​​Sep. 23–27, 2025  
Fringe Performance Weekend
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Sep. 4–27 • Visual Arts Exhibit

Aug. 31–Sep. 21 • Pop-Up Events & Fringe Fix

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The 13th annual Elgin Fringe Festival got an early start this year, bringing Fringe energy to downtown Elgin throughout September. Fringe Fix pop-up events brought live music and dance outdoors, giving audiences an early taste of what was to come.
 

Our Visual Arts Exhibit opened the first weekend of September at Side Street Studio Arts, where 18 artists filled the gallery with paintings, photography, sculpture, and mixed media. This striking exhibit featured work that was colorful, playful, dark, surreal, unsettling, and deeply personal. Fringe gives artists the freedom to experiment, push into uncomfortable places, and create work that doesn’t always fit into defined categories.

T
hat same freedom carried into Performance Weekend, when more than 100 performers took over five downtown Elgin venues with more than 80 live performances. Audiences experienced everything from comedy, dance, and theater to storytelling, improv, multimedia, stand-up, magic, clowning, circus, music, drag, and burlesque. Artists took risks, told deeply personal stories, made us laugh, challenged us, and went places you probably wouldn’t encounter on a traditional stage. That unpredictability is part of what defines Elgin Fringe.

We’re especially proud of the diversity represented among our performers, with more than half self-identifying as part of an underrepresented population, including artists who identify as BIPOC and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Artists are chosen by lottery, and 100% of performance ticket proceeds go directly to the artists who created the work.

At its heart, Elgin Fringe is a celebration of art that is uncurated, uncensored, and unpredictable, created by artists with wildly different voices, perspectives, and stories to tell. We can’t wait to see what they bring to Elgin next year. And remember… whatever happens, happens!