Newcastle Fringe Festival, Australia’s biggest little fringe is celebrating its ten-year anniversary in 2025 and is opening its annual artist callout from August 12 until September 30.
The festival has grown from strength to strength from its humble beginnings with over 9,400 people attending the festival in March 2024 and 499 individual artists earning a record $125,000+.
Newcastle Fringe is an open access festival, that aims to deliver art for its own sake and is committed to giving emerging artists a professional platform in which to produce their work and acquire experience and knowledge to take their performances further. It welcomes artists from the Hunter, Australia and the world to give audiences a greater diversity in entertainment and shine a spotlight on Newcastle.
“To remain economically viable for participating artists, the size of the festival in 2025 will be maintained at a similar level to that of the 2024 festival,” said Newcastle Fringe Chair Brooke Twyford. “We enjoy a reputation for higher average artist earnings and audience numbers than most fringe festivals around the world and in order to maintain a personal approach, maximum audience numbers and work within the bounds of volunteer resources and venue capacity, the festival will be capped to 200 shows for the first time in 2025.”
Artists be warned, it will be ‘first in best dressed’ across all genres including comedy, cabaret, burlesque, theatre, dance, music, kids’ shows and even choirs. Artist applications will close once that 200 show cap has been reached.
Artist fees apply upon registration. These fees go toward the costs of venue, tech and marketing. Artists determine their own ticket price from a minimum of $10 with a recommendation in the $20 to $35 range and receive 75% of box office takings which is higher than other fringe festivals. Details can be found at www.newcastlefringe.com.au
Newcastle is gaining a reputation as a cultural hub and Newcastle Fringe has played a significant role in that development. Aside from that, it’s a fun, vibrant festival, enjoyed by artists just as much as the diverse audiences. Don’t miss out on participating in the 10th anniversary year of Newcastle Fringe – and save the dates – 20 to 30 March 2025!
