Montreal Fringe Festival
June 7 - 17 2007, various venues
Hot on the heels of my little Grand Prix preview, here's a quick note on Montreal's "wackiest" festival. I'm talking, of course, about the St Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival .
About 100 different shows, varying from modern dance to standup comedy, stopping off at the undescribably bizarre along the way. This festival is "un-curated". This means that rather than proposing a show via press kit and video (for example), artists are chosen by lottery.
As such, there is no quality control whatsoever. This means that this is a chance to see acts who wouldn't be given an opportunity at more commercial festivals. This also means that some of the shows probably really stink.
Your best bet is to head over to Fringe Central, Parc des Ameriques, on the corner of Rachel and St Laurent, get a program and read through the show descriptions. Your best sources of advice on which show to pick are the many fringe volunteers (usually identifiable by their t-shirts) running around doing "volunteer things". They tend to know the buzz about what the shows are like and can offer suggestions depending on what interests you.
Another perk is that all week long, free concerts are held in Parc des Ameriques. This is a good chance to see some of Montreal's indy-rockers showing their stuff.
Happy Fringing!
Theo OUT
