Sydney Fringe launches artist support fund after cancelling 2021 festival

The ongoing impact of the pandemic has forced the Sydney Fringe Festival to cancel for the second year in a row.

Independent arts festival the Sydney Fringe has pulled the plug on its 2021 festival due to the ongoing COVID situation in NSW.

The ongoing Sydney lockdown, while absolutely necessary for the public good, has complicated the situation for Sydney Fringe staff and artists alike, Glasscock explained.

‘This year has been all about reducing the financial risk and burden on artists and safeguarding the levels of risk that they would undertake this year,’ Glasscock said.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's former National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts