White underpants with red fringe attached to them were mailed to members of the press with an invitation to a press “briefing” to learn about the 1st Annual Orlando Fringe Festival.

The festival is 10 days in late April and featured almost 200 indoor performances.

25,000 – 30,000 people attended, doubling the number from the year before.

35 performance groups from as far away as Uganda, The United Kingdom, Norway, and Canada.

2 venues were added bringing the total to 6 and an expanded market area was added.

The TheatreSports International Tournament took place during the festival.

The very first Kids Fringe is held.

70,000 people attended the festival.

The festival expanded to 7 venues.

It rained many of the days of the festival which made traveling between the scattered downtown venues rather difficult.

There was a bungee-bounce attraction.

Orlando Sentinel covered all 10 days of the festival in the print edition and reviewed 20 shows.

With empty downtown storefronts getting filled and the LYNX bus route construction, Fringe was wondering about the future and held a public brainstorming session.

The festival took place April 17-26.
Fringe moved back to Church Street between Orange and Magnolia Avenues.
Fringe Preview becomes an annual tradition.
Paula Whigham serves as Volunteer Coordinator.
Toxic Audio debuted at the festival. They went on to become Vox Audio and had a successful off-Broadway run.

The festival took place April 28-May 7. The Oops Guys presented The Naked Guy which ended with a quick scene of full-frontal male nudity. A police raid was threatened causing Dennis Giacino and Fiely Matias to remove the scene on opening night but the City of Orlando later said it was a “miscommunication.” Tod Kimbro returned with LOUD, a hit show that was later nominated for the M Elizabeth Osborn Award for Emerging Playwrights.

The festival took place April 20-29.
Brook Hanemann, who co-produced the 9th festival, is named Festival Producer.
The outdoor stage was moved from Church Street Market to Heritage Square in front of the Orange County Regional History Center
This was the last Fringe held in April.
Fringe had overvome a huge financial deficit.

The festival took place May 10-19.
Chris Gibson was named Festival Producer and he moved the festival to May to help Theme Park employees participate in Fringe.
Jae Nale becomes the Outdoor Events Manager for Fringe.
Orlando Fringe’s international artist attendance plummets after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 
T.J. Dawe presented The Slip-Knot and Eric Pinder presented Waiting for Napoleon.
Joe’s NYC Bar presented a special Fringe edition.

The festival took place May 16-25.
Seattle Fringe closes, making Orlando Fringe the longest continuous running Fringe Festival in the United States. Seattle was the first official Fringe Festival in the United States, followed by Orlando and San Francisco (Orlando Fringe is just six months older).
Orlando Fringe sells tickets online for the first time. During the 2003 festival, 1,200 tickets were sold overall.  
T-Mobile sponsored the festival and provided Fringe with their new “sidekicks” to help communication between venues.
Orlando Opera participated in Fringe this year and promoted their show by walking around downtown wearing towels and a shower curtain.
Heavy rain caused flooding in venues with resulted in venues being relocated and show start times being delayed.
Non-Fringe outdoor concerts taking place in Downtown Orlando created noise pollution during shows which opened discussions to relocate the festival away from downtown. 
Even with the trouble with the weather, Orlando Fringe returned more than $100,000 to the artists during the 10-day festival.

The festival took place May 20-30 and was split between Downtown Orlando and Loch Haven Park. 
Chris Gibson announced he was leaving Fringe but before he did, he hired Beth Marshall as a new Associate Producer.
Eric Pinder presented Driving Miss Cherry Blossom, Michael Andrew stared in The Nutty Professor.

The festival took place May 18-29.
Michael Wanzie’s The Lion Queen and the Naked Go-Go Cub which became the top-selling show in history of the festival.
The 2006 Fringe was the most successful festival to date with attendance up 38 percent and button sales up 28 percent.  

Orlando Fringe is one of the founding members of the United States Association of Fringe Festivals.
Orlando hosted the 2008 conference of all members.

The festival took place May 14-25.
The 2009 festival was dubbed “Hurricane Fringe” when it rained for 9 of the 12 days.
The first economic impact study is completed showing Fringe contributed $1.46 million dollars to the local economy.

The festival took place May 18-13
It expanded to 13 days.
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary, the theme was a Fringe High School Reunion. Fringe Buttons resembled “Hello My Name Is” stickers.
George Wallace was named General Manager. He worked alongside Beth Marshall who became Festival Producer.
Fringe superfans David Horgan, Ed Anthony, and Myron Blattner formed DEM Guys and began sponsoring the festival’s Green Venue.
The Oops Guys Dennis Giacino and Fiely Matias debuted their new show Bitches of the Kingdom which later had an Off-Broadway run as Disenchanted.
At the end of the festival, Beth Marshall announced she was resigning. 

A new Fringe logo debuted designed by Adam McCabe.

The festival was held May 16-28.
The first-ever Terry Olson Lifetime Achievement Award is given. 
Kids Fringe is moved to Mennello Museum and sees a nearly 500% increase in attendance. Genevieve Bernard is named Kids Fringe Producer. 

The festival took place May 15-28.
Red Venue moved from the outdoor tent in the courtyard of the Lowndes Shakespeare Center to an upstairs rehearsal space.
Two new venues are added. Theatre Downtown (Bronze) and The Venue (Black) on Virginia Drive. It’s the first time since 2005, venues are found outside of Loch Haven Park. 
Over 100 ticketed shows are presented. 
A Bike Valet was added to the festival.
Critic’s Choice Awards are given out for the first time.
Visual Fringe is presented outside of Loch Haven Park at a warehouse on Alden Road, including an 18-hole miniature golf course created by artists. 
Walt Disney World became a presenting sponsor.
Universal Orlando Foundation provided financial sponsorship of Kids Fringe.
Rain and a competing concert by Paul McCartney made for a slow first weekend.

