What is a fringe festival?
Noun - An open access arts festival. Open access means that anyone who wants to perform, can perform, regardless of fame or talent.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The biggest and best
Adelaide Fringe Festival & Edmonton Fringe Festival: Both have claimed to be the second biggest fringe. Anyone want to visit Australia or Canada?
San Francisco Fringe*: The most popular US fringe that's actually a fringe, but not as big as...
NYC Fringe: Which is curated, that is, not open access, so not technically a fringe.
Hollywood Fringe Festival:New, but growing rapidly. Check out anything by Antonio Sacre.
*The San Francisco Fringe is run by lottery. The advantage: Anyone can perform. Disadvantage: But only if they're lucky.
NEAT FACT: Canada is much better at organizing Fringe Fests which is why the SF Fringe Fest is part of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF).