ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The long-running alternative arts celebration The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival returns next weekend for its 23rd year of creative, kooky and eclectic performances.

Fringe Fest, as the festival is popularly known, will bring around 40 acts to seven venues around Asheville between Sunday, March 16 and Sunday, March 23.

“I think the simplest way to describe it is to say that it’s a festival that celebrates work that’s outside the mainstream,” summarized Erinn Hartley, artistic director of Fringe Fest. “We want artists to push the edges of their work, try new things, you know. A large majority of everything you’re going to see probably wouldn’t be put on by a large main stage company. It’s a place where people are taking risks.”

Erinn Hartley has been the artistic director of Fringe Fest for years. Hartley has been involved with the festival in one way or another since 2009.

Fringe Fest acts range from non-linear theater to puppeteers to international performance art. Hartley gave an example from the 2025 Fringe Fest schedule.

“We have an artist named Flamy Grant. She is a drag queen who came from a Christian upbringing and she is the only drag queen to ever hit the top Christian charts,” Hartley said. “Anything goes, right? We have a lot of mixed media.”

A central tenet of Fringe Fest is affordability. Hartley emphasized the efforts that the festival makes to lower the financial barrier between the arts and the public as much as possible. Tickets for each of the 40-odd shows, for instance, are $16 apiece, each at an hour long.

There are also numerous shows free for the community called “Random Acts of Fringe.” These events aren’t ticketed and range anywhere from 11 minutes to an hour and a half.

“They pop up all over the place,” Hartley said.

One RAF will be held at LEAF Global Arts, an arts center on Eagle Street in downtown Asheville which serves as one of the seven Fringe Fest venues.

LEAF Global Arts, one of seven primary venues for the 23rd rendition of The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival.

“One that’s going to happen in this space is called The Wish Night Market, and that’s an interactive installation by an artist named Jo Anna Dane,” Hartley explained. “That’s one of the ones I’m really excited about. She creates just a really sweet experience.”

The other artists participating in the festival can be found on the Fringe Fest website, which features the most up-to-date version of the event schedule. Tickets can be purchased there as well.

For more information, visit www.ashevillefringe.org and stay tuned for further Fringe Fest coverage from 828newsNOW.