The FronteraFest in Austin, Texas brings alternative theater to Central Texas with three festivals at the Hyde Park Theatre. The Long Fringe and Short Fringe make up the dynamic of the FronteraFest and create five weeks of what the Austin American Statesman describes as "The fringe theater event of the Southwest!" FronteraFest seeks to promote the works of new playwrights and their dramatic alternative plays. The Short Fringe introduces audiences to new artists with nightly showings of 25 minute plays. The length of these plays allows the festival to present four or five unique plays, monologues or improve sessions in a night. The Long Fringe presents 90 minute shows of new plays and dances.
Founded in 2005, the Capital Fringe in D.C. brings vibrant and original theater and performance to the capital and is the second biggest unjuried fringe festival in the United States. This nonprofit festival was founded in the spirit of harboring dynamic artwork not usually seen in D.C. The yearly festival collaborates with its year-long Fringe Training Factory to help artists create and present new works. With minimalist sets and low ticket prices, this festival earned $1 million dollars for artists and introduced 250 works.
New Yorkers can attend two large fringe festivals. In the winter, the Frigid Fest puts on 150 performances created by 30 independent theater companies. Each theater company benefits from the festival, receiving the entire proceeds of the show they present. The Frigid Fest began in 2007 and continues with a wide range of shows in 12 days. The largest arts festival in North America, FringeNYC, celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2011. This festival brings together 200 theater and fringe companies to perform in 20 venues over 16 days. Over 5,000 artists participate, with 2,000 volunteers making it work, and delighting over 70,000 viewers with 200 shows every year.
The Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, known as IndyFringe, started in 2002 when Indianapolis arts advocates and citizens met to research and plan to create a fringe festival for the city. Initial funds came from the Central Indiana Community Foundation and now the annual summer festival continues to present new theater to audiences in downtown Indianapolis.
Minnesota Fringe is a theater showcase in the Twin Cities spread over 11 days that started in 1993. Over 150 short shows are presented during the first two weeks of August. Minnesota Fringe is an unjuried festival and artists are chosen by lottery. Artists receive about 65 percent of the receipts from sales to their shows.
The Orlando Fringe is unique as the oldest and longest running American fringe theater festival. Since 1992, this unjuried festival has presented music, dance and theater to audiences in Orlando and gives 100 percent of the theater receipts to the performing artists. In two venues in Loch Haven Park, unjuried and uncensored works are presented in the 12 days running up to Memorial Day.
In Oregon, the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art sponsors the Time-Based Art Festival (TBA). The TBA festival was founded in 2002 and celebrates music, visual arts, new media, theater and dance. Each year the TBA welcomes artists to demonstrate their crafts in the fall. The visual arts are represented through installations at the Institute and are displayed for several weeks following the TBA fringe festival.
There are over twenty annual international fringe festivals outside the United States, such as the Brighton Festival, held each May in the city of Brighton and Hove in England. Festivals are held throughout Canada, the U.K., Prague and Australia. The largest and most famous is the one that started them all: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.