Ahh Melbourne Fringe Festival (MFF), we love you so. Fringe is the festival where all the city’s most deliciously weird art finds a welcoming home and an enraptured audience, and this year’s event promises to be more curiously charming than ever.
This year’s theme is ‘Eat Your Art Out’, because the program focuses on the messy yet moreish intersection between food and art. After all, in divided times, what brings the community together better than a fringey feast?
A barbecue pavilion will pop up in Fed Square, the Wheeler Centre will fascinate you with saucy storytelling, and a special edition of Melbourne Museum’s Nocturnal will give you food for thought. But that’s just the beginning.
With more than 470 performances, talks and events to imbibe, we’ve put together the key facts you need to know about the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2024 program. Plus, stay tuned for detailed guides to the best theatre, comedy, free events, weirdest events and more, closer to the festival opening.
What is Melbourne Fringe?
Running since 1982, the Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival that aims to raise public awareness of alternative arts in Melbourne. For 42 years, MFF has platformed and celebrated an eclectic mix of theatre, comedy, music, performance art, design, cabaret, circus and digital art. Essentially, it’s the place for all the unorthodox stuff that sits pretty on the fringe of the art world. Thanks to the food theme, this year’s festival bills itself as a ‘cornucopia of delights’ – are we getting the vibe yet?
When is Melbourne Fringe?
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2024 is happening from October 1 until October 20, 2024.
What are the Melbourne Fringe program highlights?
With more than 470 events planned, there are heaps of shows to see. From the free to the family-friendly, the community-minded to the crass, we really mean it when we say there’s something for everyone.
Public dining meets performance for the Cooked series at Fed Square, with culinary mavericks Long Prawn running the pass. Rock up and grill some food on the real, working barbecue, while artists turn up the heat with conversations and pop-up performances.
The Fringe Flavours Night Market will take over the Queen Victoria Market for five weeks, with performers spread throughout the iconic sheds.
Mini program-within-a-program Pulse prioritises ‘bold and urgent’ works, including Body of Knowledge, where teenagers call into the theatre on mobile phones to discuss age and change.
Elsewhere, the Fringe Focus Taiwan program will once again spotlight Taiwanese artists (including a rib-tickling yet sexy work called Tomato), while Radical Access will make accessibility the priority. Over at Trades Hall, the Festival Hub will host more than 100 events, including the buzzing late-night Festival Club.
This is a mere sample of what you can expect from MFF 2024. The full program is now live on the website here, and Time Out Melbourne will publish extensive guides in the lead-up to the festival.
Where does Melbourne Fringe happen?
The festival spreads out across Melbourne, including the CBD and suburbs.
How much are tickets for the Melbourne Fringe?
All events are ticketed individually and have varying prices, and you can buy them on the MFF website here. There is a flexible pricing policy where you can choose between paying a little less, full price or a little extra should you want to.
There are also heaps of quality free events in the program. Check them out here.
View the entire enormous program, squiz the session details and lock in your tickets on the Melbourne Fringe website.
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