★ In Scotland, the Fringe Festival’s scope surpasses that of the Edinburgh International Festival.
★ In Provence, the Off Festival is what makes the Festival d’Avignon shine.
★ In Formosa, the Taipei Fringe Festival is the pride of Asia!
First held in 2008, the Taipei Fringe Festival promotes a spirit of freedom and openness, neither vetting performances nor placing any restrictions on them. The Festival offers a performance platform that is different, nonmainstream, and highly experimental and that gives full play to the imagination. It serves as an incubator for newly emerging creators.
Over the years, the Festival has continuously put the spotlight on unique locations across Taipei City, such as coffeehouses, art galleries, bookstores, outdoor gardens, cultural heritage sites, old houses, and small theaters. Artists have used these spaces to experiment and go beyond regular frameworks, maximizing creativity and exploring the full potential of art and performance. Programs cover curating, dance, music, theater, musicals, improvisational theater, traditional art, and circus, highlighting the diversity and vitality of the Festival and making art more accessible for the general public.
Many successful groups have made their debut performances at the Taipei Fringe Festival. This reflects one of the Festival’s core missions: cultivate promising groups and young creators and serve as an incubator for artists. For award-winning groups, the Festival has also sought to create more performance opportunities, such as Laureates’ Return and Instant Fringe Encore. It has also proactively helped these groups gain opportunities and participation at other venues and festivals and continue to perform their works. The Festival is also working to build connections with other international art festivals to ensure that the Taipei Fringe Festival is not just a landmark event domestically but also attracts foreign artists.