Send Diana to Edinburgh Fringe and the World Fringe Congress

Help me get to Edinburgh Fringe and the World Fringe Congress in Stockholm!

My name is Diana Brown, I was born and raised in Atlanta GA, and I got a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from Georgia State University. During college, I helped found an ensemble, No More Productions, which later became Twinhead Theatre, Inc., a registered nonprofit theatre organization. As part of that creative group, I wrote, produced, performed, and sometimes even directed over 60 original comedy productions.

One of our long-term goals as a nonprofit was to somehow entice a Fringe festival to set up shop in Atlanta. Fringes are unjuried, uncensored, multidisciplinary performing arts festivals that attract artists from all over the world; our company (but, alas, not me) took a show to the 2006 Minnesota Fringe and they could not stop raving about what an incredibly creatively motivating and inspiring time it was to be surrounded by so many artists trying to achieve the same thing you are, making weird profound wacky shows, touring the world, and the entire city seemingly in love with live theatre and performance. We knew we wanted that for Atlanta.

Our chance came in 2010, when the Little 5 Points Business Association was contemplating sponsoring a theatre festival, but wanted to make sure the shows stayed within the ethos of the neighborhood - quirky. Weird. "Make it a Fringe festival," I instantly suggested. "That's what they're for. You'll get weird whether you want it or not."

For the past 12 years, I've organized the Atlanta Fringe Festival, serving as executive director alongside an incredibly talented team of volunteers. When we started the event, I was working in a breakfast restaurant; later, I was a part-time copywriter, a podcaster, and a petsitter. Gigs work because they're flexible, and I can drop them when the fringe festival load is heavy and pick them up with it's not; but they also don't work, because I haven't ever really had the money to invest in myself.

I've managed to send myself to four United States Association of Fringe Festivals conferences, where I've learned a ton and met so many lifelong colleagues; I've managed to attend three Orlando Winter Mini-Fringes and one New Orleans Fringe. But I've never yet been to the mother of all fringe festivals, Edinburgh Fringe, the largest live performing arts event in the world. And though our Fringe has been a member for several years, I've also not yet been able to attend a World Fringe Congress, where hundreds of fringe festival producers and organizers (there are more than 300 worldwide) come together to meet, share insights, build unifying fringe policies, and inspire programs.

I think this lack of professional development, of both myself and my contacts list, has been detrimental to the nonprofit. Our growth has been slow but steady for 12 years, partly for funding reasons; but having a representative showing face at events, taking part in panels, meeting artists and producers, and seeing shows raises a festival's profile in a huge way, too. Some embiggening is an order.

That's why I'm asking for support to send myself to the Edinburgh Fringe and to the World Fringe Congress this August, the 17th-31st.

THAT SEEMS SOON!

You're right! I am scrambling to get this together, but I want to go this year especially because Hollywood Fringe has created a USA artists mixer and curated cabaret. That means there are dedicated chances to meet and chat with US-based touring artists and US festival producers as well as the global fringe community. I can kill so many birds with this one stone, y'all. (Not that I have anything against birds.)

SCHEDULE:

HOW MUCH ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

It's expensive – that's why I haven't been able to go on my own dime. If I have to pay full price for all hard costs, I'll need a little over $5,000 to accomplish this.

Total: $5,640

I have several irons in the fire to raise money besides this, but there are several drawbacks to each:

Since there's so many variables at play, I'm setting the goal for this fundraiser for the full amount. However, I will keep the page and the goal updated if any resources come in or funds are awarded.

I could not ask for a better "embiggening" opportunity than spending two weeks attending these events and absorbing all the wisdom, creativity, and contact information I can – or a more amazing opportunity to spread the good word about the Atlanta Fringe to the global Fringe community.

Thank you for reading this and thank you for your support!