Apply to the 2014 Ottawa Fringe Festival

Interested in applying to the 2014 Ottawa Fringe Festival? You’ve come to the right place! Please read the application guidelines below (you can also download a PDF of the guidelines, if that’s more your style), and then follow the link to apply online. It’s that easy!

Have questions? Feel free to contact the Festival Director. He’s a helpful fellow.

Ottawa Fringe Festival (June 19-29, 2014)
Application Guidelines for Indoor Companies

With over 50 performing companies presenting upwards of 300 performances, the 18^th Ottawa Fringe Festival is our city’s largest and longest-running theatre festival, returning more than $90,000 to participating artists in 2013 and over $1 million since 1997. The Festival is coming off a record-breaking year, reaching its highest levels of attendance, sold-out performances, artist payout and media coverage.

A proud member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF), the Ottawa Fringe is entirely unjuried, completely uncensored, and highly accessible – with 100% of box office revenue going to participating artists.

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 in regards to material and content are the consideration of legality or health and safety of all those involved, including artists, staff, volunteers and audiences. The Fringe reserves the right to implement necessary safety measures.

CONTACT
Patrick Gauthier, Festival Director
director@ottawafringe.com
613.232.6162 x101
2 Daly Avenue, Suite 100
Ottawa ON, K1N 6E2

 APPLYING TO THE OTTAWA FRINGE FESTIVAL

ACCEPTANCE POLICY
Applications are placed into a lottery, and accepted according to the following quotas:

• 50% of lottery spots are reserved for Local companies (Ottawa-Gatineau)
• 30% are reserved for National companies (outside Ottawa-Gatineau, but in Canada)
• 20% are reserved for International companies (applying from outside Canada)
• Two (2) spots are reserved for Youth companies

To be eligible for the Youth category, the majority of your company members must be young performers, which we define as age 18 and under.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications can be completed online at ottawafringe.com beginning Monday, September 30, 2013. Contact the Festival Director if you are unable to complete the application online.

Applications must be received no later than Thursday, November 28, 2013 at 5:00 pm EST.

NEW – All applications must include a $25.00 lottery application fee.

You may not submit more than one application to the Ottawa Fringe.

Each application must identify a Primary Contact. Once submitted, neither the Primary Contact name nor the Company name on your application can be changed.

One person cannot act as Primary Contact for more than one application.

If awarded a spot in the Festival, you cannot transfer/sell your spot to another company.

Please keep a copy of your application form. For safety.

LOTTERY
Only complete applications received before the deadline will be entered in the lottery.

The lottery will be held Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at Arts Court (2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa).

Successful applicants will have their payment processed Wednesday, December 4, 2013.

Unsuccessful applicants will be added to a waiting list, with their place on the list determined by geography (local, national, international) plus the order in which their application was drawn.

All applicants will be notified via email of their acceptance or waiting list status no later than one week following the lottery. Lottery results will be posted to our website.

APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION FEES
Applications must include a $25.00 Lottery Application Fee. This admin fee will be processed upon receipt of your application. Applications that do not include a Lottery Application Fee will not be entered into the lottery.

Your application must also include your Registration Fee. This will only be processed if you are accepted into the Festival.

• 60 minute category               $560.00 plus HST   ($632.80 total)
• 90 minute category               $750.00 plus HST   ($847.50 total)
• Youth category                     $185.00 plus HST   ($209.05 total)

NOTE: due to the results of the 2014 CAFF Touring Lottery, we no longer have any spaces left in our 90 minute category for 2014. Apologies for any inconvenience! 

Application and Registration Fees can be paid by credit card, cheque, or cold hard cash.

If paying by cheque, please include two separate cheques: one for the Lottery Application Fee (dated day-of your submission) and one for the Registration Fee (post-dated for December 4, 2013).

Payment of Application and Registration Fees must be received on or before November 28 2013, or your application will not be entered into the lottery.

In the 60 minute category, show runtime cannot exceed 60 minutes.

In the 90 minute category, show runtime must be at least 75 minutes and cannot exceed 90 minutes.

In the Youth category, show runtime cannot exceed 60 minutes.

Successful 60 and 90 minute shows will receive six performances during the Festival; Youth shows will receive two performances.

