For Artists

Melbourne Fringe democratises the arts.

Our vision is cultural democracy – empowering anyone to realise their right to creative expression. We support the development and presentation of artworks by, with and for Melbourne’s citizens, by running the annual Melbourne Fringe Festival, the year-round venue Common Rooms at Trades Hall, and a range of arts sector leadership programs. We believe that access to the arts and creative expression are fundamental rights of our humanity, and are vital to a creative, cohesive, optimistic and empathetic society.

Melbourne Fringe is the place to go for pure, unadulterated, un-curated and unexpected artistic discovery. We help artists develop and provide a platform for a vast, diverse range of voices, in celebration of the idea that when we come together, we create a safe space for risk taking. We find ideas from the margins and shout them to the world. We’re here to challenge perceptions and shake up the hierarchy, to be brave and unafraid and to explore the boundaries of art.

The 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival will take place from Tuesday 29th September to Sunday 18th October 2025.

This one is easy. The answer is yes! Anyone can be part of Fringe. We’re a proudly inclusive, open access Festival made by the great people of Melbourne – and their interstate and international friends as well. We’re all about variety, whichever form that comes in. Arts focused or not, we welcome events of all kinds. Our Festival embodies freedom of expression - at its loudest. So if you have something to say, here’s the place to say it.

As an Open Access festival, it means anyone can be a part of Fringe, and all work is presented by the artists or their independent producers. Melbourne Fringe Festival provides a thorough framework to support the presentation of their events, but we do not “buy in” (i.e. provide artist guarantees) for individual shows – any monetary support we can offer is done through our grant programs.

This one is entirely up to you.

Putting on a show at any Fringe festival is always a risk. It can be a deeply beneficial experience in terms of community building, networking, audience growth and artistic development, but it is one that takes a lot of time, effort and possibly financial investment. We hope that the risk is worth it, but that decision is ultimately up to you.

Here’s our handy resource that will help you decide if Melbourne Fringe is right for you.

Is Melbourne Fringe right for me?

This year, applications for the Festival Hub will open prior to event registrations opening.

We're opening the expressions of interest for the Festival Hubs earlier this year to give our artists and independent venues more time between Hub outcomes and the registration period. We're hoping this means artists can respond to independent venue offers with more certainty, instead of trying to balance waiting for their Hub result and being offered a spot elsewhere.

• Festival Hub EOIs will open on 17th March and close on the 2nd April
• All Fringe event registrations will open on 16th April
• All event registrations will close on 22nd May

In order to participate in Fringe you will need to register an event. Good news! You can register for the Fringe without needing a venue first!

There are four ways you can get involved:

1. Be part of a Fringe Programmed Venue like Festival Hub

Each year Melbourne Fringe programs and manages a variety of Fringe Programmed Venues across Festival Hub at Trades Hall, and Meat Market in North Melbourne. Apply to be part of the curated program at one of our venues. Expressions of Interest for the Fringe Programmed Venues will close on 2nd April.

1. Be part of an established venue

Apply to be part of one of the many curated programs hosted at established venues right across Melbourne. Different venues have different flavours – they’ll all have separate EOI forms and due dates, so you’ll need to apply directly to them. We have a directory of independent venues that are actively looking for Fringe shows and accepting expressions of interest right now.

Check out that list right here!

1. DIY Show, BYO venue

Go your own way, do your own thing, present wherever you like. Your lounge room, the kebab shop, a tram. (Maybe check with us before you pick ‘tram’). Details need to be confirmed by the registration closing date.

1. Digital Fringe

If your event happens online, and your audience experience it from home, you can register a digital event.

You don’t need to have a venue secured in order to register an event with Melbourne Fringe! You DO need a venue to finalise your event, by May 22nd. 

Absolutely. You can call or email our participant services team on (03) 9660 9600 or [email protected] and we will do everything we can to find the perfect home for your idea.

You can also check out our 2026 Independent Venues EOIs page for a list of venues that are on the hunt for events. (Please note this list will be updated for 2026 by 1 April)

Please remember your venue must be confirmed in order to complete your registration application on Eventotron.

To apply to have your event in a Fringe Programmed Venue, like Festival Hub or Meat Market, you will need to complete a separate Expression of Interest form. 

Find out more about Fringe Programmed Venues

A full list of what your Registration Fee covers can be seen here, but here’s a brief overview:

Marketing

• A dedicated listing on the Melbourne Fringe website
• Discounts on advertising
• Access to programs that help sell tickets and increase your database including Fringe Membership and our Flash Sale
• Access to our Media Contacts List

Professional Development

• Access to a wide range of artist resources and information sessions
• Access to our Artist Development programs
• Touring opportunities through our Tour Ready program
• Awards opportunities
• Ongoing support and advice from Fringe staff

Administration

• All your phone and online ticket sales managed by Melbourne Fringe
• Tickets sold to your event from our box offices at the Festival Hub and Fed Square

Bonus benefits

• Invitation to special Fringe events, including the Festival Launch and Artist Parties
• The coveted Artist Pass (granting you access to hundreds of Festival shows for free and entry to Club Fringe)

You can hop online and register your event using our registration system Eventotron. In order to register, you will be required to provide us with a range of information, including:

• Event Title
• A short blurb describing your event
• A great image– we’ll use this on our website
• Your venue
• Dates and times of performances, or exhibition opening hours
• Ticket prices (if applicable)

Your participation fee is calculated using two figures:

1. The Event Listing amount, a fixed fee which covers a portion of the registration, proofing, printing, and website and ticket build costs; plus
2. a “per-ticket” variable amount, paid only when you sell a ticket and scaled based on price, which covers a portion of the broader overhead costs of promoting and running the Festival.

1. The Event Listing Amount

This set amount will be $465 total for most events in the Festival, but some events with less opportunity to recover costs through ticket sales (e.g. free events, one-on-one shows, short seasons in small venues, etc) will have a subsidised rate. To calculate this first figure, refer to the following table based on the total number of paid tickets available to sell across your full season:

The deposit must be paid in Eventotron to finalise your registration by the due date (22 May), and the remaining Event Listing Participation fee is deducted from your ticket settlement before it is paid to your account in November after the Festival.

Early Bird Discount: Get $50-off your deposit by finalising your registration before 11:59pm Thursday 30 April. This is automatically applied in Eventotron and your event is not finalised until paid.

2. The Per-Ticket Amount

In addition to the Event Listing Amount, your Participation Fee will have a variable Per-Ticket Amount calculated at the end of your season. This fee was previously known as an ‘Inside Fee’ but is now your Per-Ticket Participation Fee. This is based on the price of each ticket sold:

The per-ticket amount applies to all tickets sold, regardless of whether they were sold through the Fringe ticket system, on the door, or directly by your venue – it is not a ticketing fee, but a contribution to the costs of running the Festival, calculated in-line with your ability to contribute.

So, if you require $25 from your ticket for your budgeted sales income, your advertised ticket price should be $28.25 ($25 to you and $3.25 per ticket fee to Melbourne Fringe). The prices you nominate during registrations, and advertise to the general public, must include the inside charge.

Complimentary Tickets

You can issue complimentary tickets up to 10% of your total capacity without charge (eg. 200 tickets total on sale = 20 comps) with additional comps beyond this having a charge of $0.30 per ticket.

That’s it! Nothing else to pay.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: [email protected]

Yes! As all Festival events are self-produced, you will need to make your own visa arrangements. We recommend that you seek out the most up-to-date government advice from the Australian Government and Victorian Government about international travel to Australia before making your decision.