The 2017 Fringe Central social space will be hosted at a new club located in what was formerly known as The Dragonfly, on Theatre Row at 6510 Santa Monica Blvd. The venue is set to open in June, with Hollywood Fringe being one of the first guests of the new club. We are happy to return to this space and excited to see what the new management will develop! 
 
Fringe Central is the community center of the festival, featuring major Fringe events, concierge staff, and the festival box office, as well as free programming, food trucks, and Fringe merchandise. The space serves not only as a place for Fringe-goers to unwind but also as a gathering place for those wishing to network, distribute flyers or hold meetings.
 
This is also the location of Bryan’s Bar, the infamous Fringe watering hole, designed as a place for artists, audiences, producers and local community members to mix and mingle. Anyone with a Fringe Button will receive discounts on Fringe bar items as well as deals at local Hot Spots. 
 
Fringe Central will officially open to the public on June 7th for the Opening Night Party. There will also be a Fringe Runway event, a Fringe Prom, and regular installments of Fringe Cabaret (the sampler platter of the Hollywood Fringe buffet). 
 
The venue is 18+ only.  

If you have completed the registration of your show for this year’s festival, you are now an official participant of The 2017 Hollywood Fringe. Congratulations! As you begin the journey of marketing your production, we have a resource to help you on your path.
 
We’ve put together a packet of information, reminders, marketing tips & tricks, promotional opportunities, and other goodies. We strongly suggest that you read the entire packet— it could contain the keys to your festival success! Check out your participant packet at www.hollywoodfringe.org/participants. 

The Hollywood Fringe Festival tee that is produced every year is a collector’s item; iconic for that year’s fringe.

We are once again reaching out to our Fringe community to design the 2017 festival tee. Join the design contest and you could win $499 (minus the commission taken by 99Designs). The qualifying round of the contest is officially open as of the sending of this newsletter and will close on Sunday, May 1st.

Please see this link for all the guidelines and spread the word to any of your design friends! To enter, set up a (free) profile on 99designs.com.

Join Hollywood Fringe staff and participants every Wednesday for the return of Office Hours! Office Hours are casual meet-ups at different bars around Hollywood that offer you a weekly chance to network and drink with other Fringers.

Make sure to use #drinkingaboutfringe on Twitter or Instagram (as well as #hff17, the official festival hashtag) for updates on locations, specials and more. We’ll also be updating this blog post.

Office hours are always Wednesdays from 7pm-9pm beginning March 30th, at the following bars:

• March 29th - Three Clubs (1123 Vine St.) - $5 Happy Hour drink specials until 10pm
• April 5th - BLACK (6202 Santa Monica Blvd.) – $1 off drinks until 10pm
• April 12th – Lost Property (1704 Vine St.) – Extended happy hour w/ $8 cocktails
• April 19th – Pig N’ Whistle (6714 Hollywood Blvd.) – Special TBD
• April 26th – Melrose Umbrella Co. (7465 Melrose Ave.) – Specialty Fringe-themed cocktail
• May 3rd – St. Felix (1602 N. Cahuenga Blvd.) – Extended happy hour specials 
• May 10th – The Well (6255 Sunset Blvd.) – Extended happy hour specials
• May 17th – BLACK (6202 Santa Monica Blvd.) – $1 off drinks until 10pm
• May 24th – Cellar 43 (1643 N Cahuenga Blvd) – Cocktail & food specials
• May 31st – Three Clubs (1123 Vine St.) - $5 Happy Hour drink specials until 10pm

 Networking is an essential ingredient to your success at Fringe and we’re giving you a ton of opportunities to mix and mingle! Hope to see you #drinkingaboutfringe soon.

On the last day of the festival (June 25th this year) we host our Award Ceremony and Closing Night Party. We hand out two types of awards: the Community Awards (top shows by category and also the all-around “Top of the Fringe” award), which are determined by votes from Fringers; and Sponsored Awards, which are awarded by organizations outside of the Fringe. Check out last year’s award winners here. In order to sponsor an award, you must meet a number of requirements, including the following:

• Naming requirements (no fringe-specific superlatives)
• Requirement to provide a physical award to the winner at the Fringe Award Ceremony
• Details on eligibility and how the winner will be selected
• You may present ONE award (if presenting to multiple awardees, they must all be called to the stage at the same time).
• Presenting organization must be incorporated 

And perhaps most importantly, Sponsored Award applications must be submitted by May 1st. Check out the full list of requirements and a link to the proposal form here.