Page 38 - Fiji Traveller 2024 Issue 6
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The Fiji Fringe Festival
A guide
Get ready for the 2024 Fiji Fringe Festival, which will be held This year’s festival will be held at the University of the South
in Suva and Nadi this March. Pacific’s (USP) Laucala Campus, and at the Vou Hub in Nadi.
Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister, Manoa Kamikamica has lent his Director of the USP Oceania Centre, Larry Thomas believes
support to the festival, saying a world without art would be a the beauty of the Fiji Fringe Festival is the direct benefit to
bleak and worrying place. artists, as they get 80% of ticket sales and do not have to pay
“The Fiji Fringe Festival serves as a platform that celebrates for staging and production costs. He says artists do not receive
the creative arts and the role it plays in fostering and nurturing as much support as they should in Fiji and the Pacific, “Yet, we
Fijian artists, and provides the stages for our locals to showcase go to them and we ask them to come and dance, paint a picture
their God-given talents,” the Deputy PM said at the recent launch or sing a song.
of ticket sales. “There is so much happening. At USP, we have the Oceania
“The festival stands as a testament to celebrate the celebration Dance, Pasifika Voices, which has been going for a while. And
of diversity, community and learning within the vibrant artistic with Covid, I think that's when everyone realised, we need the
landscape of Fiji.” arts.”
The inaugural Fiji Fringe Festival last year hosted 262 local While urging more support for this critical sector, he believes
artists, attracted 11,361 audience members and saw participating the future looks bright, as Fijian artists are producing work of
artists collectively earn $80,000, says its organiser. international quality.
Festival Founder and Director, Sharleen Ali says in 2024, the “Our artists have exhibited in the UK, they've exhibited in Paris,
aim is to again provide opportunities for young local artists to they have exhibited internationally, and their art, particularly
showcase their talents in dance, music and theatre. contemporary art, is of a very high standard. You know, I work
“We are going bigger,” Ali says. “There’s a lot more people with artists all the time and I've seen the development over the
coming in to showcase their work in terms of art and people last quarter of a century. And it's just very, very impressive.”
creating pieces. [There’s] a lot more SMEs wanting to come Tickets for the Fiji Fringe Festival are on sale on the Ticketmax
in and sell products. So [we’ll have] creative artists, young platform, with platform founder, George Fong saying: “We have
performers, theatre, dance sessions, we’ve also got comedians been really proud to support the arts in Fiji. To date we've sold
coming back.” tickets for over 40 events. What I saw was that a lot of artists and
The Fiji Fringe Festival will also provide an opportunity for a entertainers struggle with selling tickets, and moving into the
selected artist or group to perform at the Adelaide Fringe Festival digital space. And that's a big reason why I developed, designed
in 2025, and for artists from the Adelaide Festival to come to Fiji. and developed this platform to allow organisers an easy way to
“We will be announcing the winner [of this opportunity] at the be able to sell the tickets, manage their sales, reconciliations,
end of Fringe and then they go to Adelaide the year after that. and payout in an easy and transparent manner.”
And Adelaide pays for their accommodation, they pay for the
marketing, there’s a huge list,” says Ali. She is in discussions For tickets to Fiji Fringe Festival events, visit ticketmax.com.fj
with two fringe festivals in Italy about the possibility of similar
exchanges.
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