Club Fringe Commissions

What are Club Fringe Commissions?

Club Fringe is the late-night stomping ground of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Held in Fringe Common Rooms at Festival Hub: Trades Hall, Club Fringe is where wildly original, high-concept events bring the festival community together every Friday and Saturday night. Now we're inviting Victorian artists to pitch their own Club Fringe event for 2026. If successful, you'll receive $3,000 in cash, free venue hire with tech and bar included, and 100% of ticket profits. We're looking for something genuinely unique — not just a great party, but something that could only happen at Fringe. 

Please download and read the Info Packs below.

About the Opportunity

For over a decade, Melbourne Fringe has been building a community gathering space at the Hub by programming great Club Fringe events on key nights. Over the past few years, we've opened the door and invited Fringe artists to run their own Club Fringe events as part of the Festival, with some funding assistance from us, of course.

From electrifying parties to ground-breaking performances, these unforgettable late-night events have brought late nights at Festival Hub: Trades Hall to life. Now we're on the lookout for even more wildly original and avant-garde ideas for 2026. Whether it's a high-concept art party or a slick dancefloor-filling event, we want to hear from you.

Club Fringe is the physical manifestation of everything Melbourne Fringe stands for: a welcoming, inclusive, brave, creative, celebratory space where surprising things happen and everyone is celebrated for their individuality. It's uniquely Fringe: high-concept themes, self-expression, wild costumes, weird performances that could never happen anywhere else, and participatory experiences you'll be recalling for years.

We can't wait to see what ideas you've got up your sleeves.

What You Receive

If successful, you will receive:

•    $3,000 cash from the Fringe Fund to produce, present and market your Club Fringe event.
•    Free venue hire in Common Rooms, inclusive of a single technician running lights and sound, front of house staff, security, ticketing, and bar.
•    100% of ticket profits from the 100 tickets available for pre-sale, and any door sales on the night. Passholders (and guests) receive free entry but must pay if they want to pre-book. Fringe may paper events on the day if pre-sales are low, and all entry after midnight is free.
•    Promotion as part of the Club Fringe program.
•    Access to additional budget to assist with audience access services (subject to availability).

What's Not Included

The $3,000 does not cover everything. You will need to budget separately for:

•    Melbourne Fringe Festival participation fees, insurance, and any other costs associated with producing your event.
•    Marketing and promotion costs needed to supplement Melbourne Fringe's promotional activities.
•    All other presentation costs such as artist fees, support staff, stage management, and any technical staff beyond the room technician (for example, if you need AV or a specialised audio engineer).

Eligibility

•    This opportunity is for artists based in Victoria
•    It must be a new Club Fringe idea premiering during the 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival
•    The event must take place from 10pm till late on one of the following dates: 
Friday 2 October
Saturday 3 October
Friday 9 October
Saturday 10 October
Friday 16 October
Saturday 17 October

You'll have the opportunity to indicate which dates work for you as part of your application.

What is Club Fringe?

Club Fringe is the late-night stomping ground of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, running in Fringe Common Rooms at Festival Hub: Trades Hall on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the Festival, starting at 10pm and generally finishing after 1am (the venue is licensed until 3am).

Melbourne Fringe audiences are up for anything. Nothing shocks us. We want to be constantly surprised, inspired, and delighted, and we want to participate. The best Club Fringe nights have at least one big moment where everyone sings together, dances together, or bounces a giant beach ball while singing We Are The World. We want people to know they have to be there because a Club Fringe event is a one-off. They are never, ever repeated.

Club Fringe is not a showcase of excerpts from Festival shows. That happens at other festivals, but Melbourne Fringe is higher concept than that. Performers — from this year's festival, from past Fringe Festivals, and from Melbourne's independent arts scenes more broadly — respond to themes with bite-sized bits of their artistic practice. Sometimes performers create short pieces especially for the event. Each night should feel completely unique.

One more thing: we pay for the Club predominantly via bar sales. So it's important to design a night with the right vibes: one that allows breaks for people to get a drink, (we have a fabulous selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic bevvies). Otherwise people won't have fun, and Fringe will go broke. Neither are outcomes we want.

What Makes a Great Club Fringe Event?

Here's what we've learned over many years of programming Club Fringe. These aren't hard rules — we break them for very good reasons sometimes — but they're our starting point when assessing applications.

The Vibe

•    Club Fringe is an arty party, not a show. Don't try to create a narrative work with dialogue, talking just doesn't work in a club context. People are talking to each other, getting a drink, arriving late, leaving early. Celebrate this context rather than competing with it.
•    Assume people are holding a drink while watching the stage, and that they may not be giving you their full attention.
•    Silence is never the right vibe. If people sit down on the floor to quietly watch your act, you've got it wrong. This is a party.
•    Singing works extremely well.
•    Club Fringe attendees have seen a lot of drag. If there's going to be drag, it needs to be interesting and subversive.
•    Like the best three-minute pop songs, always leave people wanting more.
•    We love a big finale.

