The outdoor hub of the Ottawa Fringe Festival has secured a new location for the 2015 season, settling concerns among the theatre community that construction would force a move entirely indoors. The $100-million Ottawa Art Gallery and Arts Court redevelopment project will be shifting the festival beer tent and courtyard from its original site.
For over a decade, the festival’s traditional summer beer garden has been hosted in Waller Park, near the University of Ottawa.
It will now be relocated to the west side of the Arts Court building. The beer tent and seating area will remain under the sun, but the outdoor stage and an additional bar will be moving indoors, says Patrick Gauthier, the festival’s director.
“It’s a story of short-term pain for long-term gain,” says Gauthier.
Once completed, the building redevelopments will centralize activities within the Arts Court and double the amount of theatre spaces within the building, he says. A multi-purpose room with two outdoor terraces will become the permanent festival bar space, he says.
The 18th edition of the annual production will take place in June.
The unique festival gives 100 per cent of box office sales to the respective artists.
Without profit from ticket sales, the beer tent serves as an important source of funding to run the festival, says Gauthier.
“It becomes the festival hub. It’s a place where audiences and artists can gather and hangout and it really gives the Fringe a strong festival feeling,” he says. “Revenue is important, but the buzz and the energy the courtyard creates is equally important.”
Through a lottery style draw, 20 theatre companies are placed in official Fringe venues such as the Arts Court library and theatre. Of the lottery spots, 50 per cent are reserved for local Ottawa or Gatineau artists.
The remaining 30 per cent are held for Canadian artists outside of the city and two spots are kept for youth theatre companies.
Artists who are not drawn in the lottery or have a site-specific performance can apply with their chosen location through a “bring your own venue (BYOV) system. Last year, 18 of the 60 festival productions were BYOVs, adding nine unique venues to the lineup.
At the end of the 2014 Fringe Festival, theatre goers toasted farewell to Waller Park and what they assumed would be the last year for the outdoor courtyard, says Amanda Logan.
The local theatre artist has been a festival attendee for years, participating in the festival as both a makeup designer and stage manager last season.
“No one knew what was going to happen, and there were many doubts they could find another venue outside,” says Logan. “It is a massive sigh of relief that it will remain outdoors and stay close by.”
The social aspect the courtyard offers is invaluable, says Logan. “You make new friends, connections. I’ve even been presented with new theatre opportunities and contracts from the people I’ve met there,” says Logan.
The major facelift on the 144-year-old Arts Court building will be breaking ground this spring. The project is expected to take two years to complete, with full access to the new facilities ready for the 2017 festival.