FOUR MINIMUM CRITERIA REQUIRED FOR MEMBERSHIP IN CAFF...

ONE.
Participants will be selected on a non-juried basis, through a first-come, first-served process, a lottery, or other method approved by the Association.

TWO.
The audience must have the option to pay a ticket price, 100% of which goes directly to the artists (government taxes notwithstanding). The Atlantic Fringe and the Vancouver Fringe are included in the Association because their blanket surcharge policies (which are in exception to this clause) were established before the Association was founded.

THREE.
Fringe Festival producers have no control over the artistic content of each performance. The artistic freedom of the participants is unrestrained.

FOUR.
Festivals must provide an easily accessible opportunity for all audiences and all artists to participate in Fringe Festivals.

THE FRINGE MOVEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA

The first Fringe in Canada was established in Edmonton in 1982. The festival adapted the formula created by the Edinburgh Fringe Festival over 50 years ago, embracing the mandate to provide all artists, emerging and established, with the opportunity to produce their play no matter the content, form or style, and to make the event as affordable and accessible as possible for the members of the community.

The Edmonton Fringe aimed to have a wide variety of artists participate while empowering audiences with the ability to decide for themselves the truly great productions from the good, the bad and the gloriously disastrous. Performances ranged from the classics to new works and sketch comedies to dance. Audiences embraced this eclectic mix of theatre productions and attendance grew wildly. The tremendous success and growth of The Edmonton Fringe Festival soon led to the creation of Fringe Festivals right across Canada and the United States . Each festival has its own unique and distinctive flavor yet all are dedicated to the Fringe philosophy of accessible, inexpensive and fun theatre-going.

There are now twenty-three members of The Canadian Association of Fringe® Festivals (CAFF). Canada now enjoys more Fringe Festivals than any other country in the world and each Festival is a leader in the development of theatre artists and audiences in their community.

The first Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival took place in 1989 with 4 venues and 40 productions. The festival has grown to become Toronto 's largest theatre festival, and the third largest Fringe in Canada . In 2005, the Toronto Fringe featured eleven venues and more than 130 theatre companies from Ontario , across Canada and around the world. Ticketed attendance surpasses 46,000. Over the years, many Fringe artists have gone on to become senior members of the Toronto and national theatre communities. Many of these artists continue to return from year to year to participate in the Fringe.

The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) is the national association of 23 theatre festivals held across Canada and the US . CAFF members share the vision of creating the opportunity for both emerging and established artists to produce their work with artistic freedom, and of engaging members of the community by making productions as affordable and accessible as possible.  CAFF members abide by four guiding principles:

• Participation in the Festival is determined by a non-juried process;
• Participants receive 100% of the ticketed box office receipts for their performances;
• Fringe Festival producers have no control over the artistic content of performances;
• Fringes should provide accessible opportunities for audiences and artists to participate

THE NORTH AMERICAN FRINGE CIRCUIT

While there is tremendous satisfaction in spending time performing on the North American Fringe Festival circuit – doing the work you want to do, seeing and being seen by other artists from all over the world, experiencing the Fringe environment from coast to coast – we also recognize that doing the circuit is difficult.

In order to make it just a little easier for you, the members of CAFF have gotten together to offer a one-stop application form for touring artists. You will still have to complete different information forms later for each festival if you are selected, but this opportunity will give you 8-10 months advance notice that you are (or aren't) confirmed in each of the participating festivals you want to participate in. In order to be eligible to apply in this touring category, you must participate in no fewer than five member festivals between April and October.

for more information on CAFF check out the official CAFF website www.fringefestivals.com