Scranton Fringe Festival celebrates local arts for the ninth year

SCRANTON — The 2023 Scranton Fringe Festival’s ninth installment of their city-wide celebration of culture, creativity, and community runs Thursday, September 28, through Saturday, October 7.

Scranton Fringe Festival showcases local talent and creativity. Since 2015, the performing arts festival hosts 10 days of events in Downtown Scranton featuring theatre, music, film, and more.

Mark your calendar for plays, musicals and other performances at venues such as The Shakes Space @ Marketplace at Steamtown, AFA Gallery, Lackawanna College, Scranton Cultural Center, Greenhouse Project, and Meals on Wheels’ Space & Olive. These are unique shows you won’t be able to catch anywhere else.

There are a lot of great, unique titles on the roster this year. Performances include “Nomad’s Mountain” an original musical presented by PATAsphere and “All Beginnings Are Hard” a instrumental show presented by Zach Sprowls…just to name a couple.

Scranton Fringe Festival started off with the free Kick-Off party at Groove Brewing on Thursday, September 28 with music from DJ Conor McGuigan and food from Peculiar Culinary Company.

“We are very excited for this year,” said Elizabeth Bohan, who co-founded Scranton Fringe Festival with Conor Kelly O’Brien nine years ago, when they decided to bring the spirit of “the fringe” to Scranton.

The first-ever Fringe fest started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland when a group of eight artists came together to take part in the fringe of the arts surrounding the International Festival there. Now, there’s more than 200 fringe festivals throughout the world celebrating drama, expression, and art.

O’Brien and Bohan share the spirit of “the fringe” with the NEPA community by giving new and up-and-coming voices a platform to share their creative works. They’re also the great minds behind the The Big Gay Storyslam during Pride Month and local art education programs for kids.

“We get a really good response,” said Bohan of what she’s helped organize. “We have artists that come back every year and people that come from out of town. They come to Scranton and plan for the whole weekend!”

Scranton Fringe Festival has been growing every year, starting with just four days and now expanding to 10 days of entertainment and new venues every year. Bohan and her Scranton Fringe team of volunteers are also excited to exhibit diverse artists from a variety of backgrounds.

“We really try to promote equity and equality in everything we do,” said Bohan.

Scranton Fringe partnered up with “Taking Up Space” Film Festival to provide a free festival within a festival! This presentation at People’s Security Theatre at Lackawanna College screens the works of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color) filmmakers.

They are also partnered with an exhibit called “True Colors: A Celebration of Queer History and Expression” which will be displayed at the AFA Gallery throughout the festival.

The organization also prioritizes disability access. To cater to accessibility, Scranton Fringe Festival will require masks for all audience members at the first matinee performance at nearly every production this year. Masking will be optional at all other performances.

“Fringe is for everybody. People involved in the theater, people who moved from a bigger city, we really want to get everybody involved. We love our audiences and our support, and we have such a great community,” said Elizabeth Bohan.

Many of the shows are $15 each and the revenue goes to the artist. VIP passes and Fringe Memberships are available. If you’re feeling generous, you can also buy a ticket for someone who couldn’t afford it with their initiative, “Fringe for the People.”

“This is a really good way to pay it forward,” said Bohan. She said the program has really been taking off in the past year and helps ensure everyone can participate.

Everything they do is to bring people together to enjoy all the individuality and innovation our town has to offer.

“During the pandemic we had to have different programming and now that we’re getting back into the full festival, we want to support our community in every way; the audience, the artists, local businesses, — everyone!” said Elizabeth Bohan.

Scranton Fringe Festival also supports free workshops, performances, and programs at the Lackawanna Children’s Library which is a steppingstone for involvement in the arts.

Bohan said they have a teenager who got involved with the festival due to that programming. That student was Tierney Violent Joyce and she’ll be debuting her passion project, “52 Mondays: The Cabaret,“ this year at the Junior Ballroom at the Scranton Cultural Center on September 30 and October 1.

Some shows are meant for all ages such as interactive free performance “The Light House” playing Saturday, September 30, at Lackawanna Children’s Library and others are geared towards a more mature audience, such as “Madam and Eve” playing October 5 through October 7 at The Shakes Space.

“We want people to tell their friends or family that they’re part of a festival. We give the artists passes to go see other shows,” said Bohan. “We encourage them to build a community.”

One of the most fun and popular events of Scranton Fringe Festival will be the Silent Disco at AFA Gallery on Friday, October 6. Everyone can meet each-other and come together to dance in a quiet room.

Check out the full schedule for Scranton Fringe Festival and experience what the local talent has to offer on stages throughout Scranton. Get inspired by artists from all walks of life as self-expression and entertainment collide.

Scranton Fringe Festival’s donations and volunteers help support their organization and keep these events running. These donations make it possible for them to keep celebrating local creatives and hosting successful shows.