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Festival Guides Now Available Throughout Rochester.

(Rochester, NY) August 15, 2026—The 2026 Official Fringe Guide is now available for the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, which officially opens one month from today, running 12 days from Tuesday, September 15 - Saturday, September 26.

Fringe organizers have begun distributing more than 100,000 free copies of its 128-page guide throughout Rochester to help people plan for Fringe. People can pick up hard copies of the 2026 Official Fringe Guide in Fringe venue locations, ESL branches, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and more. A complete list of locations can be found here. The 2026 Official Fringe Guide contains descriptions for all 297 productions at 45 venue locations at Fringe, including festival highlights:

CIRCUS IN THE CITY
CIRCUS IN THE CITY is this year’s FREE, outdoor spectacle with performances running on Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19 at Parcel 5 (5 - 10 p.m.) and Gibbs Streets (5 - 9 p.m.). CIRCUS IN THE CITY is the first-ever large-scale collection of outdoor circus performances in Western New York, turning Rochester into a “mini-Montreal” for the first weekend of Fringe. It is made possible through a Market New York grant awarded by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State’s Division of Tourism. A detailed schedule of performances will be announced soon.

SPIEGELTENT
A full lineup with something for everyone from the young to the young at heart is available in the Spiegeltent (One Fringe Place, corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, downtown Rochester) this year, including:

• Cirque du Fringe: Anchors Away—Las Vegas legends Matt and Heidi Morgan are back with a world premiere of this murder mystery that takes place on a cruise ship with acts from Atomic Saloon Show, Circus Circus, Cirque Mechanics, Teatro ZinZanni, Spiegelworld, NBA halftime shows and the World Circus Arts Championships.
• Marcel Lucont’s Whine List—an acclaimed, interactive, improvised show that is a kind of group therapy session, where audiences may end up more depressed! The Daily Telegraph named it one of its Top Ten Comedy Picks at the Edinburgh Fringe.
• Marcel Lucont: Les Enfants Terribles—a Gameshow for Awful Children—an international Fringe Family favorite, in which kids get to be pests, politicians—and worse—to compete to be crowned the most awful child of the day. The show is as entertaining for adults as it is for kids!
• Shotspeare!—people will enjoy late-night at the Fringe with a raucous adaptation of the Bard’s Othello that’s equal parts classical theatre and drinking game.
• A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves–a cult hit that is scheduled for one show only on Thursday, September 17 at 9 p.m.
• Gospel Sunday is a FREE uplifting experience on Sunday, September 20 at 1 p.m.
• Silent Disco returns for more late-late night fun every Friday and Saturday evening of the festival.

THE GARDEN STUDIO
The Garden Studio is a brand-new, studio space that has been added to One Fringe Place (corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, downtown Rochester) this year. It offers a more intimate environment for shows, including:

• Just to Be Close to You by Cam Poter in a 10x award-winning contemporary clown show featuring dreamy lounge-singer, Carl Poteraychke.
• Tea Party at the End of the World, a small-audience, multi-sensory experience inviting participants to remain playful in dire circumstances.
• Bushwhacked: Big Joy Fun Time Revival in an interactive, high-energy comedy spectacle with absurd testimonials, musical numbers and miraculous transformations.

COMEDY HEADLINER PETE DAVIDSON

Comedy headliner Pete Davidson, will perform on Saturday, September 25 at 8 p.m., at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.

KIDS DAY

The final day of Fringe on Saturday, September 26 is full of FREE family fun, including Kids Day. There will be chalk art, pumpkin painting and Disco Kids at One Fringe Place (corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, downtown Rochester). Plus, the 9th Avenue Street Circus brings balancing, spinning, juggling, hula hooping and more to Dawn’s Spiegelgarden. All festivities kick off at 12 noon.

STREET BEAT

Now in its 11th year, Street Beat is Upstate New York’s largest all styles dance battle, featuring talent from across the Northeast, DJ ha-MEEN (Ithaca) and a panel of judges from across the country. From breaking to popping and locking, teams of 3-on-3 bring their all-styles A-game to the floor. This is another FREE, must-see event at Fringe on Saturday, September 26, with prelims starting at 12:30 p.m. followed by finals at 3:30 p.m.

The Fringe takes place September 15 – 26. Tickets to all shows are available online at rochesterfringe.com, via phone at (585) 957-9837 (additional phone fees apply) or via the Rochester Fringe Festival App, which is available for download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Tickets may be purchased in person at the festival’s main box office at One Fringe Place at the corner of Main & Gibbs Streets starting September 13. Tickets will also be available onsite at the show doors of all venues starting one hour before curtain up.

