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2024 Toronto Fringe Festival Lottery

Apply to the Main Venue Category Lottery

2024 Main Lottery Application Guide

2024 Toronto Fringe Participation Policies

Click here for full results of the Lottery Draw.

HOW DOES THE LOTTERY WORK

As a non-juried festival, the Toronto Fringe selects shows at random in a lottery draw to program the festival’s slots in main performance venues. For the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival, this draw took place at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre on December 4, 2023.  In line with all other Fringe Festivals in Canada, The Toronto Fringe does not evaluate the artistic merit of applicants, or the viability of the work – all applicants have the same chance of earning a show slot as the rest of their category.  

An individual can apply to the lottery only once, this is the Main Admin Contact. You must provide a company name at the time of application, and this name cannot be changed at any time thereafter. You must select one category to be drawn from and select a maximum duration. The Toronto Fringe offers multiple main categories to which to apply to, based on the permanent residence of the applicant, duration of show, age demographic of audience, or performance genre. Main venue slots are programmed at conventional theatre spaces which range in size from solo spaces to theatres that seat over 200. You must also select which venue tier you require (does not apply to KidsFest or Teen category). Finally, our lottery is drawn in two phases, in order to ensure at least 50% of participants are Indigenous, Black, or People of Colour. You can indicate that you should be included in the first phase of the draw on the application form. 

Once applications close, unique lottery numbers are assigned to every applicant based on your category. These will be posted to your event application in Eventotron, and an email notification will be sent out. The full list of applicants will also be posted on fringetoronto.com

There are a set number of Main Venue slots available in the festival, and they are approximately allocated in the following amounts: 10% international participants, 10% national participants, 80% Ontario participants. 

All categories were drawn on December 4, 2024. Each category was drawn in three venue tiers, in two phases per tier. The Senior, Dance and General 75-90 min Categories were pulled from an all-tier draw, and the venue size slot was determined by the selected company. Where there are also 2 or less slots available, the category was drawn in a single phase from a General draw. Shows will be assigned to a specific venue at a later date the discretion of the Festival.  All shows will be scheduled for up to 7 performances by the Festival, spread over the 12 days of the festival. Shows in small venues and in the KidsFest and Teen categories will be scheduled for up to 8 performances.  

Lottery Categories

ONTARIO 45-60min

  • Main Admin Contact has landed immigrant status, permanent residency, or Canadian citizenship
  • Main Admin Contact’s permanent address is in the province of Ontario, Canada.
  • Show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes 
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price.
  • Eligible for all venue tiers 

NATIONAL 45-60min

  • Main Admin Contact has landed immigrant status, permanent residency, or Canadian citizenship
  • Main Admin Contact’s permanent address is in Canada (exclusive of Ontario).
  • Show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price.
  • Eligible for all venue tiers 

INTERNATIONAL 45-60min

  • Main Admin Contact’s citizenship is non-Canadian. This category does not include Canadians with dual citizenship.
  • Show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price. 

GENERAL 75-90 min

  • Show duration cannot exceed 90 minutes and is not less than 75 minutes.
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price.
  • Eligible for Medium and Large Venues only. 

DANCE

  • Dance/physical movement must be the primary method of storytelling for the show.
  • Main Admin Contact has landed immigrant status, permanent residency, or Canadian citizenship
  • Main Admin Contact's permanent address is in the province of Ontario, Canada
  • The show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes.
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price.
  • Eligible for all venue tiers, but Small Venues may not be suitable for most conventional dance productions 

KIDSFEST

  • The show must feature work for children (ages 12 and under) and their families.
  • A brief show synopsis is required with application to this category.
  • The show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 30 minutes.
  • This venue is pre allotted to the Family Venue, which is St. Volodymyr Theatre
  • Single tickets may be sold at general admission price or child price (min $15 adult, min $6 ages 12 and under) 

TEEN

  • The show must feature work specifically for and/or by youth between ages 13-18 years.
  • A brief show synopsis is required with application to this category.
  • Main Admin Contact has landed immigrant status, permanent residency, or Canadian citizenship
  • Main Admin Contact's permanent address is in the province of Ontario, Canada
  • The show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes.
  • This venue is pre allotted to the Family Venue, which is St. Volodymyr Theatre
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price or youth price (min $15 adult, min $8 ages 13-18) 

SENIOR

  • The main admin contact must be 60+ years old, or the show must feature work specifically created by adults that are 60+ years old. At least 50% of the company (i.e. cast, creative team, key producing roles) must be 60+ years old. 
  • Main Admin Contact has landed immigrant status, permanent residency, or Canadian citizenship
  • Main Admin Contact's permanent address is in the province of Ontario, Canada
  • The show duration cannot exceed 60 minutes and is not less than 45 minutes.
  • All single tickets are sold at general admission price. 

Venue Tiers

Main venue slots will be pre-allocated to one of three venue size tiers. This is to ensure our festival is the right size for the shows that are drawn, and each show will be placed in a venue that is the correct size it requires. Main Venues are indoor. The total number of main venue slots in each venue tier are determined by the venues in the festival. There are three tiers. A full appendix with more detail about main venues can be found at the end of the Application Guide in Appendix A.

