FESTIVAL TICKET PRICES:
Individual tickets: $16
Encore!: $25 (put more $ in the artist’s pockets!)
5 Show Punch Pass: $63 (a savings of $17!)
Ticket revenue directly supports Fringe Artists. All ticket sales are final.
WHAT IS A FRINGE BUTTON?
‒ You need to purchase a $5 Fringe Button to see any festival show.
‒ Purchase your 2024 button from the Fringe Hub or any show venue.
‒ Button proceeds support festival operating costs; artists keep 100% of their ticket sales.
‒ Receive complimentary membership to Pacific Coast Stage Co with your $5 button purchase!
HOW TO BUY TICKETS:
Online at www.porttheatre.com
In person at The Fringe Hub at our NEW location at Black Rabbit (open 11 am – 4 pm on Festival days) At performance venues 1 hour before show time
Welcome Message from Tamara McCarthy, Artistic Producer
Welcome to our 14th annual Nanaimo Fringe Festival! This year brings a wide variety of shows to choose from: comedy, drama, music, dance, stand-up, magic & illusion, clown, circus and more! From performers south-north on Vancouver Island, to Vancouver, Regina, and Toronto, this year’s Fringe hosts some of the most creative local and touring artists with shows for family audiences to ones just for adults. Other exciting news this year are the return of our popular Forum Theatre presentation with facilitator Larissa Coser, and Youth Flame, where teens workshop and perform their powerful stories, with storyteller extraordinaire Deb Williams.
2024
Welcome Message from CAFF
Welcome to the Fringe! Whether you are fringing for the first time or are a veteran fringer, you’re sure to discover inspiring and innovative work at this year’s Canadian Fringe Festivals. This summer, thousands of artists will take the stage nationwide as festival-goers gather to celebrate diversity, community and artistic freedom. Fringing for the first time? I recommend you purchase a multi-show pass. Pick a sure bet (or a show you know you will love), attend a show another Fringer recommended to you (perhaps while waiting in line for that first show!) and finally, choose a show at random from the program!
Remember that as festival producers, we are not the tastemakers, you are. If you see something you love, tell everyone! Word-of-mouth is key to the success of shows at the Fringe.
In 2023, Canadian Fringes returned over $3.2M in box office revenue to artists. By fringing with us, you are contributing to an artistic movement that has become an integral part of the Canadian cultural landscape. Fringe festivals support artists, create jobs, and drive local economies. And as always, artists keep 100% profit from their ticket sales.
I am asking anyone who loves the Fringe to support your local festival today to ensure it’s here tomorrow. When you buy a ticket at a Fringe, you are directly supporting the artist on the stage. When you make a donation to the festival itself, you are helping that artist gain access to the platform and the resources they need to get to the stage in the first place. If you are able to, please consider making a donation to your local fringe today.
Fringe on,
Amy Blackmore
President, Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals
Executive and Artistic Director, FringeMTL
The purchase of your $5 Fringe button goes towards the many costs of operating the Festival. While you are at it, buy some merch, and tell a friend, or 5… to see a show! Thank you for supporting live theatre and performance in Nanaimo – Fringe Festivals are at risk of being able to continue into the future and your support today helps make the difference in ensuring that they do.
Happy Fringing!
~Tamara McCarthy, Artistic Producer
What is the Nanaimo Fringe?
Fondly known as ‘the little fringe that could’, Nanaimo Fringe aka NanFringe is a member of CAFF- the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals. Produced by Pacific Coast Stage Company (PCSC), the Nanaimo Fringe is now in its 14th year. Performances are selected by lottery; this year 12 groups including local, provincial and national groups, with a broad spectrum of genres and a plethora of stories taking the stage from August 8–18. Please review content, trigger warnings and show descriptions in this guide and on our website.
See you at NanFringe!
Help spread the word about the festival. Please tag us on social media and use the hashtag #NanFringe2024.
PCSC STAFF AND TEAM
Tamara McCarthy – Artistic Producer
Gavin Cameron – 2024 Festival Producer
Brayden Patrick – Marketing Coordinator and Production Assistant
Nisha Bherwani – Assistant to the Festival Producer
Cindy Williams – Artist Liaison
Allan Frisk – Technical Director and Lead Technician, Black Rabbit
Miles Hayes – Associate Technician, Black Rabbit
Suzanne Overton-Larssen – Accounting and Book-keeping Services
Graphic Design (Festival Guide & Poster) – Pauline Gallinat
ASL interpreting services arranged by Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nabil Sayes – President, Dave Mott – Treasurer,
Tami Nutting, Tsatassaya White, Marysa Williams, Members at Large
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers, billets, donors and supporters!
Port Theatre Mainstage ~ 125 Front St.
WHEELS AND WHOOPIE
AMK Custom Creation, Toronto
60 min, 18+
*Content Warning: check website for details
Ryan Lachance and Randii Andii join forces to bring ‘Wheels and Whoopie’ to the stage. Both brilliant story tellers with a unique perspective on life. A blend of storytelling and musical comedy.
SEARCH FOR THE MAGICAL SPATULA
Failure Party, Port Alberni
60 min, All ages
*Content Warning: check website for details
In a universe where cooking utensils contain your life force; A spatula has been stolen! Join our hero Randy and his trusty sidekick Baby Steps on a superfluous adventure to try and get it back!
CASTLE OF GLASS
Wasteland Preachers, Victoria
60 min, 14+
THE KIDS ARE ALL DYING
TFL Produces, Qualicum Beach 55 min, 16+
*Content Warning: check website for details
Set in Seattle, Washington at Lincoln Park High, The Kids Are All Dying tells the story of two boys struggling through the aftermath of a school shooting.
*Content Warning: check website for details
Finding purpose in a quarter-life crisis… “Castle of Glass” is a theatrical folk-rock poem, performed by Wasteland Preachers.
Fri Aug 9 – 8:30 pm Sun Aug 11 – 5:45 pm Wed Aug 14 – 8:30
CIRCUS OF LIFE
FaerieRingCircus, Vancouver
60 min, All ages
*Content Warning: check website for details
Dive into a timeless tale, in a dystopian world where an orphaned child meets a magical being. Together, they embark on a thrilling adventure to activate the four elements and restore balance to our world.
Port Theatre Lobby ~ 125 Front St.
THE ILLUSIONARY MAGIC OF SITRUC JAMES
Horus Eye Productions, Regina
60 min, All ages
*Content Warning: check website for details
Sitruc James astounds at the Fringe Festival, delivering mindblowing illusions that defy logic and captivate memories. From vanishing acts to impossible escapes, his show promises an unforgettable journey into the realm of magic.
Aug 9 – 7 pm
Aug 11 – 7 pm
Aug 14 – 7 pm
Aug 17 – 7 pm Sun Aug 18 – 4:15
TREMULOUS BLUR
Passionflower, Nanaimo
50 min, 16+
Content Warning: check website for details
A physical theatre show exploring self and body, trans-ness, breasts versus no breasts/top-surgery contemplations, everpresent awareness of death/death’s influence, small, vanishing subtleties that change everything, summer dreaminess, and allowing oneself to spread out.
