Like so many events locally and around the world, the second annual Kelowna Fringe Festival, scheduled for September 2020, has been cancelled due to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
The inaugural Kelowna Fringe Festival took place last September and featured artists from right here in the Okanagan and from as far away as South Africa. The festival was a big hit, and organizers were looking forward to building on last year’s success by making 2020’s edition even better.
The Kelowna Fringe Festival is run through the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO) and the organization’s Executive Director, Kirsteen McCulloch, has explained that all being well, Fringe will return to Kelowna in the fall of 2021:
“Our amazing local community has really embraced and supported Kelowna Fringe. We were excited to build on 2019’s success this year, but, of course, we needed to consider the challenges posed by COVID-19 in the current, and future, environment. With that in mind, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the festival for this year and shift our focus to hosting a mind-blowing Fringe in September 2021! We’re so grateful for the community’s support, and we know we’ll be able to count on you to make 2021 the best Fringe yet.”
Vincent Jones of By Jove Co. was the Kelowna Fringe Festival’s Marketing Director in 2019, and believes cancelling 2020’s event is the correct decision:
“We all have to play our part, and that includes the Kelowna Fringe Festival, in flattening the curve and helping to protect our incredible essential workers and the most vulnerable in our society from this awful pandemic. The right decision isn’t always the easiest one, but I do believe, given the circumstances, that the right call has been made. I look forward to seeing Fringe return to Kelowna again when it is safe and appropriate for it to do so. Kelowna Fringe 2021 is going to be such a celebration and I know our brilliant community will be right behind it again!”
The Kelowna Fringe Festival is a member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) which includes nearly 20 festivals across North America, from Edmonton to Orlando.
If you’re wondering how you can continue to support the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic, McCulloch has some advice:
“I encourage everyone to please do what they can to support artists, creators and the creative community as much as possible during this difficult time - from leaving a positive comment on social media to tuning in to a live stream, every little bit helps and will be so greatly appreciated!”