LARGE VENUES

  • Seating capacity of 171 or more
  • 17 slots will be in large venues
  • Shows will receive a max of 7 performances
  • Participant fee is $860 CAD
  • This tier includes: Tarragon Theatre Mainspace (capacity 205), Al Green Theatre (capacity 212) 

MEDIUM VENUES

  • Seating capacity of 91-170
  • 17 slots will be in medium venues
  • Shows will receive a max of 7 performances
  • Participant fee is $800 CAD
  • This tier includes: Tarragon Theatre Extraspace (capacity 108), Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace (capacity 170) 

SMALL VENUES

  • Seating capacity 90 or less
  • 16 slots will be in small venues
  • Shows will receive a max of 8 performances
  • Participant fee is $760 CAD
  • This tier includes: Tarragon Theatre Solo Room (capacity 55), Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (capacity 45) 

In each category slots will be drawn for an allotted number in each venue tier. Where there are 5 or less slots available in a category, events will be drawn from an all-tier draw, and the venue size slot will be determined by the selected company. KidsFest and Teen category slots are pre-allotted to a venue by the Festival. Senior, Dance, and 75-90 MIN categories will be pulled from an all-tier draw, and the venue size slot will be determined by the selected company.

If you are drawn, you will not be able to change your venue tier at a later date. Use the Main Venue Index available in the Main Lottery Application Guide to determine which tier is best suited for the size and scale of your show. 

TWO-PHASE LOTTERY

Toronto Fringe commits to reserving at least 50% of available Fringe slots in the Main Lottery for participants who are Indigenous, Black or People of Colour. The two-phase lottery draw is a measure we’ve implemented to deliberately strengthen equity, diversity and inclusion at the Festival. 

When we hold the 2024 Lottery, each category's draw will have two phases: 

The Main Admin Contact is considered the individual applying who must identify as IBPOC for the application to be included in the first drawing phase. We strongly encourage that applicants who select this also commit to at least half or more of their creative and performance team identifying as IBPOC as well.  

All lottery categories, with the exception of the International category, will be drawn 2-phase for IBPOC artists to fill the first 50% of available slots. Categories which have less than 2 available slots for the lottery will be pulled from a General draw. 

HOW TO APPLY TO THE LOTTERY

Applications must be submitted through Eventotron, the festival management portal. If you require an alternative method or support in submitting your application, contact Associate Producer Suzanne Wilkie at suzanne@fringetoronto.com or by phone at 416-966-1062 ext 228.

Application Deadline: November 29, 2023 by 11:59pm EST

Steps to apply:

  1. Click here to go to eventotron.com
  2. If you have not previously applied to a Toronto Fringe Festival or Next Stage Theatre Festival, you will need to sign-up for a new account. The email you use here to create an account is what we will use to contact you with any information about your application.
  3. Search for our festival in the Festivals & Seasons – 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival 
  4. Click APPLY.
  5. Select “I’m creating a new event” and enter an event title. Click NEXT.

Your Event title is the title of your show. It can change later in the process if you are accepted into the Festival. Please note “TBD”, “TBC”, “Untitled” will not be accepted as an Event title. The application must be completely filled out before submitting.

If you want to see all of the questions that will appear on the form, check out APPENDIX B at the end of the Main Lottery Application Guide.

NOTE: Your form should autosave as you fill it out. To be sure information is not lost, click out of the field you have edited and look for a blue SAVING icon turn to green and say SAVED in the top right corner. You can start filling out your application and submit it at a later time. When you click APPLY, select “My event is already in Eventotron” instead of a new one, and select your existing application from the drop down menu. 

HOW TO PAY THE APPLICATION FEE

Once you have filled out the entire application form, you are ready to submit it and pay the application fee. This year you can Pay What You Wish, either $15, $20, or $25 CAD. You can select to pay online with a credit card, by cheque, or in person with cash. The application fee is non-refundable. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARE DRAWN IN YOUR CATEGORY

If your number is drawn on December 4th, you’ll be offered a slot in the Festival! Results will be posted to fringetoronto.com by the end of the following day. All applicants who were drawn will be contacted by email. To accept the slot, you’ll need to pay the Participant Fee, and you’ll be sent detailed instructions to do so. The deadline to pay and confirm your acceptance of the slot is December 20, 2023. If you decide not to accept the slot, you can forfeit it and we will reach out to the first company on the waitlist in the correct category. 

Once you’ve paid the fee, you’re in! If you need to withdraw for any reason, you are eligible to receive 100% of the Participant Fee refunded if you withdraw by January 8, 2024. If you withdraw after January 8 but up until and including March 15th, 2024, you are eligible to receive 50% of the Participant Fee refunded. After March 15, 2024 you will forfeit 100% of the Participant Fee. There will be a $10 CAD administrative processing fee for any refunds. 

HOW DOES THE WAITLIST WORK

A waitlist will drawn for every category in the Main Venue lottery on December 4, 2023. These numbers will be drawn from a general draw, unconditional of phase or venue tier. If a company that was offered a slot in a category withdraws, the Festival will reach out to the first applicant on that waitlist.  If that applicant is unable to accept it due to the venue size, they can remain on the list, and the Festival will move to the next applicant on the waitlist. You can withdraw from the waitlist at any time, and no fees are owed until you are offered and accept a slot. The Festival will cease offering slots to the waitlist after June 14, 2024. 

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