PERFORM
AT FRINGE
About the Guelph Fringe Festival
The 2026 festival takes place from August 6th to the 9th.
The lottery draw will happen in 2 phases.
PHASE 1. Three(3) Café Series Productions - This is for productions that identify themselves as requiring minimal to no tech, and are comfortable with a smaller stage (5x8). Basically, a spotlight, mic and projector. These shows will be drawn first with the following priority categories:
a) BIPOC (Led by an artist that identifies as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Colour) - 1 production
b) Youth (Led by an artist 22 years of age or younger) - 1 production
c) Local (Led by an artist from Guelph or Wellington County) - 1 production
d) General - if there are no submissions in the above categories, the remaining spots will be drawn from all remaining productions entered into the Café Series draw.
PHASE 2. Ten(10) General Productions - These shows are in our two main venues and will be drawn second with the following priority categories:
a) BIPOC (Led by an artist that identifies as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Colour) - 2 productions (or 3 if no Café Series BIPOC show)
b) Youth (Led by an artist 22 years of age or younger) - 2 productions (or 3 if no Café Series Youth show)
c) Local (Led by an artist from Guelph or Wellington County) - 2 productions (or 3 if no Café Series Local show)
d) General - 4 productions (or more if priority categories have remaining slots)
A production will have an opportunity in each lottery they qualify for.
All performance times are 45 minutes (minimum) to 60 minutes (maximum). Each production gets 3 performances. The festival runs for four days. On the day of your first performance, you will be assigned a load-in and tech time.
GFF uses three venues. The two main venues are unlicensed and have a 12' x 8' performance space, basic programmable lighting, a projector and basic audio. The Café Series venue is licensed and has a small stage (5x8) with only one spotlight, a projector and basic audio. The venue spec document can be found here. All of our venues are accessible (performers and audience).
Fringe Technicians will be available at each venue to provide support and run tech for your show if required. Performers are welcome to provide their own technicians if they prefer.
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The production fee for performing at the Guelph Fringe Festival is $300 (separate from the non-refundable $25 application fee). If your awesome production is selected in our lottery draw, we will provide you with:
- More information about the festival,
- A list of the information we need from you, and when we need it by,
- The deadline date for sending the $300 production fee in order to ensure your place.
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Patrons will pay $18 to see a performance at the Festival. This is made up of a $15 ticket price, and a $3 processing fee that is used to handle our ticketing charges and other sales related costs. Artists will receive 100% of the ticket prices from their performances. In 2025, the average attendance of a performance was 19.
Artists should be aware of the Guelph Fringe Festival Code of Conduct, and understand that all members of every production company will be held to it. The Code of Conduct can be found here.
Artists/companies are not permitted to submit more than one application to the Guelph Fringe Festival.
Applications are due by 6 PM Eastern on February 22nd, 2026.
Applications for the Guelph Fringe Festival will be deemed complete when the following are submitted:
1. The form accessed through the Apply Now button below.
2. A $25 non-refundable e-transfer to accounting@theguelphfringefestival.ca. Be sure to include your production name in the e-transfer comment so we know who the money is coming from.