Hollywood Fringe Festival to Celebrate Emerging Arts

The Hollywood Fringe Festival returns to town Thursday, with hundreds of performances taking place all over Hollywood to celebrate the emerging and underground arts. From plays to dance to comedy and cabaret, there are many eclectic performances to see during the 10-day event. 

Celebrating its second year, the festival allows artists and performers to secure any venue in Hollywood to become a part of the festival.

“You can choose any spot—any barbershop, or park, or theater, or storefront—within our boundaries, and as long as you can secure that area, then you can register for the festival,” said Hollywood Fringe Festival director Ben Hill.

After attending the original Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, many years ago, Hill was hooked. 

“It was like nothing I’d ever seen before,” said Hill. “The energy was so palpable and there was so much happening, so much excitement.”

After moving to Los Angeles, Hill decided to put on a Fringe Festival in Hollywood. Last year, an estimated 17,000 seats were sold. 

There are new additions to the festival this year. Fringe Central, the central hub of the festival located at Art Works Studio, will host a cabaret event in its big top tent. A different performer will give a little preview of the show at the top of every hour. On Monday and Tuesday, there will be a full-blown programmed 90-minute cabaret show.

Another addition this year is a film program, which will feature 25-30 full-length and short films. For the hungry, the Fringe Festival has set up a Food Truck program, with at least five spaces that will host a rotation of about 15 food trucks.

The Hot Spots program allows patrons of the Fringe Festival to get discounts at some Hollywood venues. Once you get a Fringe button with a donation of $5, you can get discounts at businesses, restaurants and food trucks.

Although Hill won’t specifically endorse any of the shows, he says there’s definitely something for everyone.

Many acts that were of great success last year will be returning, including “That's funny. You didn't sound black on the phone,” a monologue program by Jacquetta Szathmari. “T-o-t-a-l-l-y!” by Kimleigh Smith, which won the top award at least year’s festival, will also return for a short run.

“It’s exciting to see a lot of familiar faces coming back, and of course it’s exciting to meet new people who heard about it last year,” said Hill.

With so many shows going on, Hill advises newcomers to use the website to look for the type of show that interests them. You can browse by category on the site to narrow down your options.

Because most shows are reasonably priced, or sometimes even free or donation-only, Hill also encourages patrons to try something new.

“Go outside of your comfort zone,” said Hill. “Worst case scenario—you see something you don’t like. Best case scenario—you see something that’s like a diamond in the rough. You never know what you’re going to find.”