NZ Fringe Fest gets 75 candles

NZ Fringe Fest gets 75 candles for its 20th birthday cake

Colin 'Pinetree' Meads, Bob Saget and Wolverine are coming. So are pirates, Vikings and gypsies. The Giles family? Well, they're not only coming but also hosting a dinner. And Zeus – the god, not the old pro wrestler with the bung eye – will be hanging in a Wellington café.

They're all coming to the New Zealand Fringe Festival's 20th Birthday – at least representations of them are, as part of the 75 acts confirmed this week after the deadline for registrations closed for the 2010 festival.

The longest lasting chew of a festival celebrates 20 years of living on the edge next year, kicking off February 12 for three weeks of artistic mayhem concluding on March 6. There will be theatre, music, comedy, visual arts and dance. And there will be cake, and Ben Hur's chariot race.

Theatre has the strongest showing with 38 confirmed registrations, followed by Comedy and Visual Arts categories with 10 each, music with nine, six for dance and one outdoor event. Oh, and one 'uncategorized' event, 'cos we all like a surprise at our birthday.

Some additional 'Fringe-Made' events may be confirmed at a later date, but steel yourself for the return of the Fringe Festival car-wreck of a talk show – the live Chit Chat Lounge (nearly) every night during Fringe 2010.

It was a big week for Fringe, as the recipients of the 2010 round of Kakano funding were decided upon. The Kakano Fund was established with Creative NZ and the New Zealand Fringe Festival for the development of new works by New Zealand artists participating in the Fringe.

A total of $50,198 was available for 36 successful applicants who had applied by the October 2 deadline. The highest amount given out was $2611.50 to stage a free event, and $500 was the smallest amount given out.

So it's all systems go for Fringe 2010. More than a Space Odyssey with plenty of oddities, the New Zealand Fringe Festival is set to positively stain Wellington, with 20 years experience doing just that.

Key Fringe 2010 dates
January 28: Programme Launch media event
February 12: Fringe 2010 launches
March 7: Fringe Awards and festival ends

ENDS

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