Summer for arts lovers in the City Beautiful commences in earnest with the return of the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival to Loch Haven Park this week.
The Fringe Festival is an Orlando-favorite annual performing-arts fest, with 34 years of presenting unapologetic arts and performances under its metaphorical belt. This year’s festival is all about embracing the arts and their ability to challenge and inspire, evidenced in its 2025 theme: “Let Your Fringe Flag Fly!”
“Orlando Fringe has always been a sanctuary for bold, unfiltered creativity, and this year, we’re embracing that spirit with open arms,” explained Fringe Artistic Director Tempestt Halstead Halstead earlier this year. “Now, more than ever, we stand by our commitment to radical inclusion and artistic freedom.”
The festival runs for two weeks, having officially started Tuesday, May 13, with a ribbon-cutting and National/International Artist Teaser Show. But the real action starts Wednesday, and runs through May 26. Fringe features more than 1,000 performances offering everything from theatrical plays to musicals, comedy, dance, spoken word and more. Fringe spotlights challenging and original work from scores of local, North American and international performers, all coming together for two whirlwind weeks of nonstop performances.
San Francisco-based acrobatic-dance-circus duo Box & Arrow Circus feature at Fringe this year, telling unconventional stories and celebrating queer resilience.
Their Box [M] — the story of a trans son and his father’s relationship through acrobatics, dance and visual storytelling (and no dialogue) — is San Francisco native Genie Cartier’s directorial return to Orlando Fringe. Her solo show, the Curve, was featured at Orlando Fringe last year and won the Best of Fringe Award at San Francisco Fringe in 2023.
“Orlando Fringe is my favorite. 2015 was the first time I ever came with a duo show that I was doing. We stayed the whole three weeks, and I made all these friends, and I just absolutely loved it. And then for the next 10 years, I tried to find a way to get back,” Cartier tells OW. “With trans people very much under attack in America … it felt like the exact right time to make a show like this. I think it’s really important that we humanize trans people at this time.”
The Fringe Festival also offers up plenty of live and local music, visual arts and activities for the kids — along with plenty of opportunities to network and hobnob with other Fringe fanatics and creatives.
“Fringe is a choose-your-own-adventure — and there’s no wrong way to do it,” Fringe Director of Experience Genevieve Bernard tells Orlando Weekly. “Start with one show that sounds interesting, or just come hang out on the lawn. Check out the free music and entertainment, grab a bite from a food truck, and get a feel for the vibe. From family-friendly to wild and weird, G-rated to OMG, there are so many different entry points.”
Performances and events take over the festival venues clustered around the Loch Haven area: headquartered at Orlando Shakes and Orlando Family Stage with their color-coded venues, as well as a consolidated handful of nearby venues.
“This year, we’ve made an intentional shift to centralize the festival — all official venues are located in and around Loch Haven Park. That means it’s easier than ever to explore everything Fringe has to offer, with all the action happening in and around the park,” says Bernard. “We will also have unique, site-specific performances throughout the festival grounds, adding an extra layer of excitement to the Fringe experience.”
Fringe is as much for the artists as it is for the theater fanatics. Aside from the primary purchase of the $10 Fringe button (do not forget to buy one), all ticket sales go to supporting the artists in their unfiltered, uncensored and uninjured shows and performances.
There are plenty of free happenings to take in too. The action spills outdoors on the Fringe Lawn at Loch Haven Park, where local musicians sing their lives and festivalgoers refuel, rehydrate and take a moment to relax between dashing from venue to venue. For a family-friendly, air-conditioned Fringe experience, Kids Fringe is offering activities, performances and fun at the Orlando Garden Club during the weekends of the festival. Also don’t miss out on Visual Fringe HQ, for gallery events and to catch a sight of all the featured pieces, each for sale.
But there’s no glossing over the fact that last year was a tough one for venerable arts shindig. Our own Seth Kubersky posited in his annual Fringe wrap-up that the “vibes were off” amid a slump in audience numbers and tickets sold. Since then, there have been changes in Fringe leadership — and the shuttering of the ill-fated Fringe ArtSpace downtown to focus fully on the Fest — and Bernard says that Fringe Central are aware of last year’s problems and working to fix them.
“[T]his year … Fringe [is] more accessible and cohesive — easier to navigate, easier to drop in for a show or two, and easier to feel like you’re part of a shared experience,” says Bernard. “This year, we’re leading with kindness and refocusing on what makes Fringe feel like Fringe — a place where everyone is welcome, and anything can happen.”
Fringe started yesterday with the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, but today is when things really get cooking. So check out artists from all over the world planting their particular freak … ahem, Fringe flags in Orlando.
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This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.