Now in its 22nd year, the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival resists strict definition. Its artists and performances explore the peculiar and experiment with the irregular; they take familiar mediums, like film or music or theater, and drag them into unfamiliar places. It’s strange, striking, beautiful, evocative — and unforgettable.
This year’s more than 60 performances take place Sunday, March 17-Sunday, March 24 at venues all around the city.
Here are just a few of the can’t-miss events:
Fringe Short Films | Monday, March 18 | Times vary | Grail Moviehouse, 17 Foundy St., Ste. 10, Asheville | $16 | The work of local, national, and international filmmakers takes to the silver screen.
Artificial Poetry Cabaret | Thursday, March 21, Saturday, March 23 | Times vary | Citizen Vinyl, 14 O’Henry Ave., Asheville | $16 | Channeling the subversive cabarets of the early 20th century, Poetry Cabaret Collective explores human words from human mouths with an electric AI voice backdrop.
Meow-Derous Intent | Thursday, March 21, Saturday, March 23 | 9 p.m. | LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St., Asheville | $16 | Two zoology interns find themselves in a cross-species game of cat + mouse — presented by You Should Feel Bad.
Bad Ties marries words, songs, and visuals.
Photo by Jennifer Bennett
Bad Ties Presents Tiegotten and Yawni | Thursday, March 21-Friday, March 22 | 9 p.m. | One World Brewing - West Asheville, 520 Haywood Rd., Asheville | $16 | Beat poetry renegades will share a show of new music + projected visuals.
The Garden of Edith | Friday, March 22, Sunday, March 24 | Times vary | The BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St., Asheville | $16 | Kathleen Niemann’s solo show dances and wanders through the seasons to search for an answer to the question: Why farming?
Daughter of a Nymph Divine | Friday, March 22, Sunday, March 24 | Times vary | Noir Collective AVL, 39 S. Market St., Ste. C, Asheville | $16 | Synamin Vixen will journey through a sensory expansion of her book with a meditation of grief, pleasure, and sweet silence.
The Princess Strikes Back | Friday, March 22, Sunday, March 24 | Times vary | Story Parlor, 227 Haywood Rd., Asheville | $16 | Victoria Montalbano was introduced to her perfect man, Han Solo, when she was 13 — and she’s been searching for the space cowboy of her dreams ever since.
The strange daughters butoh performance will be intimate, experimental, and improvisational.
Photo by Jennifer Bennett
Moth Eyes On My Eidolon | Saturday, March 23 | 12-3 p.m. | Fleetwood’s, 496 Haywood Rd., Asheville | Free | Strange daughters butoh honors our shadow selves during this intimate dance piece — bring a representative item for the altar.
Drip, Drop, Splash Picasso Here | Saturday, March 23 | 3-3:30 p.m. | Marquee Asheville, 36 Foundy St., Asheville | Free | Movement and color abound as three dancers cavort in paint, canvas, and paper.
Bastard the Bunny | Saturday, March 23-Sunday, March 24 | Times vary | The Argot Room, 717 Haywood Rd., Asheville | $16 | Nate Puppets will take you on a romp through a real-life-inspired mental breakdown.
Nate Puppets dives deep into a world of mental illness.
Photo by Jennifer Bennett
There’s lots more listening, watching, and partying to be done, so check out the full schedule. If you plan to fill your calendar, you can grab a 2024 Asheville Fringe Freak Pass for access to up to 12 of the ticketed shows.