FRINGE VENUES: Aerial Arts of Rochester, Austin Steward Plaza, Biltmore Bar & Lounge, Blackfriars Theatre, Bop Shop Records, Centerstage Theatre at the JCC, Central Library of Rochester, Century Club at the Strathallan, Downtown United Presbyterian Church, Delmonico and Dugdale, Eastman School of Music, The Focus Theater, Garth Fagan Dance Studio, Genesee Valley Park, George Eastman Museum, Gibbs Street, The Harley School, The Hochstein School, Java's, Joseph Ave Arts and Culture Alliance at the Lincoln Library, Kodak Hall at the Eastman School of Music, La Marketa at the International Plaza, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Memorial Art Gallery, Mt. Hope Cemetery, MuCCC, Parcel 5, Photo City Music Hall, The Little, RIT City Art Space, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, RMSC: Garden of Fragrance, ROC Cinema, Roc City Circus, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, The Rose Room, Salena's, School of the Arts, Dawn’s Spiegelgarden, Spiegeltent, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, University of Rochester – Sloan Performing Arts Center, Vanni’s Jazz Lounge at the Inn on Broadway and Washington Grove.

Rochester’s not-for-profit Fringe has become one of the largest, most successful, and most prominent fringe festivals in the nation, the largest multidisciplinary performing arts festivals in New York State, and one of the region’s most anticipated festivals each year. The 2026 Fringe will feature 715 performances of 297 productions at 45 venue locations in just 12 days, including Comedy, Theatre, Dance, Music, Multidisciplinary & Circus, Kids’ Shows, Spoken Word, and Visual Arts & Film.

Circus in the City is supported through a Market New York grant awarded by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State’s Division of Tourism.

ABOUT THE ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The 12-day ESL Rochester Fringe Festival is one of the nation’s largest fringe festivals and has been recognized by the New York Times as “one of the country’s more prominent multidisciplinary events.” It is also New York State’s largest performing arts festival and the current winner, three years running, of CITY Magazine’s Best of Rochester Award for Best Arts Event. This year, the Fringe celebrates its 15^th season. Nearly a million people have attended more than 7,000 performances and events at the Fringe since its inception in 2012. The non-profit organization’s mission is to offer platforms for artists, new audiences for venues, and unparalleled public access to incredible art. It strives to be diverse and inclusive, as well as to stimulate downtown Rochester culturally and economically. The Fringe showcases the work of regional, national, and international artists from emerging to superstar. Audiences at Fringe also have the rare opportunity to attend a performance at the Spiegeltent, which is one of the most unique performing arts venues in the world.

ABOUT ESL:
With more than 100 years of locally owned history, ESL Federal Credit Union serves as a full-service financial institution to more than 465,000 members and 18,800 businesses. Founded in 1920, the company provides personal banking, business banking, mortgage services and wealth management services through its locally based 33-branch network; telephone, mobile and online banking; and live chat center. The Rochester-based financial institution employs more than 1,000 people in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region and holds more than $10.8 billion in assets. Since 1996, ESL has paid out 30 consecutive years of Owners’ Dividends to its members totaling more than $350 million. Since the creation of its Community Impact initiative in 2018, ESL has reinvested more than $182 million in grants throughout the community. The company has appeared on Great Place to Work® lists since 2010. ESL Federal Credit Union is headquartered at 225 Chestnut Street, in Rochester, and can be found online at www.esl.org.

ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE SPONSORS:
ESL; Rochester Area Community Foundation; New York State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; Ames Amzalak Memorial Trust; Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation; 7Crest Financial Partners; Dr. Dawn F. Lipson; Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation; City of Rochester; Monroe County; University of Rochester; RIT; Mary Mulligan Trust; Elaine P. and Richard U. Wilson Foundation; Louis S. and Molly B. Wolk Foundation; Konar Enterprises; Golisano Foundation; The Rubens Family Foundation; Lake Beverage; The Inn on Broadway; Hyatt Regency Rochester; Nazareth University; St. John Fisher University; Monroe Community College; The Pike Company; Hamilton A/V; Wilkins RV; McCarthy Tents & Events; Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care; Liccardi Radio Services; Finger Lakes Distilling; Aspire Transformation Services; Visit Rochester; The Spindler Family Foundation; The Harley School; Wegmans; City Blue Imaging; Canandaigua National Bank; Yelp!; AdHouse Productions; Walk Up Advertising; Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC; and House of Guitars.

ABOUT FRINGE FESTIVALS:
In 1947, eight theatre groups showed up - uninvited - to perform at the newly established Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. Although not listed in the official program, the groups performed anyway, at venues they found for themselves. The following year, a Scottish journalist coined the term “festival fringe” to describe these non-curated shows that began turning up annually. The Edinburgh Fringe is now the world’s largest arts festival and the third largest event after the Olympics and the World Cup.  Today, there are more than 250 Fringe Festivals worldwide, with nearly 50 in the United States. The ESL Rochester Fringe Festival was the first in Upstate New York.