Asheville Fringe Festival goes Global

Project Summary

The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival has been invited to the first ever World Fringe Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland (August 14-21)!  Help us reach our goal to send our tireless delegates to participate in the Congress and learn best practices for Fringe Festivals from all over the world.  We will bring back all the awesome goodness that we’ve learned and invite contributors to an exclusive event to hear about our experiences!  The AFAF has been running strong for ten years and in that time has supported many new and emerging artists in Asheville, NC.  We have helped to launch a creative vision for all artists who seek to explore new work and test the edges of their comfort zone.

We have already been supported by so many Fringe Artists for our Fringe Benefit Show last month!  We cannot thank our Fringe artists enough for their tireless effort and steadfast vision to the cause of Fringe!  Thanks to them, we are moving forward in this effort.

Who are we?

Jim Julien

Jim graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA  and has been doing performance art since the mid 1970’s. He has performed in every Asheville Fringe Arts Festival since its inception.  He has been a co-organizer of the festival since 2004. Jim has been involved in various performing arts groups around Asheville from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre to Asheville Vaudeville to Magnetic Theatre. He is always interested in unique forms of performance and interactive arts and weird natural history. “Fringe has always been an amazing opportunity to explore uncharted territories for me and I have worked hard to make it a place to other artists to explore as well. I look forward to the delights to come each year.,”

Jocelyn Reese

Jocelyn has a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago and has been a participant and fan of performance art since 1995.  She has co-organized the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival with Jim Julien since 2005.  “I am so excited to foster a vision of new and innovative art for Asheville.  Fringe is like a home for me.  It is so exciting to support artists who also find Fringe a home.”  The opportunity to participate in the World Fringe Congress will bring so much to Asheville and its efforts in creating a truly Fringe environment.

Where are your contributions going?

In order to get to Scotland and back without breaking our Fringe bank, we're asking for $2,500 from all of you in the next 25 days.  To give you a better idea, the budget looks a little like this:

Total Fringe Festival Budget $6,000 

$3,000 for festival coordinator,

$3,000 for participation in Edinburgh

Total we've spent: $2,500

Total we’ve raised with Fringe Benefit shows:  $1,000

Total we still need: $2,500

Every donation is GREATLY APPRECIATED, and just for your help you get a cool perk with your donation.  Just choose your favorite perk over on the right or the most you're able to donate, and you're on your way to joining the Asheville Fringe Freak Fans team!

Why contribute to this project?  What’s so important about the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival?

We know that asking you to contribute your time and money is asking a lot, especially when there are so many amazing projects, so why Asheville Fringe Arts Festival?  The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is the rare performance event that asks artists to explore and push and think beyond their comfort zone. It asks artists to not do the expected and the safe, but to do something completely different with people and ideas that they are not totally familiar with. For the rest of the year, artists do what they are good at, but for Fringe, they take a chance, dare to fail, find something new inside themselves. That’s why Fringe is important.

 Other ways you can help

Times are tough and we understand if you are unable to/don't feel comfortable contributing financially.  However, if you like our project and want to help us, here are some non-monetary ways that we would love for you to contribute:

• Share our campaign with your friends via social media sites like twitter and facebook or through email.
• Like us on Facebook 
• Email info@ashevillefringe.org to volunteer to distribute posters, locate sponsors, and volunteer for the festival!
• Tell us what you think! Send us your ideas to the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival at info@ashevillefringe.org.