2014 Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV) Applications
Interested in participating as a Bring Your Own Venue company in the 2014 Ottawa Fringe Festival? Read the guidelines below and follow the link to our online application.
Have questions? Unable to apply online? Feel free to contact the Festival Director.
OTTAWA FRINGE FESTIVAL (June 19–29, 2014)
APPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR BRING YOUR OWN VENUES (BYOVs)
The 18th annual Ottawa Fringe Festival will run from June 19-29, 2014. With over 50 performing companies presenting upwards of 300 performances, the Fringe is Ottawa’s largest and longest-running theatre festival, returning more than $90,000 to participating artists in 2013.
Participating in the Ottawa Fringe Festival
The Fringe is committed to giving artists the opportunity to produce work in an uncensored, unjuried environment. The only constraints on material or content are the consideration of legality and the health and safety of all those involved, including artists, staff, volunteers and audiences. The Fringe reserves the right to enforce necessary safety measures.
What is a BYOV?
A BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) is a venue or location outside the regular indoor venues that the Fringe Festival operates and programs via the application lottery. Companies may choose to participate in the festival as a BYOV if their work is site specific, or if they were not drawn in the lottery but are still interested in mounting a production as part of the Ottawa Fringe Festival. BYOVs come with substantial financial risk to the producing company and can involve a considerable amount of additional work.
First time BYOV applicants are encouraged to contact the Festival Director to discuss their proposal.
Contact info
Patrick Gauthier, Festival Director
director@ottawafringe.com
613.232.6162 x101
2 Daly Avenue, Suite 100
Ottawa ON, K1N 6E2
APPLYING AS A BRING YOUR OWN VENUE
Application and Acceptance Process
Applications will be accepted starting at 10:00 am on Monday, January 13, 2014, and can be filled out online at ottawafringe.com.
Applications will be accepted until 5:00 pm on Monday, February 24, 2014, or until the Festival has reached its BYOV quota of 15-20 companies (whichever comes first). Protip: if you’re considering submitting a BYOV application, the sooner you get it in, the better.
The Ottawa Fringe Festival reserves the right to close BYOV applications at any time.
All BYOV applicants must submit a $25.00 BYOV Application Fee, or their application will not be processed. However, if you entered our 2014 Lottery, the Application Fee will be waived. Please note: applicants must apply under the same Primary Contact and Company Name in order for the BYOV Application Fee to be waived.
Applicants must submit a detailed project proposal which includes your proposed venue as well as written confirmation of your venue rental/reservation (this can be a contract, letter of agreement, or email chains). Applications that do not include venue confirmation will not be approved.
Proposed venues should be within walking distance of the main Fringe site (Arts Court and the north-end of the University of Ottawa campus). BYOV applications judged to be too far away will not be accepted.
You may not submit more than one BYOV application to the Ottawa Fringe.
Please keep a copy of your application form. For safety.
Priority will be given to applicants who are proposing site-specific work, as well as to applicants who are planning to share a BYOV with multiple companies.
Non site-specific BYOVs are required to have a minimum of one other company sharing their venue. Alternatively, applicants can provide strong reasoning as to why they aren’t good at sharing in their project proposal.
BYOV applicants will be informed within 14 days of submitting their application if they have been accepted into the festival.
If accepted, BYOV companies agree to provide Fringe Festival staff reasonable access to the venue upon request, to ensure that the venue is safe for audiences, performers and volunteers and that it meets the standards of the Ottawa Fringe.
Submission of a BYOV application does not guarantee acceptance.
It is strongly recommended that all potential BYOV applicants contact the Festival Director in advance of submitting their application.
FEES AND WITHDRAWAL POLICY
Application Fee
A $25.00 administrative fee. This fee must be paid at the time of your application, but is waived if you applied to the 2014 Ottawa Fringe Festival lottery.
Registration Fee
The 2014 Ottawa Fringe Festival BYOV fee is $475.00 plus HST ($536.75 total). This fee must be paid within 7 days of your acceptance into the Festival.
Application and Registration Fees can be paid by credit card, cheque, or cold hard cash.
Non-Sufficient Funds
If your payment is returned NSF, you will have seven days to submit new payment PLUS a $30.00 processing fee PER failed payment. After seven days, the applicant will be removed from participation in the Festival.
Withdrawal Policy
Companies wishing to withdraw from the Ottawa Fringe Festival may do so, and depending on your date of withdrawal, companies may receive a partial refund of their BYOV Fee:
- Companies withdrawing on or before February 28, 2014 will receive a 50% refund of their Registration Fee (minus a $30 processing fee)
- Companies withdrawing after February 28, 2014 will forfeit 100% of their Registration Fee
GENERAL FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Scheduling
All Festival performances will take place between June 19-29, 2014.
BYOV companies may schedule a maximum of 10 performances over the duration of the Festival (though we recommend 6-8).
All Festival performances must be completed before 12:30 am.
Each BYOV company will submit their own preferred performance schedule for approval, but the Ottawa Fringe reserves the right to edit, change, or completely schedule all performances in a BYOV.
All Ottawa Fringe Festival scheduling is at the discretion of the Festival Director.
Box Office and Ticketing
The Ottawa Fringe Festival will collect and remit all Box Office revenue on behalf of BYOV companies, as well as provide Box Office staff.
All BYOV companies set their own ticket prices, with a minimum price of $0 and a maximum price of $10.00 per ticket.
Artists participating Ottawa Fringe Festival receive 100% of their listed ticket price with the exception of Frequent Fringe cards, for which they will receive $7.00 per ticket.
BYOV companies may set their own venue capacity, provided it complies with City of Ottawa public occupancy limits. Once your venue capacity has been confirmed it cannot be changed. The Fringe reserves the right to cancel all remaining performances of companies found to be changing their venue capacity mid-festival.
Technical Support
BYOV companies are responsible for hiring their own venue technician and renting any necessary sound/lighting/video equipment.
Insurance and Permits
BYOV participants are solely responsible for the safe operation of their venue. BYOV companies agree to absolve and save harmless the Ottawa Fringe Festival from any liability whatsoever in the event of accident or injury to performers or patrons.
The Fringe does not provide third party liability insurance for BYOVs. Companies are responsible for arranging their own liability insurance.
BYOV participants are responsible for ensuring lawful public use of their venue.
Billeting
We will do our best to provide billeted accommodation for out of town performers. However, the Fringe does not guarantee billet placement. It is recommended that you arrange your own accommodation if possible.
Festival/Participant Communication
Email is the primary way the Fringe communicates with our participating companies. Primary Contacts will receive regular email updates from the Festival, so please make sure you have regular access to Internet. Please read these emails promptly and thoroughly, since they contain important info about Festival policies, deadlines, events, opportunities, and the like.
READY TO APPLY?
That’s all! You’re ready to apply! The link to our online application is below. You’ll receive a confirmation email shortly after your application has been submitted. If you don’t receive this email within 24 hours of applying, check your Junk Mail folder. If it’s not there, contact us and we’ll sort things out.
