By Liz Eichler
Here’s a friendly, info-packed guide to help audiences enjoy Cincinnati Fringe Festival 2025! Whether it’s their first time or their fifteenth, this covers everything from history and logistics to show picks that span the full “Fringe-y” spectrum.
🎭 What is Cincinnati Fringe Festival?
The Cincinnati Fringe Festival is a two-week, high-energy celebration of independent, experimental, and boundary-pushing performance art. Produced by Know Theatre of Cincinnati since 2004, it showcases work from local, national, and international artists across genres—think theatre, storytelling, dance, multimedia, puppetry, comedy, and uncategorizable hybrids.
Expect raw, quirky, funny, poignant, political, poetic, storytelling, dance, clowning, puppets and everything in between. It’s also one of the most artist-friendly Fringes in the U.S., with a large percent of ticket sales going to the artists.
🅿️ Parking and Transportation
The Fringe is based in Over-the-Rhine (OTR), the vibrant historic neighborhood just north of downtown Cincinnati. Here’s how to get around:
- Parking: Nearby lots and garages are the best bet. You might be able to find metered street parking (YES, they are monitored). Washington Park Garage and Gateway Garage (also known as the 12th Street Garage) are great options.
- Public Transit: The Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar is free and loops around downtown/OTR—perfect for Fringe-hopping, or exploring the city if you are new to Cincinnati.
- Walking/Biking: Most venues are within a 4-block radius. Bring comfy shoes!
🍔 Food and Drink
You’re in one of Cincinnati’s best dining districts. Since shows are roughly every two hours, you will have time to eat, drink, socialize and get to the next venue. Every night between 5 and 6 is deemed the Fringe Happy Hour at Know Theatre’s Underground Bar. Also every night after 10 pm there are themed nights (TBA). It is a great hang out with artists and audiences alike.
Between shows, you’ll find something for every craving:
- My Favorite Quick Bites: Gomez, Taglio, Taste of Belgium, Bakersfield, Kroger on Court Street
- Coffee: Coffee Emporium (also a venue!)
- Drinks: The Lackman, Rhinegeist Brewery, Taglio, Bakersfield, etc.
👗 What to Wear
Fringe is casual and expressive—come as you are or in full-on glitter and fringe!
Layers are smart since venues vary in temp. Some shows are in air-conditioned theatres, others in cozy, unconventional spaces. Again, wear comfy shoes if you are going to be walking between venues. (Bring an umbrella or rain jacket if the weather calls for it!)
🔒 Help and Safety
OTR is lively and well-patrolled during festival hours, especially near venues and Washington Park. Basic urban safety applies.
Feel free to ask Fringe volunteers (wearing badges) for help or directions.
🎪 Venues
Shows happen in a mix of traditional and pop-up venues, most within a few minutes’ walk of Know Theatre (1120 Jackson St), the festival hub. Key venues include:
- Know Theatre (Mainstage + Underground + HQ) 1120 Jackson Street
- Coffee Emporium – 110 E Central Parkway
- Gabriel’s Corner at Salem United Church of Christ – 1425 Sycamore
- First Lutheran Church Basement – 1208 Race Street
- First Lutheran Church Sanctuary – 1208 Race Street
- Miami University – 1300 Vine Street
⭐ LCT Recommended Shows
Here’s a curated blend of Fringe Favs and Fringier Favs—whether you want to play it safe, stir up your soul, or take a creative leap.
🌟 Fringe Favs (Strong Bets for powerful, well-crafted stories)
If you are new to the Fringe or want to ease your way into the avante garde, these storytellers have been Award winners in past Cincy Fringe or other Fringe Festivals.
- Tea Time (Erika MacDonald from Covington, KY) – A heartfelt story with theatrical warmth and personal connection. Great for first-time Fringers.
- American’t (Jon Bennett from Adelaide, Australia) – “With an electrifying mix of raw storytelling, razor-sharp wit, and one of the most entertaining PowerPoint slide decks I’ve seen” says the program notes. (One of my husband’s can’t miss shows.)
- Every Good Story Ends (Martin Dockery from Brooklyn, NY) – Intricate storytelling with a twist. Thoughtful and unexpected. “a… delightful full speed run at comedy and insights into life”
- Eleanor’s Story (Ingrid from Los Angeles, CA) – A WWII survival tale told with elegance. Moving, accessible, and gorgeously performed.
- A Cabaret of Legends (Dynamite Lunchbox Entertainment from Orlando, FL)- a solo historical cabaret honoring legendary singers like Ella, Billie, Aretha, Tina, Whitney and Beyonce.
🌀 Fringier Favs (Weirder, edgier, different, experimental?)
So many great shows to choose from – from Date Me (yes, it will be interactive), to dance shows (Somewhere over the Holler, Like Moths to a Flame) to many shows with puppets (they tend to be good scene partners!)
- 1 Gay Wedding and Absolutely No Funerals (Local) – Hilarious, fast paced show, Ben Miller-Jones & Justin King had great entries the last two years.
- Winning: Winning (Toronto) – “Sit back and embark on a silent-ish clown journey of self-discovery and transformation to unlock the true winner inside each of us.”
- The Family Crow (Toronto) – Comedy, Puppet Theatre, Murder Mystery. Yes, you read that right. A cult hit across the Fringe circuit.
- Bubblegum (Local) – Experimental, playful, tactile theatre. Could be your favorite surprise; a kids show NOT for kids.
- Traitors (Cincinnati) – Imagine a LGBTQIA+, political, dystopian future.
- Muttnick (Orlando) – The first dog in space tells its life story
💬 Final Fringe Tips
BUY A PASS: Buy tickets in advance—some shows sell out!
Your ticketing choices include:
- See Everything Pass- 36 shows for $330
- Flex Pass – $90 for 5 shows
- Individual Tickets – $20-$24 per show
CHOOSE SHOWS: Read LCT reviews which will be posted HERE, starting Sunday, June 1, in this grid of shows. Many people choose to see 2-4 shows a day, so try a bit of every genre. Not every show is available every day.
Shows are divided into Primary Lineup, Limited Runs, Kids’ Fringe, Fringe Developmental Pieces, and Conceptual Fringe. Some shows only have one performance. Some shows only open in the second week of the Fringe. Use the Fringe Festival GUIDE.
Fringe-ers are friendly—talk to strangers in line–they’ll probably become your new favorite person! AND they may have some recommendations about what shows they’ve enjoyed. Look for local theatre artists–as well as benefactors, business people, Gen Z to Boomers.
Try something you wouldn’t normally see. The weirdest show might become the one you’re still talking about next year, expanding your world view. (Hey, I will always be grateful to learning how to properly administer Narcan, learned at a former Fringe show sponsored by Caracole!)
Refresh your creative spirit. Fringe inspires me to write, to recall my youthful theatre groups and creativity. Do you need a reminder, too?
Let the wild, wonderful world of Fringe surprise you. 🎟️🔥🧠
