Toronto Fringe Festival kicks off June 30 with 123 eclectic shows across 27 venues
The 38th annual festival runs through July 12, featuring stand-up, improv, dramas, musicals, and works that defy categorization.
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Toronto's 38th annual Fringe Festival begins June 30 and runs until July 12, featuring 123 small-scale shows across 27 venues around the city.
Fringe festivals function as theatre's rebellious cousins — shows are selected at random, creating an eclectic mix of stand-up, improv comedy, dramas, musicals, and works too odd to categorize. All productions are self-produced, with the majority of ticket revenue going directly to creators. The format is designed for maximum discovery and venue-hopping.
Among the standouts: Minimum, a satirical comedy at Factory Theatre Mainspace where comedians imagine what would happen if Doug Ford lost his six-figure government salary and had to live on Ontario's provincial minimum wage of $36,608 (before tax). The show won best in venue at Hamilton Fringe in 2025.
By Popular Demand, at Native Earth's Minogitoon Workspace, is a cabaret-style show from Toronto comedian Janelle McGuiness featuring sketches, musical crowd work, and jokes about the Great Depression 2.0. McGuiness won Toronto's best in Fringe in 2019.
Evie and Alfie: A Very British Love Story, at Soulpepper's Michael Young Theatre, features British comedy veterans Alex Dallas and Jimmy Hogg in a 60-minute show about a retiring couple's routine of tea, bird-watching, and puttering.
Tortoise, the Hare and the Truth, at Sweet Action Theatre, is a reimagining of the classic fable by Toronto's self-described "freakiest clown cult," with an 18A advisory and no fourth wall between performers and audience.
