Cape Town Fringe Festival

The forth annual Cape Town Fringe Festival, a local arts festival taking place from 21 September 2017 until 8 October 2017, will give the city's local and international audiences a chance to experience some of the freshest material to emerge out of the cultural mash-up that is South Africa today. Make sure to visit, there will be something on for everybody!

Back in a new format, now being held at various venues in the CBD, Langa, Khayelitsha, Delft and Athlone on 13 performance spaces in the Cape Town metropolitan area with 95 productions on the programme, there is something to please everyone: from the dramatic to classical ballet to afro-pop music, and also the Celtic folk band 'Jenny and the Jameses' comes to Cape Town.

What's on at the Fringe Festival 2017?

The Cape Town Fringe Festival runs for 18 days, from 21 September to 8 October 2017. With 95 productions to choose from - the vast majority of the artists are locals but there will be some international artists as well. There is a focus is on theatre, there is also music, dance and physical theatre, illusion and magic, musical theatre and performance art on the programme. Shows will be held at various venues in the city centre (Little Theatre, Alexander Bar, the German Club), at the V&A Waterfront and Delft (Black Box Theatre) and so many more. The 2017 edition of the Cape Town Fringe will be presented at:

• Makukhanye Art Room in Khayelitsha
• Alma Café in Rosebank
• Jolly Carp in Retreat
• Fringe Club at the German Club in Gardens
• Theatre Arts Admin Collective in Observatory
• iThemba Labantu in Philippi
• Zolani Sport and Recreation Centre in Nyanga
• Alexander Bar in Cape Town City
• Little Theatre, Arena Theatre, P4 Studio and Bindery Lab at Hiddingh Campus, Orange St, City
• Black Box Theatre in Delft South
• AFDA in Observatory

From 5 - 8 October the second International Buskers' Festival will take place at various venues at the V&A Waterfront.

"We are focusing on building a ‘Cape Town Fringe circuit’,” explains Festival CEO Tony Lancaster. “We’ve been going for three years and the Cape Town Fringe has made its mark on the City’s arts calendar. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved. Thousands of performers and tens of thousands of audience members have enjoyed what the Fringe has offered."

Executive Producer Ashram Johaardien says the Fringe has evolved a “hyper local” model that has given rise to new partnerships between theatre makers, producers, venues and the Cape Town Fringe.  “We’ve spent a lot of time listening to the arts community and have developed a collaborative approach to programming the Fringe that manages to keep the programme fresh and exciting while also creating opportunities to view our world through a lens of authenticity.”

More about the Cape Town Fringe Festival and the Busker's Festival

There city's top illusionists are on the Cape Town Fringe Festival bill, there's family magic and African drumming and music events and street-theatre element with the Cape Town Buskers' Festival which will take place during the last days of the Fringe Festival in October. This year's Buskers' Festival’s will be presented on five stages at the Amphitheatre, Nobel Square, NSRI tree, Silo district and the Clocktower.

Cape Town Buskers Festival CEO Tony Lankester says, "In many respects busking is the original crowdfunding. It’s also one of the oldest forms of theatre but, in South Africa, it’s not always accorded the same respect as other performance arts. We will be bringing out some international acts to add variety to the programme but our local street performers will certainly dominate and will hold their own with the crowds."

So make sure to head the V&A Waterfront from 5 - 8 October 2017 to experience the fantastic spectacle the whole family will enjoy. Read more about the Cape Town Buskers' Festival here.

Enjoy the Fringe Festival in Cape Town

The wide variety of performances of the Cape Town Fringe Festival will take place every day between 13:00h and 22:00h at various venues. Discounts and special offers are also available this year. These include again the popular specials:

• 'Buy one get one free' Tickets: Buy two tickets to a selected performance and you will only be charged for one full price ticket.
• Concessions: Students, learners and pensioners are entitled to discounted tickets for certain productions.
• Group discounts will automatically be applied on any booking of 10 tickets for a single performance or more – whether booked online or in person. Special school discounts are available too.
• Get 5% off: Order a pizza from Butlers and get a free programme and a discount code for the 5%-ticket-discount

More info on the Cape Town Fringe Festival in September/October 2017

Programme: Printed copies of the Cape Town Fringe 2017 programme can be found at selected branches of Exclusive Books and Standard Bank in Cape Town, as well as at Cape Town Tourism outlets, City of Cape Town offices and coffee shops and cafes around the city. Or browse the programme online here

Bookings/Tickets: Tickets are from R40 but several free shows and performances also. Bookings and secure ticket sales: on the website or call the Box Office Call Centre: 0860 002 004 

Please use the hashtags #CTFringe or follow @CTFringe or join capetownfringe on Facebook. Source: Rabbit in a Hat

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