Attendance numbers down at fringe festival

Advertisement

Advertise with us

The 2019 edition of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival wrapped Sunday with an overall drop in attendance numbers compared to previous fests. This year, ticketed attendance came in at 98,673, compared to 103,251 in 2018 and more than 105,000 in 2016, the highest Winnipeg fringe attendance yet.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/07/2019 (2576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 2019 edition of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival wrapped Sunday with an overall drop in attendance numbers compared to previous fests. This year, ticketed attendance came in at 98,673, compared to 103,251 in 2018 and more than 105,000 in 2016, the highest Winnipeg fringe attendance yet.

Not counting the free outdoor performances, the festival had 178 shows in 30 venues over its 12-day run. Sold-out performances numbered 209 out of 1,511 total indoor performances.

Outdoor attendance totalled between 60,000 and 70,000, with close to 5,000 in Kids Fringe attendance.

SASHA SEFTER / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
A crowd gathers to watch hula-hoop artist Lisa Lottie perform during the Fringe Festival on the Cube stage in the Exchange District on July 20.
SASHA SEFTER / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES A crowd gathers to watch hula-hoop artist Lisa Lottie perform during the Fringe Festival on the Cube stage in the Exchange District on July 20.

The drop came despite consistently good weather; some rain fell, but no day was rained out.

Festival executive director Chuck McEwen attributed the drop to fewer returning five-star-rated shows, such as Josephine.

In previous festivals, “there could be between 25 to 30 five-star returning shows,” McEwen said.

That number dropped to a handful this year, he said. In addition, he said, some hit shows, such as I Lost on Jeopardy at the 90-seat Cinematheque (Venue 7) were limited due to the comparative smallness of the venues, and could have beefed up the attendance numbers if they had played in larger venues.

The festival ran into some problems, with the Red River College and Pantages Theatre venues being unavailable this year.

The fringe compensated with the addition of three new venues, including two utilizing the Portage Place Cinemas. Next year, McEwen said, those venues might not be available as the mall at Portage Place is scheduled to come under new ownership.

At the conclusion of the fest, the Manitoba Association of Playwrights presented the 2019 Harry S. Rintoul Memorial Award for best new Manitoban play to The Cause, by Connor Joseph, Cuinn Joseph and Jacob Herd.

The 2020 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival will run from July 15-26.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing

Randall King

Randall King
Writer

Randall King writes about film for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

History

Updated on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 9:05 AM CDT: Adds photo

Updated on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 9:58 AM CDT: Removes subhead

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

New Bannatyne eatery brings feast of Asian flavours

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview

New Bannatyne eatery brings feast of Asian flavours

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Yesterday at 4:29 PM CDT

Matriarchal influences run deep at House of Ma Kitchen and Bar.

Executive chef Dom Merano took inspiration from his mom’s home cooking while developing the menu for the new Exchange District restaurant — specifically Cynthia Merano’s recipes for lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) and kare-kare (braised beef and peanut stew).

“It tastes like home,” Merano says of the dishes, adding that his mom “felt honoured to be able to share her cooking with people. She was actually here prior to opening helping me roll lumpia.”

Cynthia’s photo is hung among the “Wall of Mas” at the back of the restaurant, where the mothers and grandmothers of True Hospitality staff are given pride of place.

Read
Yesterday at 4:29 PM CDT

Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

An internal investigation by Manitoba’s Families Department is nearly complete in the case of a six-year-old girl who is paralyzed after being assaulted by her foster mother in Winnipeg.

The review by child-welfare officials is intended to prevent similar incidents, but it’s unlikely the public will learn the findings or recommendations.

“We’re working closely with the (child and family services) authority to make sure that every recommendation is taken seriously and implemented,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

“They’re important (investigations) because they help us identify what went wrong so we can make those changes to ensure something like this tragedy never happens again.”

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Brandon’s gas plant: a health decision

Riley De Blonde and Scott Blyth 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Imagine a Manitoba in which our lives are powered by clean, affordable electricity that Manitobans own and which doesn’t pollute the air and water we depend on.

That future is within reach and, as doctors, we know it would protect people’s health now and for many generations.

Instead, Manitoba Hydro wants to spend $3 billion on three new gas-fired turbines in Brandon.The Public Utilities Board is now considering this proposal, before our provincial leaders make a final decision that could lock us into burning harmful fossil fuels for decades.

Every day doctors witness the toll of air pollution, hotter summers and smokier skies on our patients — the child struggling through an asthma attack in the emergency room, the senior dangerously overheating during a heat wave. These health crises are not inevitable. They are the consequence of decisions, by governments and corporations, to keep burning fossil fuels.

Everyone must play the long game

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Everyone must play the long game

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Today’s decision is just one small point on a continuum that will go on until Trump is no longer president or, as a nation, we manage to disentangle our economy from our nearest neighbour to the greatest extent possible.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Pembina Valley man facing charges after gun fired at suspected thieves

2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:52 PM CDT

A 66-year-old Pembina Valley man is facing weapons charges after RCMP say he fired shots at people accused of stealing from his property twice in one day.

RCMP say four people went to a rural private property in the RM of Dufferin Saturday and then returned later in the day with two vehicles. The vehicles were later confirmed to have been stolen from Watrous, Sask., RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.

The property owner was alerted to the activity by a motion camera and went to the area, where he saw the suspects transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles.

The man confronted the suspects with a firearm and fired shots towards the vehicles, RCMP said.

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Preview

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 17, 2026

Two men in electric ankle bracelets who were being monitored by justice officials have been accused in a two-month spree of commercial break-ins, vehicle thefts and other property crimes.

City police have charged one of the suspects and are searching for the second.

About $140,000 worth of property, including trailers, lawn equipment, motorcycles and bicycles, was reported stolen in 13 incidents in Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Headingley between April 20 and June 28, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Both suspects were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets during that time.

Read
Monday, Aug. 17, 2026