Melbourne Fringe

2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival Registrations are open now. Are you one of this year's makers, shakers, and risktakers? Register your event before 11:59pm, Thursday 30 April for an Early Bird discount. Registrations close 5pm, Friday 22 May 2026. Show us what you've got. Find more registration info on our website. ID: A person wearing glasses and a blue top signs in Auslan. Text overlaid on the image reads "2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival: Registrations Open."

The doors are open. 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival Registrations are live. Fringe isn't for everyone, but it is for anyone. Whether it's your first Festival or your 44th, this is where your work belongs. Register your event before 11:59pm, Thursday 30 April for an Early Bird discount. Registrations close 5pm, Friday 22 May 2026. Everything you need to know is in the Artist Resource Hub. 📸: @thealfalpha , @hana.fiesta , @powersopha , 2025 Media Launch, photo by @tomnoblecreative Image description in alt text

Looking for more than a stage? During the 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival, the Festival Hubs at Trades Hall and Meat Market will come alive with artist activations in the corridors, bars and in-between spaces. Think projections, installations, pop-up performances, roaming works. If it's unexpected and brings the Fringe spirit to life, we're into it. Fringe of the Hub EOIs are open now. Spots fill on a rolling basis, so get your idea in early. EOIs close 11:59pm, Friday 15 May 2026. Link in bio to apply. 📸: Festival Hub 2024, photo by @duncographic Blak Sovereignty by Off the Plantation, photo by @tomnoblecreative A Radical Nipple by Su Pin-Wen, photo by @duncographic Fringe Secrets by Aimee Raitman and Olivia Jane, photos by @nickmickpics Then, they never came back again by Art Echo Foundation, photo by @nickmickpics What I Know, How I See, photo by @will.hamiltoncoates Image descriptions in alt text

It's not too late to score some Fringe funding. Three grant opportunities for the 2026 Festival close this week: 👉 Access Fund 👉 Club Fringe Commissions 👉 Ralph Mclean Microgrants You have until 11:59pm Thursday, 23 April 2026 to apply. Find all the details on our Artist Opportunities page. 📸: Wasteworlds: Non-stop Runway Show, created by @fast_fashun_ in Collaboration with @snuffpuppets photo by @duncographic Image description in alt text

Club Fringe events have a rep for being wildly imaginative and one-of-a-kind. They're a unique blend of performance and party that get clubgoers to stay on the dancefloor 'til the DJ plays their last song. Are you behind the next legendary Club Fringe night? Find out more about Club Fringe Commissions on our website. Applications close 11:59pm, Thursday 23 April. 📸: @demon_derriere , photo by@ maxroux @truluv.club , photo by @tomnoblecreative @hrtthrob , photo by @casimaria @bonezqueerparty @stone_motherlesscold & @mora_money , photo by @carlinandcamera @dazzaandkeif , Club Fringe: Fringe-O-Vision, photo by Jack Dixon-Gunn Club Fringe: A Grand Bazaar, photo by @carlinandcamera @nastia_drag , photo by @nickmickpics @tinadeltwist , photo by @nickmickpics Image descriptions in alt text

Melbourne Fringe is on the hunt for some talented team members to help lift this year's Festival to new heights. Festival Operations Manager: A team leader with the know-how to bring big events to life. You'll lead day-to-day operations of the Festival, collaborating with producers, tech teams, and site managers to help events run smoothly. Program Manager (Deadly Fringe): An action-driven advocate for First Nation artists. You'll have the opportunity to deliver and support First Nations led work within our Curated and Open Programs, cultivating a supported, culturally-responsive environment for artists to hone their craft. This position is open only to individuals who identify as Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islanders. Ticketing Manager: A ticketing afficionado who thrives in systems and with data. You'll ensure the efficiency of our ticketing systems, manage event builds, and oversee Festival box office operations. Find the full position descriptions and application details on our website. 📸: Apricity, created by @casuscreations , photo by Jack Dixon-Gunn Image Description in alt text

