featuring live music, food and drink, tarot readings, and a whole host of imaginative performances, including puppeteering, burlesque, storytelling, clowning, and more. The evening begins with a program of family-friendly entertainments before transitioning to spicier 'Fringe After Hours' offerings. Local band The Cicadas will perform midway through the evening, and a set from Johanna Rose and the Dreamboats will cap off the event.
Producers are committed to making the space accessible and ADA-compliant, and will also offer a low-sensory zone and a quiet area for any attendees who find themselves feeling overwhelmed. Tickets are priced on a sliding scale ($10-$30) and a pay-what-you-can initiative ensures no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Inspired by the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, a showcase since 1947 for performers working on the fringes of mainstream art scenes, fringe fests happen regularly around the U.S.—in places like Cincinnati, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, and more—making space for artists whose work doesn’t always fit more conventional venues.
When the New Orleans Fringe folded in 2014, the event’s original organizers locked down the trademarked name, and attempts to recreate the fringe model—the Faux/Real Festival, and the cheekily-named Infringe Festival—were short-lived. But now a new wave of artist-producers, with the blessings of those that came before them, are ready for a revival under the Fringe banner. Along with Batz, the production team includes Rayshaughn Armant, Jayla Roberts, and Riley Trahant, working alongside consulting producers Jon Broder and Ian Hoch, who were involved in earlier incarnations of the event.
Batz expects the festival to announce a call for artist submissions for the 2026 festival in the coming months.
“Our goal is to keep the event Louisiana-based for the first year and as local as possible,” said Batz. “In the future, other fringe festivals will catch word that New Orleans Fringe is back, and performers from these other fringes around the country will want to come here and see what New Orleans has to offer.”
Click here for more information about the fundraising event
More New Orleans theater reviews and news
"It's alive!"
That’s the tagline for the newest iteration of the New Orleans Fringe Festival, an offbeat performing arts festival currently being jolted back to life. The local Fringe enjoyed a popular and successful run from 2008-2014 before a somewhat contentious shut down, but now over a decade later, the festival is eyeing a highly-anticipated return for 2026.
To kick things off, organizers are presenting 'A Night of Fringe' this Friday at the New Marigny Theater as both a fundraiser for the 2026 event and a sneak peak of the kinds of acts to be featured at next year’s festival.
“The main goal is community,” said Grace Batz, one of the co-producers of New Orleans Fringe. “All of these different artists and performers have their individual audiences, but if we put our heads together we can have an event where all of those things can be together and work with each other to gather a larger audience.”
Friday night’s showcase will embrace the organizers’ “theater for all” ethos, featuring live music, food and drink, tarot readings, and a whole host of imaginative performances, including puppeteering, burlesque, storytelling, clowning, and more. The evening begins with a program of family-friendly entertainments before transitioning to spicier 'Fringe After Hours' offerings. Local band The Cicadas will perform midway through the evening, and a set from Johanna Rose and the Dreamboats will cap off the event.
Producers are committed to making the space accessible and ADA-compliant, and will also offer a low-sensory zone and a quiet area for any attendees who find themselves feeling overwhelmed. Tickets are priced on a sliding scale ($10-$30) and a pay-what-you-can initiative ensures no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Inspired by the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, a showcase since 1947 for performers working on the fringes of mainstream art scenes, fringe fests happen regularly around the U.S.—in places like Cincinnati, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, and more—making space for artists whose work doesn’t always fit more conventional venues.
When the New Orleans Fringe folded in 2014, the event’s original organizers locked down the trademarked name, and attempts to recreate the fringe model—the Faux/Real Festival, and the cheekily-named Infringe Festival—were short-lived. But now a new wave of artist-producers, with the blessings of those that came before them, are ready for a revival under the Fringe banner. Along with Batz, the production team includes Rayshaughn Armant, Jayla Roberts, and Riley Trahant, working alongside consulting producers Jon Broder and Ian Hoch, who were involved in earlier incarnations of the event.
Batz expects the festival to announce a call for artist submissions for the 2026 festival in the coming months.
“Our goal is to keep the event Louisiana-based for the first year and as local as possible,” said Batz. “In the future, other fringe festivals will catch word that New Orleans Fringe is back, and performers from these other fringes around the country will want to come here and see what New Orleans has to offer.”
Click here for more information about the fundraising event
More New Orleans theater reviews and news