ON SALE NOW - Newcastle Fringe Festival is Back!
Fringe is adding the final touches to the 2024 program with tickets on sale now, with 82 acts and 451 artists performing 220-plus shows across 15 iconic venues located in activation hubs of Hamilton (the Fringe Festival heartland), Newcastle CBD, Adamstown and the newest addition of Merewether.
The number of comedy, theatre, dance, cabaret & burlesque, music and kids shows registered is a seismic 50% increase year over year with Newcastle Fringe Chair Brooke Twyford stating “The 2024 program has exploded beyond our expectations. This is one fringe you do not want to miss”.
Novacastrians and visitors alike watch out for laugh your guts out comedy, immersive dance and theatre experiences, cabaret & burlesque risque treats, entertaining kids shows and the return of our ever popular Choir Day as well as our unmissable headline free event Fringe@Park After Dark spectacular in Gregson Park.
The 2024 Newcastle Fringe Festival is supported by the City of Newcastle’s Special Business Rate Funding Program and the Hamilton Business Association. 62% of 2023 Newcastle Fringe Festival attendees were Newcastle locals, passionate about supporting the arts and proving that events like Fringe Festival are increasingly in popularity and continuing to bring vibrance and joy to our incredible community. Of course, that means that 38% of attendees for this year hailed from OUTSIDE Newcastle, and we’d like to think our little festival was part of why the city won Top Tourist Town in NSW for 2023.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the festival provides a unique cultural tourism opportunity. “The Newcastle Fringe supports our Hamilton business community and will add to the vibrancy of the city's night-time economy, complementing our Newcastle After Dark Strategy,” Cr Nelmes said.
Within Newcastle, we will once again have our primary festival hub, Hamilton. A nexus of activity for Newy Fringe, our Hamilton Hub will be a focal point for festival information with many nearby venues. With the support of the Hamilton Business Association, 2023 saw the streets of Hamilton pulse with creativity and energy, with multiple venues hosting performances and roving street performers delighting onlookers. 2024 again sees the Hamilton Business Association throw their support behind Newy Fringe with Fringe@Park After Dark at Gregson Park, roving street performers, six performance spaces including an exciting addition of Hamilton’s iconic Young People’s Theatre.
A combination of old Fringe favourites and exciting newcomers, our venue partners provide the stages upon which the magic happens. The Hamilton Uniting Church, the Gal and the Royal Exchange all return this year. Hotels are an important part of our Venue Partner program, not only providing a place to perform, but in many cases feeding and hosting performers and patrons throughout the festival. In 2024 we will welcome the Underground at The Grand Hotel, the Northern Star in Hamilton, the Deco Lounge at The Kent Hotel and the Newy Hotel in Islington. Souths in Merewether couldn’t resist the lure of our Newcastle Fringe and have generously opened up the Winsor Terrace and John Fleming Room to host shows. Nearby Adamstown will come alive with shows at the Memorial Hall and The Dungeon Performance Space at Adamstown Uniting Church, and finally the hub in the CBD of Newcastle itself with grow with the exciting new addition of the iconic Newcastle Museum and Bernie’s Bar.
We pride ourselves on the money that our artists make at the Newcastle Fringe each year. In 2023, over $80,000 went into the pockets of performers, which is so important for fostering a thriving regional arts scene. But the festival itself is run as a non-for-profit, so the support of our partners is integral to the success of the event. In addition to the Hamilton Business Association supporting us again in 2024, AGL Energy, Port Waratah Coal Services and Costin Roe Consulting have come on board to help us make next year’s Fringe our biggest one yet.
Our media partners play a vital role in helping to bring our festival to life each year and making sure the word gets out about our incredible performers and shows. Newcastle Live, Intouch Magazine and Newy with Kids are important local partners that let people know about all the amazing events happening in this city, and we are so grateful to have them onboard and backing Newcastle Fringe Festival again in 2024. We have to shout out Engineroom Design as well, an incredible local Creative Agency who create our amazing festival branding, program and bring our website to life.
With a 10 day program bursting at the seams, Newcastle Fringe Festival 2024 is going to be an incredible celebration of creativity, diversity and discovery and we can’t wait to share it with the beautiful community of Newcastle and beyond.
Save the Date: Tickets go on sale January 15th 2024 and will be available via our website www.newcastlefringe.com.au
