THIRD ANNUAL ST. LOU FRINGE • HEADS UP!

Here's a quick reminder about St. Lou Fringe's third annual arts festival coming up this week -- June 18th through June 22nd. This'll be gone before you know it, and this performing arts extravaganza is too awesome to let slip by.

The Lou's very own three year-old performing arts festival was recently recognized by CNN as one among nine "intriguing" fringe festivals worth checking out. Click here to read it. St. Lou Fringe works the way it has for the past couple of years, with thirty-five productions (up from thirty last year) and over 100 performances happening in six venues (Kranzberg Black Box, Kranzberg Studio, Duet, The Stage at KDHX, FUBAR, and Satori) around the midtown corridor. A festival badge, required for admission, can be purchased for 5 bucks online and at Fringe Central Station in Strauss Park. Individual performances range from 5 to around 12 bucks, which is seriously a good deal. You can check out the individual shows by clicking here. In addition to the shows, "Street Fringe" takes place daily with food trucks and buskers and live music at the stage at Fringe Central.

Playing cards that serve as your tickets,

the wonderful Ghost Light magazine --
a must-have, full of Fringe info and a schedule,

and of course, the Fringe badge.

At a recent Fringe preview that admirably managed to squeeze in a few minutes of 23 performances, St. Lou Fringe founder and executive director, Em Piro, set the stage for this year's festival. There were three times as many submissions as there are slots for performances this year, and even though the festival is the jewel in the crown, St. Lou Fringe staged benefit events throughout this past year. These included its first annual Five-Fifths event, the incredibly collaborative “Alice in Fringeland,” breaking Lewis Carroll's story into five acts showcasing fringe artists representing dance, theatre, poetry, puppetry and burlesque. "Act Your Pants Off" was staged this past May, where nine talented local actors competed in a series of acting challenges in the intimate, rowdy space of Meyer's Grove. (An evening I will not miss if they do this again.)

In that CNN article, Piro says, "We want people to come to the grounds and linger." Well, with the timing of these productions and the location Fringe has once again secured, lingering shouldn't be a problem. Personally, I can't wait.

Check out this handy program guide, get your badge, check out the performances, and get your Fringe on starting June 18th!