2020 IndyFringe Festival Cancelled due to COVID-19

For sixteen years, IndyFringe, Indianapolis’ summer performing arts festival, has brought together over 800 artists and 64 performing arts groups to provide 20,000+ people a live theatre experience of comedy, cabaret, magic, dance, drama, magic and music over eleven electrifying days in August.

It is with a heavy heart that the staff and board of directors of IndyFringe announce the cancellation of the 2020 IndyFringe Festival, originally scheduled August 13-23, due to COVID-19.
 
The safety of our artists, staff, volunteers, and audience is our top priority as we navigate this difficult time, which is why the 2020 festival cannot move forward as planned. We have a social responsibility to support social distancing and follow the directives of the Mayor of Indianapolis and the Governor of Indiana.

This decision was not made lightly: we have a responsibility to our festival artists and staff, and we know that the financial impact of this cancellation will be significant.
 
Regardless of these challenges to the Fringe community, the staff and board of IndyFringe applaud the responsible measures being taken by the City of Indianapolis, State of Indiana and the Indianapolis Arts Council in response to this global pandemic, and fully support the calls for continued social distancing. The Fringe staff is working remotely, having closed its administrative offices until further notice, and is following all guidance in response to this crisis.
 
We had a record 93 applications for this year’s festival and a stellar program set for the 2020 festival.  We look forward to celebrating and sharing this work with the our amazing and loyal audiences in 2021: the artists of the 2020 festival have been offered first right of refusal for slots in the 2021 IndyFringe Festival and we are making full registration refunds to those who choose that option.
 
From CEO, Pauline Moffat:  “The Fringe is a platform for so many diverse artists, especially for those who do not always have access to present their work. 

But the foundations of a Fringe are based fundamentally on people congregating months before the first performance, we could not in good conscious encourage people to begin rehearsing now.  Without rehearsals and the various community-building events we organize, the artistic and economic foundations of the festival are severely compromised.” 

 
From Board Chair, Gary Reiter: “We take the health and safety of festival participants and patrons very seriously, and know that this decision is in everyone’s best interest. Our job is to protect the IndyFringe Festival so that the curtain can rise again and that our community of artists and small theatre companies can continue to create, perform and earn money.  It also means planning through scenarios to re-open and program our two year-round theatres that would have been unthinkable even a couple of months ago.”

What’s Next!

In the coming days and weeks, IndyFringe will be engaging in conversations with sponsors, donors, volunteers, and, of course, the 2020 festival artists to plan for how we can best serve and support our community of artists and audiences.  Our series of juried mini-festivals including OnyxFest, DivaFest, Ten Minute Play Festival and the New Play Festival are still to be scheduled.   Playwrights have been chosen and we hope to honor our commitment to them later in the year.

IndyFringe Theatre and The Basile Theatre : 

As we plan to re-open both theatres, restrictions will need to be put in place for audiences to feel safe and secure in coming back to the theatre to protect audience and artists.

We will continue explore programming ideas and plan to rebuild after a closure of this length.

Fringe Performers: Please support Indy Arts & Culture COVID-19 Emergency Relief

IndyFringe returns 80% of the box office to performers at the festival.  Many Fringe artists rely on their summer Fringe to bankroll their year, and then supplement that work with part-time jobs in the service industry. With the Festival, IndyFringe theatres and the service industry shut down for the foreseeable future, we are concerned for the safety and security of our artists.

 
IndyFringe seasonally hires 30+ paid staff to run the festival, many of whom come back year after year to be part of the Fringe family. This year, many of our summer contract staff, box office representatives, front of house managers, venue technicians, bartenders will also be seeing a loss of income due to the festival's cancellation.

For further information e-mail or call 317-522-8099