The Rochester Fringe Festival Board of Directors today
announced dates for the 2014 edition of the festival – its third edition –
which will take place September 18-27.
The official press release follows:
FRINGE ANNOUNCES 2014 DATES: SEPT. 18-27
First Niagara renews title sponsorship for 10-day event
2013 ticket revenue increased more than 100% over 2012
Rochester, NY – The Rochester Fringe Festival Board of
Directors announced dates today for the third annual First Niagara Rochester
Fringe Festival: Thursday, September 18 – Saturday, September 27, 2014. Once
again, the festival will last 10 days and include nearly two full weekends.
“We’re thrilled that we were able to double the length of
2012’s festival this year and draw more than 50,000 attendees,” says Fringe
Producer Erica Fee. “In addition, ticket revenue increased by 105% this year –
from $164,000 to $335,500 – even with approximately 120 free performances! This
is great news – not only for our non-profit festival – but for all the venues,
performers and Rochester as a whole.”
The Fringe is also very pleased to announce that First
Niagara is once again its title sponsor.
“We are thrilled to continue our support for the First
Niagara Fringe Festival,” said Suzanne Nasipak-Chapman,
Rochester Market Executive for First Niagara. “This event has become a
uniquely Rochester experience that is helping to enhance the quality of life in
our community, bringing people into our city, and creating the excitement and
vibrancy that will help make our City stronger.”
Background:
The 2012 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival: the
debut, multi-arts festival ran from Wednesday, September 19 through Sunday,
September 23 in downtown Rochester, NY. Drawing more than 33,000 people over
five days, it placed in the Top Five of approximately 50 U.S. fringe festivals
for attendance.
The 2013 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival ran from
Thursday, September 19 through Saturday, September 28, with approximately 360
shows in 28 venues in downtown Rochester. Internationally-renowned
vertical dance group BANDALOOP drew an estimated 13,000 people to the
newly-renovated Manhattan Square Park for its return Fringe engagement on the
side of the 21-story One HSBC Plaza. The world-premiere Cirque du Fringe in the
Magic Crystal Spiegeltent sold out its entire run of
13 performances, and headliners Marc Maron and Dave
Barry each drew well in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. A closed-off Gibbs
Street was packed for the final Fringe weekend with free live entertainment,
and the Spiegelgarden at One Fringe Place (corner of
Gibbs and Main Streets) was truly the Fringe hub.
Rochester Fringe Festival is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation that exists as a means to connect venues,
performers, artists, educational institutions and the audience. It was
pioneered by several of Rochester’s esteemed cultural institutions, including Geva Theatre Center, the George Eastman House and Garth
Fagan Dance, as well as up-and-coming groups like PUSH Physical Theatre and
Method Machine. The Board of Directors also includes representatives from the
University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Boylan
Code LLC, Center for Youth, the Eastman School of
Music and Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co. LLP.
About First Niagara: Through its wholly-owned subsidiary,
First Niagara Bank, N.A. is a multi-state, community-oriented bank with
approximately 420 branches, $37 billion in assets, $27 billion in
deposits, and approximately 6,000 employees providing financial services to
individuals, families and businesses across New York, Pennsylvania,
Connecticut and Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.firstniagara.com.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2013.
