Seasonal Staff Get Geared Up For 2009 Fringe

Executive Director David Jordan and Festival Manager Isabella Kessel have been busy planning this years’ Fringe since 2008, processing artists’ applications, writing grant applications and setting up a new website, among other jobs, and are proud to introduce their new staff. This year is extra special since it marks the Vancouver International Fringe Festival’s 25th Anniversary, making the seasonal staff especially delighted to start planning, organizing and doing everything it takes to put 11 days of un-juried, unhindered performances together.

Eduardo Ottoni – Production Manager – Eduardo is a musician who likes to garden, BBQ and have a few drinks with friends. He’s the Production Manager for more than a few festivals around town and is turning into a veritable festival slut.

Andrea Fraser-Winsby – Artist Coordinator – Andrea has been having a passionate on-again-off-again affair with the Fringe since she moved to Vancouver in 2002. She’s incredibly excited to settle down with the Fringe and get serious about their relationship. In her spare time, she plays roller derby with the Terminal City Rollergirls and spends as much time as possible with her dreamy new husband.

Pamela Casserly Reynolds – Events Coordinator – Pamela is a music maker and arts community supporter who is happily sharing her love of “wild and wonderful” with this year’s Fringe.

Gareth Duncan – Fundraising Coordinator – Gareth’s early experiences with theatre left him awed and have inspired him on every level. He currently serves on the board of Theatre Conspiracy, a local theatre production company. He’s excited to help the Fringe, its artists, and above all, its fantastic audience to explore breathtaking new heights and plumb intriguing new depths.

Debby Reis – Communications Coordinator – Debby likes to keep her fingers in multiple pies. She blogs for Geist Magazine, is the Production Manager at Discorder Magazine and freelances for other Vancouver publications. She’s looking forward to making sure everyone knows about the fun they can have at the Fringe this September.

Callan Davey – Marketing and Sponsorship Assistant – Callan’s a wide-eyed Prairie girl who moved to Vancouver in search of inspiring West Coast nature adventures. What she gained was an unfounded fear of the Skytrain and a serious addiction to crunchy peanut butter. It’s her love of the Fringe though that keeps her head above water and her feet off moving trains.

The Fringe’s First 25 Years

The Vancouver Fringe Festival’s founder, Joanna Maratta, had never even heard of “Fringe” before an application for the Edmonton Fringe Festival arrived at the First Vancouver TheatreSpace Society’s (FVTS) office.

After starting in 1983, the FVTS quickly established itself as a centre for Vancouver’s theatre community. But they felt they could do more and the application for the Edmonton Fringe inspired Joanna to start a Fringe Festival here. Soon after, the incredibly supportive Brian Paisley, founder of the Edmonton Fringe Festival, came out to Vancouver and walked through the proposed festival grounds.

In 1985, the first annual Vancouver Fringe Festival was held in the Mount Pleasant community. The 220 performances were held in seven venues with 4,000 people in attendance—and only 25 volunteers helping out!

“Main Street really did represent all of our learning and growth. And it was a neighbourhood festival,” Joanna remarks. Despite it’s strong beginning, having two main roads (Main Street and Kingsway) running through the centre of the Festival put a damper on things. So in 1995 the Festival moved to Commercial Drive.

The years on Commercial Drive introduced the Fringe to new features like Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV). There were also parades, children’s activities, pay by “pass the hat” shows, a craft tent and Drag Bingo!

Then in 2000, the Fringe started the move to Granville Island. But that year the Festival was spread over the whole city. Besides having venues on the Island and back on the Drive, there were also venues in Yaletown, which is where the Fringe Bar ended up.

By 2001, the Fringe had solidified its relationship with the Granville Island community. Its opening ceremony that year included a courageous parade around the Island–one that went against the flow of one way traffic!

All throughout these 25 years though, the main aspects of the festival have remained the same. The Fringe is a place to find unjuried, uncensored theatre for everyone! Today we’ve grown to include over 450 performances, six mainstage venues, 10 BYOVs and up to 30,000 people in attendance—with 400 volunteers helping to pull it all together.

For a more in-depth history of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, be sure to pick up our program guide (available at the end of July).

Aquabus: Jumping aboard the Fringe again!

The friendly fleet of vessels that putter around False Creek toting tourists and carrying commuters has become a staple in Vancouver’s unique water transportation industry. A refreshing and scenic alternative to hopping a bus across one of the city’s busy bridges, Aquabus has been growing alongside the False Creek community for 26 years. Here at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, we have a particular soft spot for this dainty company. Just this past year they won the Fringe award for longest running festival sponsor. Feel the love, it runs deep!

Aquabus, like the rest of the city, is gearing up for a busy 2010. With numerous exciting projects on the go, including converting a traditional fuel ferry to a completely Electric Propulsion System, the construction of two new 30 passenger vessels, and almost tripling their dock space around the Creek, Aquabus is showing no signs of slowing down. One project in particular they’re excited about is a partnership with local artist Fiona Bowie to use high-tech subversive cameras and special LED screens to bring the mysterious and calming underwater world of False Creek to the surface. As manager Jody Collins states, “The latest technology enables filtering of the imagery for sharpness and clarity regardless of the water conditions. This project, set to coincide with the 2010 Olympics, will offer a rare glimpse of not only the marine life but everything else that is underneath what literally millions of people float over and look upon every year.” Stimulating indeed!

Look out for Aquabuses operating daily from the Granville Island, Hornby Street, Stamp’s Landing, Spyglass Place, Yaletown, Plaza of Nations and Science World docks, with departures scheduled every five to 30 minutes. Visit their website www.theaquabus.com for more info on their fleets, schedules, fares and for virtual tours of their False Creek docks.

In The Works

- Our Artist Coordinator, Andrea, is busy scheduling shows for our 2009 Fringe. Lots has to be considered, including the length of a performance and technical requirements. “It’s like Tetris: fitting everyone in where they fit the best,” she says. Keep an eye out for that schedule, which will start circulating at the end of July in Blenz locations, libraries and Fringe friendly businesses across the lower mainland.

- Pamela, our Events Coordinator, has been working on bringing Fringers from the past together for our 25th Anniversary Party. Hopefully some of these alumni will share their stories on our upcoming blog. Don’t worry, we’ll update you when it launches.

- With the help of our friends at Cocoa Camino we’ll create chocolate hysteria! Gareth, our Fundraising Coordinator, is putting all the elements together of the return of our Sweet on the Fringe fundraising campaign.

- Callan and Debby, the Marketing/Communications team, have been twittering and Facebooking, among other things (like writing this newsletter!). Follow us on twitter at vancouverfringe, and become a fan of our Facebook fan page by searching for the Vancouver International Fringe Festival.

- Although our Volunteer Coordinator hasn’t started yet, we know you are all eager to volunteer with us again! Applications will be available in July so keep your eyes out for that.

Stay tuned for more details coming your way soon. Be sure to sign up for our e-newsletter list (above) to get the latest news, and visit us on Facebook and Twitter to get insider Fringe updates.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 8:51 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.