Cover Image: Fringe World brings bold creativity to Perth’s streets, setting the tone for a summer of art and adventure. Photo Credit: Miles Noel Studio

Five years since Covid ripped the continuum of time, space and cultural connection, Fringe World has finally rebalanced its flight path for a return landing this summer.

Artrage CEO and Fringe World creative director Jo Thomas – now three years into her tenure – says the festival was knocked off course somewhat by two years of disruptive shutdowns, cancellations and restrictions after the highs of the 700-event extravaganza of 2020.

That year’s Fringe wrapped just before the pandemic struck. Border closures and other restrictions cut the 2021 and 2022 editions to about 450 shows apiece – still an impressive amount in the unprecedented, immensely challenging circumstances.

Thomas concedes the range of programming – in artforms and cultural representation – took a hit during the Covid years but she is now much happier with the scale, reach, artistic opportunities and diversity on offer for 2026.

This year, Perth summer nights are again set to sizzle from 21 January to 15 February with what Thomas says will be the most dynamic and inclusive Fringe yet. 

The inclusion of Blue Room Theatre programming, after several years absence, signals a renewed focus on uplifting local voices and diversifying art forms, she says. This year also sees Artrage curating new works at the Liberty Theatre and State Theatre Centre, providing a platform for innovative performances and emerging talent.

While talking the talk about the 607 events, 222 world premieres, 3000+ artists (54% of them from WA) and 110 venues across the city and regional WA, Thomas is encouraging audiences to walk the walk at Fringe World 2026.

Artrage is promoting Walk the Fringe to get audiences out and about by foot, bike or other self-propulsive ways of choosing their own adventure around the Fringe and its city,

“We’re really encouraging people to come together to metaphorically walk in someone else’s shoes, walk shoulder to shoulder with community, but also to be courageous and curious, to go into venues you might not have ever seen before, to find that you can walk from one venue to another venue,” Thomas says. 

“You can go into one show to another show and create your own map, your own journey through the Fringe. Whatever way you want to get around, we just want you to get around the Fringe.”

Walk the Fringe aligns with State and local government efforts to revitalise public spaces, such as revamps of James Street and the Perth Cultural Centre. The aim is not just to get people moving, but to foster community safety and cohesion – qualities that Thomas says epitomise Fringe World.

“Police in Northridge love it when Fringe is on, because the place is pumping with kids, families and everyone’s happy and safe. It changes the whole demographic and the whole nature of the public space.”

Thomas’ comments about the power of culture to cohere a community are as salient today as the media commentary when the inaugural Fringe World first overlapped Perth Festival in 2012. That year, Fringe was already in full swing when Perth Festival opened with its free public feather-show spectacle Place des Anges. Arts revellers packed the city, and police reported a notable drop in violent and anti-social crime.

It’s a case study for policymakers to consider how cultural events with diverse and engaged participants can often change a city more meaningfully than bricks-and-mortar developments. In the end, buildings without things happening in and around them are just empty shells.

Audiences spent more than $10.7 million on tickets last year, of which $8.3 million was paid to artists and venues. However, production costs have gone through the roof – nearly doubling since Covid – for a festival that installs a lot of temporary infrastructure like the Pleasure Garden. 

“We have to build a lot of that because there is not enough infrastructure here for the artists,” Thomas says. “The State Government has been investing heavily in arts infrastructure but then it’s the age-old concern of ‘we have a building, but we now have to program that building’ and we have to find a way to pay artists and pay production costs. So, there’s often a disconnect between the infrastructure and the programming – and that’s not unique to WA, that’s a national issue.

Despite Fringe World’s cultural impact, challenges remain – particularly around funding despite the impressive return on public investment. “For every dollar invested in Fringe from State Government, $29 is returned,” Thomas says. Yet, the benefits of wellbeing, belonging and social cohesion are equally vital, but somewhat harder to grasp. 

“I think more broadly, as I advocate for the arts, there’s this negative connotation around artists begging for money or being given public funds when the value of investment in the arts is still not clearly understood.”

Despite high box-office returns and stronger State support, especially through Lotterywest and Tourism WA, a healthier mix of public and private support is essential in sustaining Fringe World’s future.

Artrage has begun a targeted fundraising campaign to support artists through the WA Stars initiative to help discover, develop and launch WA’s next generation of artists through the Fringe. Other pathways for donors to support artists include the Next Act Fund, with grants to support artists telling Australian stories in new ways. 

The Fringe Fund philanthropic arm also continues to grow, albeit slowly, reflecting broader challenges in cultivating a culture of giving in WA. Thomas concedes philanthropy is coming from a low base – just $155,000 in donations from a total Artrage revenue of $20.66 million in 2024-25 – after fundraising efforts took a hit from Covid.

 “It’s a slow burn but we are working really hard on it,” she says. 

Fringe also is once again setting up shop for artists to peddle their wares to audiences throughout the metro area, and down to Mandurah and Busselton. 

Just a handful of likely highlights from the 2026 program include: The beautiful chaos of the Japanese circus show Gasha (Ice Cream Factory); the WA premiere of Michelle Pearson’s award-winning comedy cabaret Skinny (Liberty Theatre); Hayley Perrin’s outback drama Bush Chook in the Blue Room’s Summer Nights program; and outrageous glitz of The Lady Boys of Bangkok in the Aurora Spiegeltent at The Pleasure Garden.

“Fringe is a great gateway drug to the arts,” Thomas says. “Our average ticket price is still only $35 so you might not love everything you see, but you will begin to understand the great diversity of offerings. 

“We have 607 shows and it is the largest one since 2020. That to me shows the confidence that we’re back post-Covid. I like to emphasise the diversification of offerings. There are 222 new works in this festival. So, when people say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen it all, I’ve seen it before’, you haven’t. There are new works, there are new artists, there are new art forms. There are art forms we don’t even really know the name of.”

Fringe World runs 21 January to 14 February. More details:
fringeworld.com.au

You can read the Artrage 2024-25 Impact Report here: 
artrage.com.au/our-impact