Minnesota Fringe

Help Minnesota Fringe write our next act!

In 2026, Minnesota Fringe welcomed audiences to 540 performances of 104 different shows, filling more than 25,000 seats. Following the Festival, we announced that Executive Director Dawn Bentley would be stepping down after a decade of incredible achievements. 

With a search for a new Executive Director underway, we are preparing for their entrance, and we need your help to write the next act!

Our Challenge: Operating costs continue to increase every year. But we are determined to pass on as little of that as possible to artists and audiences. Ticket prices have remained low, producer fees are still lean, and we’d love to keep it that way. 

This is where you come in. Our goal for this Give to the Max Day is to keep the Festival affordable for artists and audiences. Your gift—of any amount—will protect Minnesota's most welcoming launchpad for artists to create new work, and for audiences to encounter their favorite new artists. More adventurous art, more wild ideas, more experiences you'll be talking about for years.

GTMD Bonus: Give $100+, Relive the Magic

Give $100 or more and we'll provide access to the Home for Fringemas series, a collection of videos from past Minnesota Fringe Festival shows and the perfect addition to the holiday season. Featured videos include over two dozen shows from the 2026 Fringe Festival, recent Five Fifths performances, and select shows from previous festivals. Get cozy and settle in to enjoy Fringe favorites! See below for the list of included shows.

Why It Matters

Since 1993, Minnesota Fringe has connected adventurous artists to adventurous audiences. Artists of every background, ability, and experience level come here to take risks, try new things, and build a livelihood doing what they love. We're a beacon for freedom of expression, and with your support, we'll step into this next chapter stronger than ever.

Save the Date!

The 34rd annual Minnesota Fringe Festival will take place August 5-15, 2027, where both new and familiar friends will gather to feel the vibrant pulse of life that is live theater and cultivate a rich performing arts community in the process. Your donation protects one of the state’s most accessible pathways for artists to produce new work and for audiences to discover it, inspiring adventurous performing arts to thrive in Minnesota.

Give today and help us keep our doors wide open to all!

Prefer to give by check? Make checks payable to "Minnesota Fringe," and send them to our office:

Minnesota Fringe
79 3th Ave NE, Suite 112
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Home for Fringemas Series:

• Hell on Wheels: The Winter Strike of 1934 (Local 574, 2026)
• Leave Room for Jesus (Hannah Wydeven, 2026)
• Machinal (Combustible Company, 2026)
• The Book of Mordor (Haute Dish Productions, 2025)
• Beanie Baby Divorce Play (Melancholics Anonymous, 2024)
• A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies (Theatre on the Rocks, 2024)
• A Swimming Lesson in a Theatre Without a Lifeguard (an alleged Theatre Company, 2023)
• A Girl Scout's Guide to Exorcism (Melancholics Anonymous, 2023)
• Desi Heart Crust (SAATH, 2022)
• Finger Lickin' Good (Special When Lit, 2022)
• Endometriosis: The Musical (Ripped Nylon Productions, 2022)

And more!

"Who We Are: Stories from the Surge" by Three Second Memory
Photo Credit: Sara Erdman"Watership Down" by Melancholics Anonymous
Photo Credit: Alex Wohlhueter

  "BE NOT AFRAID" by Third Space Theater
Photo Credit: David Suggs"I'm Afraid, I Have To Leave" by Joking Apart Theater
Photo Credit: Richard Hudson"An Earth Goddess" by Narate Keys
Photo Credit: David Suggs