At a time of world uncertainty, the renegades and rule-breakers of art are back with silly and searing short performances

The antidote to a world outside that is rife with mischief and mayhem, says Ann Sabbah, is the mischief, mayhem – and magic – of the burgeoning Denver Fringe Festival.

There’s no denying: It’s tense out there in the world. Which makes this just the right time for artists who operate way out of the mainstream to take over Denver for a weekend of off-kilter experimentation, investigation, frivolity and play.

Denver Fringe is upon us. Send in the clowns!

Denver Fringe is an annual, four-day performance festival held primarily in the RiNo Art District and Five Points neighborhoods, but extending west to the Bug Theatre, east to The People’s Building in Aurora and, new for 2026: north to Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery at 800 E. 73rd Ave. 

The program features 80 bold, original (and short!) (and affordable!) offbeat shows from the worlds of theater, comedy, dance, cabaret, circus and the immersive arts. They will be performed in 22 venues that are both traditional theaters and unexpected playgrounds like Fort Greene Bar, Union Hall and the Learned Lemur.

Sabbah, who birthed the Fringe in 2020 amid the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic shutdown, said last year that the trend in the local fringe scene was a preponderance of clown shows. This year: More clowns!

“What I think is so much fun is that the clown community in Denver has come even more alive over this past year,” Sabbah said. “We’ve had all kinds of community networking events for people to just come together and collaborate and workshop.”

But fringe attracts a whole ethos of unconventional dreamers. The glorious misfits and beautiful weirdos. The creative outliers. The oddballs and the originals. Renegades and rule-breakers. The squarest of pegs.

So, why so many clowns? 

“Well, because everything is so serious and depressing right now,” said Sabbah. “The appeal of watching clowning, I think, is the enjoyment of watching someone take risks while also being invited into the act of play yourself. You’re not asked to sit back and just observe. I think that’s perhaps key to what people are responding to.”

The mission of Denver Fringe is to support independent artists from Denver and around the world in the cultivation of new work. There will be free sidewalk pop-up performances, free “Kids Fringe” activities at both the Savoy Denver and The People’s Building, and two FringeART shows featuring dozens of local artists. Overall, the 2026 lineup will feature about 275 participating artists – a third of them traveling from outside Denver.

Nothing is more than an hour, and nothing costs more than $20. Sabbah proudly boasts that 70% of ticket revenue goes straight to the performers.

Denver Fringe is becoming a really big deal – for artists and audiences alike. Sabbah expects to surpass last year’s attendance of about 6,600, one adventurous freak at a time.

“One of  the things that feels most meaningful to me is just the expanding diversity of voices,” Sabbah said. “For example, we have a commedia in Spanish. We have a bilingual puppet show. We have three different groups of performers who are of South Asian heritage. We have good representation from the disability community, and from the trans and queer communities. We have at least 16 BIPOC-led shows.

“So I feel that we are serving the broader community of Denver,” Sabbah said.

Denver Fringe, adds aerial dance performer Karlyn Griswold, “has become such an inclusive, accessible community staple with space for everyone to showcase their work, with no barriers to entry. It makes me hopeful that the arts are very much alive and providing a place for people to truly be themselves.”  

There is something about the Denver Fringe “that feels really welcoming,” Sabbah said. “It feels like a place where you can tackle just about any topic.”

And in 2026, that means politics. “Although, I would prefer to say, ‘topical theater,’” Sabbah said.

“I was actually a little bit concerned this year, just given the atmosphere of political fear and loathing in our country right now. I thought that maybe people just weren’t feeling comfortable putting themselves out there and taking risks – but it’s actually been the opposite.

“In this environment where we’re polarized, and we’re feeling very real fears about the future, and we have all these worries about AI, like nothing is real anymore – there’s this feeling of distrust.

“But the arts ask us to lean in and come closer, and certainly fringe theater asks us to do that in a way that is more intimate and more interactive and more spontaneous. Things are happening in real time on the stage, and as an audience member, you’re feeling this thrill that you are in on something that’s real and you’re enjoying it in a room with a bunch of other real people.”

