It’s a summer staple when the Saskatoon Fringe Festival takes over a chunk of the Broadway area for more than a week of theatre, art, food and summer hijinks.
And this year promises to bring back some of the old, while adding something new.
“There’s a lot going on in these 10 days, but I think we make improvements every year, and the community makes it all worthwhile,” said Anita Smith, the artistic and executive director of 25th Street Theatre and the person in charge of running the Fringe.
When Smith took over at 25th Street Theatre in 2019, she said there were changes that needed to be made to ensure the longevity of the beloved festival in Saskatoon.
That was before the COVID-19 pandemic struck and threw the Fringe – and all public gatherings – for a massive loop.
Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the Fringe has been steadily building up year after year. And this year marks the festival’s largest offering of theatre shows since the pre-pandemic seasons, with 25 different Fringe shows taking the stage.
It’s also Smith’s final year in charge of running the Saskatoon Fringe, as she plans to step back from that role for future years.
“It has been a heck of a journey, even looking at the age of my children when I started compared to now,” she said. “It’s time for someone else to take the reins on the Fringe and shape it in a way they think will be good and sustainable and serve the community and the artists.”
In addition to the three main venues that have been Fringe theatre mainstays – the Broadway Theatre, the Refinery, and the Cosmo Seniors Centre – the Fringe will be including a “Bring Your Own Venue” stage at Grace Westminster Church where artists who were not selected in the Fringe theatre lottery for a place in the festival rent their venue directly to still perform in Saskatoon.
Smith said she was proud that Saskatoon was a place that artists from in the city and from around the world wanted to share their talents.
“We’ve created an environment where artists want to come and participate in our festival,” she said. “They know they’re going to have a good time coming here.”
Beyond the main stage shows are all the classics of recent Fringe festivals, including street buskers, artisans, the “Broadway Days” street fair that will take over Broadway Avenue during the long weekend.
Something new this year is the Collaboration Company. Building off years of “Collaboration Station” workshops and theatre opportunities for kids at the Fringe, the Collaboration Company is a troupe of 12- to 16-year-olds who will be putting on a show of their own at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival with the support of local artists.
For Smith, who has a child involved in the Collaboration Company, it’s a full-circle moment of what she wants the Fringe to be.
“I hope the Fringe creates an entry point for people to access theatre, and I want them to experience all the wonderful things we’ve got going on,” Smith said.
The Saskatoon Fringe Festival runs from July 30 to August 8.
