Edmonton Fringe facing $200K shortfall ahead of festival kickoff next week

With just over a week until the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival (EIFTF) kicks off for 2024, organizers are still looking for donations to help keep the festival afloat.

Festival organizers launched a donation campaign called Sustain Fringe in March after announcing the cost of the festival had become untenable.

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Organizers hoped to raise $300,000 by the end of this year's festival in order to avoid cutting one third of this year's programming.

Festival patrons were asked to become monthly donors or make a one-time donation.

"We're a third of the way to this goal for Sustain Fringe," Fringe artistic director Murray Utas told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday. "We just crested the $100,000 mark. We have 300 donors. We had a passionate 28 when we started on March 1."

EIFTF organizers say the festival is still recovering from the $3 million loss it incurred by cancelling the festival in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, officials say costs to build the site have almost doubled, insurance jumped 45 per cent, staffing costs have risen 42 per cent, and utilities have increased too.

The festival says it has not received an increase in funding from the municipal or provincial government since before the pandemic.

"When costs go up in theatre, we have a harder time recovering because we can't pass that back onto the consumer in a way that other businesses would," Utas said.

"With the Fringe Festival, that ticket price at the box office, that's going back to the artists."

The Fringe also provides free programming for children as part of KidsFringe.

"We understand that keeping KidsFringe free is huge for families, because families don't have it either."

Utas says if each of the 20,000 people who attend the Fringe annually commit to donating $5 each month, it would alleviate the festival's financial woes.

"I know that this community believes in this festival. I think some of the things that warm my heart the most is when we've got donations from people who say, 'You know what? I don't come to the festival, but I know what it means to this city.'"

You can support Sustain Fringe online or on site at the festival.

The Fringe runs Aug. 15-25. This year's theme is "Find Your Fringe."

Tickets and passes are on sale on the festival's website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny and Alex Antoneshyn