The performer might not have everything quite worked out yet. They might exceed all your expectations beautifully – or they might fail.

“That’s kind of what’s so interesting about it,” Sabbah said.

How to Fringe

The bigger the Fringe lineup gets, the more daunting your decisions. So what is a first-time fringer to do? With so many different types of performances spread out over so much terrain, Sabbah encourages a “choose your own adventure” strategy.

The Fringe website makes it easy to manageably filter your choices based on your interests and availability.

For example, you can filter by genre among 24 possible choices, including standup comedy, dance, BIPOC, LGBTQ, burlesque, family friendly and free shows. Or you might choose to keep driving to a minimum by choosing your own HQ venue and go from there.

For example, you might camp at the classy Savoy Denver (2700 Arapahoe St.), which has two performing spaces and therefore twice the offerings. You can walk from there to several other Fringe venues, including Redline Contemporary Art Center, Rise Comedy and The Shop at Matter bookstore.

Or you might also pick the bustling People’s Building, which has added a second basement venue. No need to go anywhere else.  

However you choose, you can’t really go wrong if you go into it with an open mind.

“I think the festival is a great way for people to explore something new,” Sabbah said. “And honestly, I think it is addictive. Once you try it, once you experience one show, you’re curious for more. You’re like, ‘Well, that was new to me. I’m kind of piqued. Now, I would like to have another new experience.’”

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at [email protected].

Seven to consider

Here are seven representative titles that show the breadth of your programming choices at the Denver Fringe Festival:

• ‘Maude Carpenter’s ‘The Thing!’: A new horror-rock musical from the creators of ‘The Android’s New Soul’ (Jeff LaGreca and Suzanne Slade). When a snowstorm traps students at a private all-girls’ school, an eccentric misfit convinces the others to stage her unhinged parody of John Carpenter’s 1982 cult classic. 7:30 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday at The Bug Theatre.
• ‘Black and Blue’: This one-man, multi-character play by Jamar Gilbert is an examination of what it is to be Black in this country in 2026. This show unpacks a question that Gilbert says has haunted him forever:  ‘How do I survive in this Black skin that has never come with a manual?’ It won the Hollywood Fringe Festival’s Exchange Award, which earned it a primo slot at Denver Fringe. 5 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday at Savoy Denver.  
• ‘Forgiving Alabama’: Award-winning Colorado actor Lou Anne Wright performs this new comedy by her acclaimed playwright husband William Missouri Downs that dives headfirst into the beautiful mess of growing up in the 1970s South — big hair, beauty-shop wisdom and the fine art of proper etiquette. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Savoy Flex.
• ‘Strange Root’: A historical contemporary circus experience guiding audiences through pivotal political and societal moments that have profoundly shaped the African American experience. With Julia Baccellieri and Lex Alston. 9 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cleo Parker Robinson Center for the Healing Arts.
• ‘Just Letting You Know’: When a trans student comes out to their teacher, that teacher must face what it means to be an ally. Written and performed by Sam Charney with Emma Rebecca Maxfield. 5 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Hope Tank.
• ‘Broken Roots’: Two best friends convinced of the coming apocalypse put themselves into a biome to try to recreate the world. Warning: Gun brandishing and suicide. It’s said to be a comedy! 5 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday at IDK Studios.
• ‘Agape’: Amid Denver’s housing crisis of 2008-10, two kids from Green Valley Ranch form a trauma bond that carries them into adulthood. Very Denver-topical. 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Sunday at The People’s Building.

Denver Fringe/If You Go

• What: Denver Fringe Festival; 80 unjuried acts spanning all genres of the performing arts.
• Where: Twenty-two venues, most in RiNo and Five Points but spread throughout Denver and Aurora.
• Length: Most shows are 60 minutes or less
• When: Preview performances at a party to be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater. Festival runs Thursday through Sunday (June 4-7).
• Cost: Nothing more than $20; full festival passes $95; kids events are free.
• Information: denverfringe.org