19/11/2025
So where did The Canberra Fringe Festival go?
As CFF and Multi Culti lovers will know, after more than a decade in the hands of founders Jorian Gardner and dearest Domenic Mico, and later Nick Byrne, PJ Williams, Gregor Murray, and myself, the ACT Government chose to discontinue financial support for the beloved event at its home on the fringes of the National Multicultural Festival.
And yet Canberra does need a Fringe. In my view, it deserves to stand tall on its own—working in partnership with Sydney Fringe and Melbourne Fringe, and supporting the artists who travel between these two brilliant east-coast stalwarts.
The constant seeding of new festivals doesn’t help us build identity; it leaves nothing long-term for the community to hold onto as ours. Thank goodness for the National Multicultural Festival and Floriade. Whatever nitpicking the public throws at them, they are ours. We made them. They are pillars of our cultural identity.
These things take time.
And whether it’s me or someone else who takes the reins, I look forward—eagerly—to seeing The Canberra Fringe Festival return in magnificent fruition in the years ahead.
Love,
Chenoeh