Programming and TIming

•    Performances should start before 10:30pm, even if the room isn't yet full. Having performances happening makes the room feel great and encourages more people to join.
•    Don't go more than half an hour without a break.
•    Staged performances should be finished by midnight. After midnight, people just want to dance. Short pop-up acts can work well as surprises after midnight, but when the clock strikes twelve, it's DJ dancefloor time.
•    Do the maths: if you start around 10:30pm and finish by midnight, with no more than 30-minute sets and decent breaks in between, you've got about 45–60 minutes of programming in that window. Plan accordingly.
•    DJs should play fun, danceable, popular music. Even if the theme of the event is experimental — trust us, people just want to dance to fun songs.

Use the Whole Space

Things happening in places other than the stage work extremely well: pop-up acts in the middle of the floor or on a floating stage, roving performances through the crowd, an entrance from the back of the room, an installation or performer in the lounge. We want people to feel like they can come and go at any time without being rude (and also be engrossed by amazing art).

Diversity is Non-negotiable

Programming must be in line with Melbourne Fringe's values. Diversity is not optional.

Special consideration: accessible Club nights

Special consideration will be given to applications proposing uniquely accessible options. After the success of our low sensory Club Night Hygge in 2025, we warmly welcome pitches that reach outside of standard club night conventions in the name of access.

Which Night Should I Apply For?

Different nights suit different kinds of events. Here's a guide:

Week 1 — Friday 2 & Saturday 3 October

Opening nights are programmed with killer concepts that have strong general appeal — ideas that will kick off Fringe with a bang and have an easy, marketable pitch. These events will be Parties with a capital P. They'll still be unique and art-driven, with roving performances or carefully curated stage programming that engages the audience without drawing away from the dancefloor fun.

Week 2 — Friday 9 & Saturday 10 October

The middle week is best suited to high-concept, highly unique, and deeply Fringe club nights. This has historically been the week where the most artists are out for a party, and where our programming team is most confident taking a chance on something odd and beautiful. Pitch us something we've never considered before.

Week 3 — Friday 16 & Saturday 17 October

By the final week, artists are often exhausted and waiting to have a big night for the closing party on the Sunday. This is the week to apply for if you're confident you can bring a really strong audience from the general public or through your own existing following.

We are open to pitches outside of these formats. These guidelines are here to help your application meet our assessment criteria more directly, not to limit what's possible.

What We're Looking For

In selecting successful projects we consider two criteria:

Concept

Does your project put forward exciting ideas and creative thinking? Is it something new that we might not have funded before? Does it add something unique to what's currently being presented in Melbourne? We're not just looking for a great party night — Melbourne has plenty of those. We're looking for something that is specific to the Club Fringe program of events.

Capacity

Do you have the skills and the team to present what you want to achieve? Will you be able to deliver a high-quality outcome? Are you aiming for best practice accessibility and inclusivity? Do you have an existing audience who will be keen to attend?

How to Apply

Complete the EOI form on Airtable. No account needed. You'll be asked six required questions and two optional questions about yourself, your past work, and your idea. Successful applicants will be contacted by email to discuss their programming needs and proceed to event registration.

Your application will ask you to:
•    Describe your idea and the audience's experience from arrival to when the lights go on at the end of the night (approx. 300 words)
•    Tell us about your team — DJs, performers, and whether they're confirmed or proposed (approx. 250 words)
•    Tell us about your previous experience and past work (approx. 250 words)
•    Explain what's exciting and unique about your idea and why it's suited to Club Fringe specifically (approx. 350 words)
•    Break down how you'd use the $3,000 to program and market a successful Club Fringe event (approx. 250 words)
•    Select which nights you're available for: Friday 2 Oct, Saturday 3 Oct, Friday 9 Oct, Saturday 10 Oct, Friday 16 Oct, Saturday 17 Oct
•    Anything else you want to tell us (optional, approx. 250 words)
•    Any access requirements for us to be aware of (optional, approx. 250 words)

Applications for 2026 have closed.

Need to Apply in a Different Format?

If using Airtable forms isn’t accessible for you, please get in touch. We are keen to understand how to best accommodate your access needs. We can accept applications in a variety of formats, including text documents, video and audio files. We are also happy to work with you on other accessible application processes. We have a great team to support access, so please email [email protected] to start a conversation.  You can also call the Melbourne Fringe office by phone. The Melbourne Fringe phone number is (03) 9660 9600 (available Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm). 

We are open to your ideas around process. However, we cannot change the timeframes unfortunately – you’ll still need to get your proposal in by 11:59pm, Thursday 23 April.

Questions and Enquiries

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us. You can reach our Artist Services team at [email protected] 
Do you have questions about access or applications in other formats? You can reach our access team at [email protected] 
Alternatively, for all queries you are welcome to phone our office. The Melbourne Fringe phone number is (03) 9660 9600 (available Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm).
You may contact us through the National Relay Service, and the link is available if you click on this sentence. Alternatively, you could download Deaf-owned Relay Service Convo.