Cincinnati, a city known for its baseball, breweries, and big-ticket arts institutions, transforms each summer into a playground for the bold, the bizarre, and the brilliant. That transformation is powered by the Cincy Fringe Festival, returning May 30 to June 14, 2025, with more energy, originality, and audacity than ever.

Now in its 22nd year and produced by the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, the Fringe is less a festival and more a cultural lightning strike—an annual jolt of genre-bending theatre, jaw-dropping comedy, socially-charged performance art, and everything in between. If Broadway is polished and predictable, Fringe is raw and revolutionary. And Cincinnati wouldn’t have it any other way.

What Exactly Is Fringe?

The concept of “fringe” theatre was born on the literal fringes of the 1947 Edinburgh International Festival. Artists who weren’t invited to the main event decided to stage their own shows nearby. That act of rebellion grew into a global movement, with “Fringe Festivals” now held in cities from Adelaide to Amsterdam. Cincinnati’s own version, launched in 2003, has matured into one of the nation’s most eclectic and respected Fringe gatherings.

This year’s edition is a beast: 26 productions, including 32 world premieres, 11 regional premieres, and one national premiere. Performances take over six venues across the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, turning churches, cafés, and storefronts into immersive stages. With more than 190 performances during its 16-day run, Fringe offers something no other festival in the city can: risk.

Spotlight on the Primary Lineup: Strange, Smart, and Stirring

Let’s talk headliners. The 2025 primary lineup reads like a fever dream of offbeat brilliance:

1 Gay Wedding and Absolutely No Funerals is a dark comedy set on what should be the happiest day of two grooms’ lives—until an unexpected corpse complicates things. It’s a macabre romp through queer joy, chosen family, and crisis management, staged by Ben & Justin Present.
A Cabaret of Legends celebrates the powerful voices and personal stories of Black women in music. Tymisha Harris, the firebrand performer behind Josephine, channels Ella, Aretha, Beyoncé, and more in this musical tribute that’s as educational as it is electric.
Jon Bennett: AMERICAN’T brings the globe-trotting Aussie comedian to Cincinnati for a comedic storytelling show about getting arrested at the U.S. border, living through the pandemic in a foreign country, and finding cultural oddities in the everyday.
The Family Crow: A Murder Mystery is not your typical puppet show. Created by Canadian artist Adam Francis Proulx, it’s a noir-style whodunit told entirely by feathered felt. Think True Detective, but with birds and biting satire.
Yoga for Falling Apart is a one-woman, faux-yoga class that doubles as an existential breakdown. A satirical deep stretch into the chaos of modern life, it’s both hilarious and heartbreakingly honest.

Beyond the Mainstage: Limited Runs, Conceptual Chaos, and Family Fun

Cincy Fringe isn’t just about the stage—it’s about experience. This year features:

Limited Run Shows like [TITLE OF MEMOIR], a caffeine-fueled confessional from a new voice on the national scene, and Yes anD&D!, a live, improvised Dungeons & Dragons campaign with audience input.
Conceptual Fringe productions such as Invisible Women, a choose-your-own-adventure journey through the erased experiences of womanhood, and Confide & Dance/Sing/Sit, an interactive dance experiment that blurs the line between spectator and performer.
Kids Fringe gives families an entry point with shows like Forging Legends and The Green Moon/La Luna Verde, which combine shadow puppetry and movement for multi-generational magic.

Community-Powered and Pay-What-You-Can Vibes

One of the most revolutionary things about Fringe isn’t the content—it’s the access. With tickets starting at just $20 per show, or an all-access pass for $330, the festival is one of the most affordable in the region. Volunteer opportunities allow theater-lovers to trade time for tickets. And most shows offer a “Fringe Next” discount for students and emerging artists.

For many performers, the Cincinnati Fringe Festival is a career springboard. For audiences, it’s a chance to witness something wild before it hits mainstream stages—or disappears entirely.

Why It Matters Now

In an era of content algorithms, sanitized mass entertainment, and shrinking arts budgets, spaces like Cincy Fringe are not just important—they’re essential. Fringe doesn’t tell you what to think; it invites you to think. It doesn’t package performances in predictable plot arcs or familiar faces; it delivers surprises, challenges, and authenticity.

In other words: Fringe is what happens when art refuses to be safe.

How to Fringe

Step 1: Head to cincyfringe.com and check out the full lineup and schedule.
Step 2: Pick three shows you’ve never heard of. Trust your gut—or better yet, pick the ones that sound totally absurd.
Step 3: Explore Over-the-Rhine between shows. Grab a drink at a neighborhood bar. Decompress at Washington Park.
Step 4: Talk about what you saw. Even if you hated it. Especially if you hated it.

That’s the spirit of Fringe: raw conversation, honest reaction, and a community built not around consensus but curiosity.

Final Curtain

The Cincy Fringe Festival isn’t just a showcase—it’s a statement. It tells the world that Cincinnati supports risk, champions voices on the margins, and believes that art should surprise you. Whether you’re a theater junkie, a curious first-timer, or just someone in search of something real, Fringe is waiting for you.

You just have to show up and say yes.

No Rules, Just Fringe