FAQ

Milano Off Fringe Festival is the first and only true fringe theatre festival in Milan. Expanding across all areas of the city, we have been bringing National and International Fringe Theatre to Milan since 2016. Through performance, dialogue, and celebration we seek to increase the Gross Domestic Happiness (F.I.L. in Italian) of the city. Read more about us in our About Us Section.

Fringe Theatre is a form of independent, non-commercial theatre which finds itself on the “fringe” of the standard theatre scene. A Festival which includes all radical, creative, and innovative types of performing arts coming together to create a comunal festival. Starting from the famous Edinburgh festival, the concept has spread around the world, particularly in anglo-saxon communities but also gaining traction in some famous cities such as Avignon (one of our main partner festivals).

There are multiple different ways to participate in the Festival. Any artist or company with a complete or developing production proposals which enter into one of this year’s Fringe Categories can participate in Milano Off Fringe. In addition, Milano Off hosts a myriad of performative, artistic and cultural events for all kinds of artists, idea experts, and general audience members at large. Basically, anyone can participate in the Fringe in some way!

The World Fringe Association defines the spirit of fringe as, “not a single pot of money coming from one place to produce a programmed event, but rather about support, development, accessibility and everyone involved, including artists, venues, audiences, and funders, investing together in a creative platform and delivering a unique & organic occasion.” As is customary with most Fringe Festivals, a participation fee is necessary to cover the administrative and organizational costs of the festival. Read more on the spirit of Fringe Festivals on the World Fringe website: http://www.worldfringe.com/what-is-a-fringe/

The Fringe is fundamentally different from other Performing Arts festivals in that it fosters a sense of community: of artists working together to create an eclectic explosion of creativity and innovation both on and offstage. In addition to the opportunity to perform in a unique venue in the city of Milan, participating artists and companies will attend speed-dates, focus panels and meet-ups in order to connect with other fellow artists and maximize potential creative opportunities. 

Milano Off is also pleased to be able to offer a number of awards to selected artists for exclusive participation agreements in national and international festivals and theatre seasons, thanks to our long-term collaborations with multiple partners across the world. Check out our award selections here.

The selection process for participation in Milano Off Fringe Festival is performed by a selection of arts industry professionals.

Congratulations! We will send you a participation agreement to sign along with participation fee payment, and then work to participate in the Fringe Festival can begin. The Fringe Festival is a collaborative effort between artists, theaters and festival staff in order to bring Fringe theatre to as wide of an audience as possible. That means that in addition to overall festival programming, theatres and artists alike will be championing their shows across the city online and in-person. Milano Off Fringe Festival strives to create a thriving cultural hub such as our sister festival Avignon Off. 

Milano Off Fringe Festival collaborates directly with all of the performance venues and assigns artists to each space based on a number of factors including size of the participating production, technical requirements, and the theater’s own artistic preferences. Unlike some Fringe Festivals, once artists are selected and pay participation fees there is no additional cost to be paid to the venue. In addition, artists keep 50% of all of their ticket sales (net copyright fees and VAT tax), with 30% going to the venues and the last 20% going towards organizational costs.