Be sure to apply to the correct time category. Once your application is drawn in the lottery, it is impossible to change categories. Refunds will not be issued for 90 minute shows that end up being 60 minutes or less, and 60 minute shows absolutely cannot exceed their allotted time. Choose your category wisely, young padawan.

WAITLIST POLICY
If the lottery treats you poorly, your company will be automatically added to the waitlist, with your spot on the list dependent on geography (local, national, international) and the order in which your name was drawn. This has been said once already but bears repeating.

If you are on the waitlist we will only process your Registration Fee if/when you receive a spot in the Festival.

Companies can be removed from the waitlist at any time by contacting the Festival Director.

WITHDRAWING FROM THE FESTIVAL
Companies selected by the lottery who must withdraw from the Festival may only do so by contacting the Festival Director in writing (email preferred, but send a letter if you’d like).

Depending on the date of your withdrawal, companies may receive a full or partial refund of their Registration Fee.

Companies withdrawing…

• on or before December 20, 2013 will receive a 100% refund of their Registration Fee (minus a $30 processing fee)
• after December 20, 2013 and before January 24, 2014 will receive a 50% refund of their Registration Fee (minus a $30 processing fee)
• after January 24, 2014 will forfeit 100% of their Registration Fee

Non-Sufficient Funds: if your payment is returned NSF, you will have seven days to submit new payment PLUS a $30 processing fee per failed payment. After seven days, the applicant will be removed from the lottery or from participation in the Festival.

VENUE ASSIGNMENTS AND SCHEDULING
If your application is successful, your show will be assigned a venue to be shared with seven to nine other shows over the length of the Festival. Venues will be assigned with consideration to your technical requirements, but we cannot make any guarantees based on your requests.  We promise, however, to do our best to assign you best venue possible for your show.

Festival scheduling:

• All Festival performances will take place between June 19—29, 2014. You’ll also need to be available up to one week before your first performance for a technical rehearsal.
• Curtain times will vary from day-to-day and venue-to-venue, but generally we schedule shows between 5:30 – 11:00 pm Monday to Friday, and noon – 11:00 pm on weekends.
• Each company will receive a mix of matinee, early evening, “prime time”, and late-night performances.
• Performance times will be assigned to best accommodate each company, with final scheduling decisions at the discretion of the Festival Director.

Please note: Artists participating in multiple shows assume the risk that schedules may overlap. The Fringe makes NO guarantees it will be able to accommodate conflicts.

Also note: The Ottawa Fringe Festival’s opening weekend overlaps with the closing weekend of the Montreal Fringe in 2014. Please contact us if you plan on applying to both festivals.

FESTIVAL / PARTICIPANT COMMUNICATION
Festival applicants will be informed via email no later than one week following the lottery as to whether their application was successful or if they are on the waitlist. We’ll also post results on ottawafringe.com as soon as we can.

Email is the primary medium the Ottawa Fringe uses to communicate with 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.

BOX OFFICE AND TICKETING
Each participating company sets their own ticket prices, with a minimum price of $0 and a maximum price of $10 per ticket.

Artists participating Ottawa Fringe Festival receive 100% of their listed ticket price with the exception of discounted 5- and 10-show passes, for which companies will receive $7 per use.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Tech requirements should be kept simple, as Festival venues may be equipped with only basic lights and sound.

Each company will receive one three-hour technical rehearsal in their assigned venue.

Be aware that daytime techs may be necessary. If you know you have conflicts during the tech rehearsal dates, please notify the Ottawa Fringe prior to April 1, 2014. Companies participating in the Montreal Fringe Festival will be assigned a tech date to accommodate their Montreal schedule.

BYOV – BRING YOUR OWN VENUES
Disappointed you didn’t get into the Ottawa Fringe, and are too far down the waitlist to have a hope of getting into the Festival? We have good news: you can submit a Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV) application.

BYOV applications will be available in January 2014 on ottawafringe.com

Feel free to contact the Festival Director if you have any questions about BYOVs, or the BYOV application process.

READY TO APPLY? 

That’s all! Now you know everything you need to know before you apply. Your next step is to head over to our online application, which takes less than 5 minutes to fill out. 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.

Best of luck in the lottery!