The 2014 Season included:
Seasons by Elaine Pechacek and Katie Hammond
There’s No Place Like Home by Michael Wanzie
Reincarnation Soup by Viet Nguyen
The Screw You Review by Dewie Chaffee and Douglas McGeoch
Merry Fringein’ XMAS III
Wanderlust, The Surprise, and The Holy Land Experience all by Martin Dockery
Donating Sperm to My Sister’s Wife and Darwin Vs. Rednecks by Stewart Huff

The festival took place May 13-25
An economic impact study shows Orlando Fringe’s impact surpasses 2 million dollars in local revenue. 
Orlando Museum of Art becomes a venue (Gold Venue) for the first time. 
Attendance surged by 30% making it the most financially successful festival in history, with more than $375,000 in artist payments. 
Orlando Fringe moves its year-round operations to Loch Haven Park being housed inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center. 
Fringe Teens is created featuring 8 local high schools.  
Sissy by Kitty Puncher performs a show in the Men’s Room of the Lowndes Shakespeare Center.
Popular shows from Fringe past returned this year, The Lion Queen and the Naked Go-Go Cub, Dragness of God, 6 Guitars, and Joe’s NYC Bar.
The Republic was a site-specific interactive theatrical performance in a converted warehouse.

Paula had worked for Fringe in the past in positions, such as Kids Fringe Producer and Volunteer Coordinator.

The festival took place January 5-8.
It consisted of only four venues and 21 shows. 
Shows were hand-picked to be some of the best from the past festival.
Shows included: Edgar Allan, Stump, The Foreplay: An Exploration of the Birth of our Nation, Eric Pinder’s My Mislabeled Youth, and a Movies Out Loud screening of The Spice Girls movie Spice World.

After a search, on March 6, 2017, Alauna Friskics (McMillen) is named Executive Director. She previously worked as Executive Director of Garden Theatre. During her transition, she observed the 2017 festival and began her role in September of 2018. 

The festival took place May 16-29
Fringe expands to 14 days with The Opening Ceremony and the Teaser show on Tuesday and shows beginning on Wednesday. 
Theme of the year was “Stay Curious” with the tagline of “If You Don’t Go, You’ll Never Know”
The Orlando Fringe hosted a record-breaking 166 ticketed shows (over 950 performances) and was able to provide $452,641 in artist payouts over the run of the 14-day event which attracted 70,400 attendees from as far away as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. 
Kids Fringe brought in over 9,500 parents and children and moved to a new location behind the Orlando Fire Museum.
Junior Achievement was added as a new venue (White)
Breakthrough Theatre of Winter Park was added as a BYOV location.
Ticket prices were raised to a maximum of $12.
Over $3,500 was returned to the schools through Fringe Teens ticket sales.
Orlando Fringe presented the Chad C. Cronon Memorial Scholarship to Carrli C. Cooper from West Orange High School and Fringe Teen Scholarships were given to Forrest Keith Stringfellow of Spruce Creek High School and Lauren Nicole Koval of University High School.

The festival took place January 11-14.
The opening ceremonies were hosted by Finger Puppet Charles Dickens, played by Mike Carr, who was joined in finger puppet form by Alauna Friskics and Michael Marinaccio with a miniature Lowndes Shakespeare Center.

The festival took place May 15-28.
The festival’s theme was “United We Fringe”
Barbara Poma led a special information session about the plans for the future memorial to the victims of the Pulse nightclub tragedy. 

The next Five Fifths production spoofs the classic horror film, The Exorcist.

A new friendlier look for Fringezilla was revealed at the 4th Annual Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest.

Development Coordinator Lisa Hardt and Associate Produer Lindsay Taylor stay up for 24 hours in a live online fundraising telathon.

Orlando Fringe produces Kids Fringe Campy Camps.
Two sessions for rising K, 1st, and 2nd graders June 10-14, and July 22-26.
Campers took part in puppetry, storytelling, drum circles, creative movement, art projects, and more.
Kids were treated to professional performances and participated in a “shareformance.”

The hit shows The Animatronicans and The Animatronicans: Under New Management from Jeff Jones, returns to a double feature performance at Orlando Museum of Art

The festival took place January 9 – 12, 2020.
20 shows were featured over the four days.
A staged reading series was added which gave audiences the chance to take a peek into the creative process in bringing a show to Fringe in May.
Kids Fringe held its first Mini-Mini-Fest which proved to be an overwhelming success. It featured free games and activities for kids as well as two separately ticketed performances for kids.
Visual Fringe had artists on hand selling art while creating at the event.

March 19, 2020, in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, Orlando Fringe makes the difficult decision to cancel the May festival. 
As the nations’ oldest Fringe, festivals around the watch Orlando’s lead and begin canceling their festivals.
Orlando Fringe social media saw an incredible 80,897 organic impressions that day with many people sharing love and support.

Development Director Lisa Hardt and Theatre Producer Lindsay Taylor stay up for 24 hours again for another live online fundraising telethon.

Kids Fringe summer camps had to transition to a virtual online format this year.
As an added bonus, Fringezilla made personal, socially-distanced, appearances at the student’s home for a quick visit and storytime.

Returning to live theatre for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Orlando Fringe produces an immersive twist on the holiday classic, A Christmas Carol.
Patrons are lead around to stations in Loch Haven Park where five different arts groups or performers presented a scene from the story.
Each group of no more than 25 patrons was lead by a narrator and a performer playing the role of Scrooge.
The event was so popular, additional performances were added.

May of 2021. We are here. The future of Fringe looks bright. How will you help us shape the future?