We want to help you find your perfect match. Fringe Fair - Artist & Venues Speed Dating is a chance for artists and venues to meet, chat, and see if sparks fly. Whether you're an artist or producer on the hunt for a performance space, or a venue keen to connect with more artists, you're welcome to come along and find out the who, what, and where of this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival. Happening on Tuesday, 21 April from 6pm at Common Rooms, Trades Hall, Carlton. Register for free on our website. 📸: Festival Hub, photo by @tomnoblecreative Image Description in alt text

We want you to throw the hottest party Club Fringe has ever seen. Club Fringe is the late-night stomping ground of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. It's where the Fringe community comes together to celebrate the wildly original, outrageous, and unforgettable, over a boogie and a bevvie. Anyone who's been to Club Fringe before knows that (almost) nothing is off the table. We're inviting you to pitch your own Club Fringe event for the 2026 Festival. We're not talking just any old party idea, we want your wildest Club Fringe fantasy, something that could only happen in the context of Club Fringe. If successful, you’ll receive $3,000 cash to produce, present, and market your event. Applications close 11:59pm on Thursday 23 April. 📸: Club Fringe: HRTThrob, photo by @casimaria Image Description in alt text

Working on a play? Or would you like to be? The Emerging Playwrights' Lab is Melbourne Fringe's new development program for emerging Victorian writers. Three writers will receive $5,000, a one-on-one mentorship, a bespoke masterclass series, and facilitated peer exchange sessions with award-winning playwright Liv Satchell, culminating in an industry showcase during the 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival. You don't have to have written a play before. You just need an idea and a passion for writing for live performance. Applications close 11:59pm Sunday 19 April. Supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation. 📸: @luckycountrymusical , Opening Night Gala 2025, photo by @casimaria Image Description in alt text

Need a hand to make your Fringe Festival event happen? We've got ways (read: cash) to help bring your artistic vision to life.    👉 Access Fund, to support artists in embedding access in their events  👉 Ralph McLean Microgrants, to help cover participation fees or other upfront costs   Check if these grants are the right fit for you on the Artist Opportunities page of our website.    2026 Festival regos open on Thursday 16 April.    📸: @madamemarthas 2025 Opening Night Gala, photo by @casimaria @fast_fashun_ Wasteworlds: Non-stop Runway Show, photo by @duncographic   @truluv.club 2025 Awards Night, photo by @casimaria   Image Descriptions in alt text

It takes more than one kind of producer to help make a Melbourne Fringe Festival happen. Right now, we're hiring two of them. Producer (Regional & Touring): Lead our regional work, including a week-long Fringe Encore mini-festival in Ballarat. Big-picture thinking, hands-on delivery, and the chance to bring bold work into unexpected spaces beyond Melbourne. Producer (Curated Program): Support artists to realise ambitious ideas as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival's Curated Program. From First Nations programming to participatory work for children, international collaborations to experimental performance, this role spans the full breadth of our Curated Program. Bring your producing chops and your curiosity. Both roles close 11:59pm Thursday 26 March 2026. Full position descriptions on our website. 📸: Voices, 2025, @pulsing.heart photo by @tyr.xplorer Image description in alt text

On any given night during Fringe, more than 40 events are happening across our two programmed venues. Yours could be one of them. Festival Hub: Trades Hall and Meat Market are Melbourne Fringe-managed performance spaces: professionally run, subsidised for artists, and built to showcase the full breadth of independent work happening at the Festival. Festival Hub: Trades Hall is the heartbeat: late nights, Club Fringe, a building-wide licence, and some of Melbourne's most iconic rooms. Meat Market brings the spectacle, with large-capacity spaces, circus rigging in the Cobblestone Pavilion, and longer turnarounds for ensemble and high-production work. If a Fringe Programmed Venue sounds like the right home for your show, all the info you need to apply is on our website. Go on. Applications close 11:59pm Thursday 2 April 2026. 📸: @lukas.mainkeys at Festival Hub: Trades Hall, photo by @carlinandcamera | Festival Hub: Trades Hall, photo by @casimaria | Meat Market, photo by @carlinandcamera Image Descriptions in alt text