Mission & Vision

VISION

Opening Doors & Making Room for Every Voice. A city where anyone can make art, share it, and belong.

MISSION

Open doors. Make space. Let artists create. We bring artists, audiences and everyday spaces together—removing barriers, supporting creative risk and making live performance part of more people’s lives.

WHAT WE WANT TO CREATE

An open door into Calgary’s arts community. A place where artists can bring their whole selves, audiences can encounter something unexpected, and a bold idea has somewhere to begin. Fringe Anywhere makes space for all forms of artistic expression: the polished and the untested, the familiar and the hard to define. You don’t need an established name, industry connections or a conventional stage to belong here.

VALUES

Every voice belongs.

We welcome people across identities, backgrounds, abilities and experience. We make room for perspectives that challenge our own.

Creative freedom needs room.

Experiment. Ask difficult questions. Try something nobody knows how to describe yet. Artists need the freedom to surprise us—and themselves.

Care makes courage possible.

We pair brave ideas with respect for the people making and experiencing them. Artistic freedom thrives alongside dignity, consent and care.

Access is something we build.

Cost, space, information and attitudes can all become barriers. We work to remove them so more people can create, attend and participate.

We help each other make it happen.

We share knowledge, resources and opportunities. We support artists’ independence and build a community where people have each other’s backs.

HOW WE MAKE IT HAPPEN

Open doors. Make space. Let artists create.

Fringe begins when someone has something to share—and someone else is willing to see where it goes.

We bring those people together. We help artists find a place to perform, give new producers and technicians real experience, and invite Calgary to discover live performance in unexpected places.

FOR ARTISTS: your idea deserves somewhere to happen.

A first show. A new direction. A story that doesn’t fit an established category. Fringe makes room for artists to bring their own voice and decide what they want to say.

Through Fringe Anywhere, we are building a festival that reaches into different Calgary communities, connecting artists with intimate rooms, community spaces and midsize venues.

Artists can choose a setting and level of technical support that suit their work and budget. Our developing model gives each production six performances across two venues, creating opportunities to connect with different neighbourhoods and audiences.

We back that opportunity with practical support:

• A Fringe Venue Producer to help artists navigate venue questions, performance coordination and festival information.

• A shared ticketing system, front of house and audience welcome, so every artist doesn’t have to build those systems alone.

• Festival marketing and show listings that help audiences discover the work.

• Clear information about costs, equipment and technical support, so artists can make informed choices.

• Learning opportunities and connections that help artists strengthen the producing side of their practice.

• Billeting opportunities for visiting artists, when available.

Artists keep ownership of their work and their creative decisions. Our role is to help them bring it to an audience.

FOR EMERGING ARTS WORKERS: learn by making it happen.

Fringe U(niversity) connects training with the experience of putting on a festival.

The Producer Program develops the skills behind a successful show and venue: planning, scheduling, budgeting, artist communication, audience services and solving problems when the plan changes.

The Jr. Tech Program introduces lighting, sound, equipment setup, troubleshooting and backstage safety, with opportunities to put those skills into practice alongside experienced people.

We want participants to leave with useful skills, stronger confidence, people they can call and experience they can build on.

FOR VENUES: your space could become someone’s stage.

A community hall. A café. A school. A room that comes alive when people gather.

Fringe Anywhere invites venue owners, schools and community organizations to help bring performance into their neighbourhoods.

Our Instant Venue approach is being developed to turn suitable rooms into performance spaces using portable lighting, sound and backdrop equipment. It gives more places the opportunity to host live work without first having to become a fully equipped theatre.

The aim is to build relationships, knowledge and resources that make future performances possible too.

FOR AUDIENCES: follow your curiosity.

You don’t need to know theatre to enjoy Fringe.

Come for a laugh, a story, a song or something you can’t quite explain. See someone you’ve never heard of. Bring a friend. Discover what happens when you sit close enough to feel the room respond.

We want choosing a show to feel inviting: clear descriptions, straightforward ticket information, useful venue details and room for audiences to share recommendations and responses.

Audiences help make Fringe happen. Their presence, curiosity and conversations give the work a life beyond the stage.

FOR CALGARY: more places to create. More reasons to connect.

We build relationships with artists, schools, community organizations, local businesses, volunteers and people with a space or an idea to offer.

Those relationships bring new voices into the festival, introduce audiences to unfamiliar work and give communities a part in shaping what happens close to home.

Our welcome extends across backgrounds, beliefs, experience and artistic disciplines. We make room for expression that delights, unsettles, questions and surprises, alongside a clear expectation of respect for the people creating and experiencing it.

Bring your show. Bring your space. Bring your curiosity.

There’s room to make something happen.