The Rochester Fringe Festival will return for its 15th season, September 15-26 in downtown Rochester.
Over 12 action-packed days of music, comedy, dance, theater, circus arts and film planned across the city. The festival, New York state’s largest multidisciplinary performing arts event, will feature 715 performances across 45 venues.
The Circus Is In Town
Among this year’s highlights is the debut of Circus in the City, a new “festival within a festival” that brings free outdoor circus performances to the streets of downtown Rochester. The program will feature circus arts, street theater, interactive experiences and themed food and beverages. It also marks the first large-scale collection of outdoor circus performances in Western New York.
The meat of the main performances will take place Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday, Sept. 19.
The lineup includes “Summer Break” by Québec-based FLIP Fabrique, an internationally acclaimed contemporary circus company known for its high-energy performances and world-class acrobatics.
“The Pieces” presented by Aloft, features six artists using eight ordinary ladders to construct towers, cranes and bridges in a performance about collaboration, resilience and trust.
Vermont’s Big Teeth Collective will present “Flotsam & Jetsam,” a physical theater production featuring partner acrobatics on an outdoor swinging trapeze.
Circus EVO brings the outdoor spectacle “Lost to Me” which brings Chinese pole acrobatics with live music to familiar public spaces.
New York City-based 3AM Theatre will also showcase contemporary circus arts through hand balancing, contortion archery, acro juggling, tightwire and live music.
Inside the Spiegeltent
The Spiegeltent, the Fringe’s signature mirrored “jewel box” theater, hosts some of the festival’s most unconventional and spectacular performances. One of this year’s most unusual bookings is the Edinburgh Fringe cult hit “A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves.” The one-night-only free performance takes place Sept. 17. Seating is first-come, first-served.
The venue will also host the world premiere of “Cirque du Fringe: Anchors Away.” The production is led by returning Las Vegas performers Matt and Heidi Morgan. Set aboard a cruise ship, it combines a murder mystery with circus arts. The show features aerial acts, glass balancing, hand balancing, chair stacking, slack wire and championship jump rope.
Comedy takes the spotlight with “Marcel Lucont’s Whine List.” The interactive late-night show is built around audience complaints and past mishaps. Lucont will also present “Les Enfants Terribles,” a game show for what the festival describes as “awful children.”
The Spiegeltent will also welcome “Shotspeare!” The comedic, beer-soaked adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello features audience participation and turns the classic tragedy into a lively late-night experience.
Pete Davidson Leads Comedy Lineup
“King of Staten Island” star Pete Davidson will perform at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre for one night only. The Sept. 25 event will be a phone-free experience so no phones, smartwatches and tech accessories will be allowed inside.
The Garden Studio
Another new addition this year is The Garden Studio, a 60-seat theater added to Dawn’s Spiegelgarden. The intimate venue will give audiences a closer look at local favorites, emerging artists and several award-winning productions.
Among them is “Just to Be Close to You,” a contemporary clown show starring dreamy lounge singer Carl Poteraychke. The 10-time award winner blends character comedy, audience interaction and absurd humor into a story about longing and connection.
Jessica Creane’s “Tea Party at the End of the World” invites small groups to share loose-leaf tea, play parlor games and remain playful in the face of uncertainty. Inspired by Creane’s time in the Arctic Circle, the multisensory experience explores how people find comfort and purpose in a changing world.
Bushwhacked also returns with “Big Joy Fun Time Revival,” an interactive comedy show led by Tim and Pammy Shea Fakker. The chaotically charismatic pair will guide audiences through musical numbers, absurd testimonials and unexpected transformations.
Unexpected Stages
Several productions will be staged in unconventional venues across Rochester, including parks, forests, campers, canal trails and storefront windows.
At Mt. Hope Cemetery, “Invisible No More” honors hundreds of people once buried at a 19th-century almshouse, asylum and penitentiary. Their remains were discovered during a 1984 excavation in Highland Park before being reburied.
Meanwhile, “Forest Music” leads audiences through Washington Grove, where live musicians perform along the trails of Rochester’s only old-growth forest. Austin Steward Plaza will also host “EcoVibes – Oil and Water Don’t Mix” and “The Sights and Sounds District,” which explores the city’s lesser-known history.
“Dashboard Dramas XII” returns after selling out for 11 consecutive years. The intimate production has audiences rotate between parked cars to watch four original 10-minute plays.
Dynamic duo Bushwhacked will take the stage again, this time inside a small trailer. The pair will perform the immersive comedy “Tim and Pammy Shea’s Pamper Camper.”
The festival then closes out with “ROC’ing the Streets,” a free event that brings local artists and musicians to sidewalks, plazas and parks throughout downtown.
Family Fun
Beyond the headline performances, Fringe will also offer plenty of family-friendly programming. Kids Day returns Sept. 26 as part of the National Day of Play, with chalk art, pumpkin painting and Disco Kids at the Spiegelgarden and Parcel 5.
Street Beat will bring breakdancing and all-style dance competitions back to Martin Luther King Jr. Park, while Gospel Sunday will take over the Spiegeltent on Sept. 20.
Investing in the Future
Since launching in 2012, the Rochester Fringe Festival has welcomed nearly 1 million visitors to more than 7,000 performances. This year, nearly one-quarter of the festival’s 715 performances will be free. Organizers have worked with the Mary Cariola Center and the Center for Disability Rights to improve accessibility and inclusion across festival venues.
As the festival continues to grow, organizers are also investing in its future. So far, it’s reached 84% of its $1.575 million comprehensive campaign goal, which will help purchase a permanent Spiegeltent while supporting visiting artists, arts education and the festival’s long-term financial stability.
The complete 2026 schedule and tickets are available through the festival’s website.
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