Toronto Fringe has announced that its 37th annual festival will be hosted in a new entertainment hub at Soulpepper Theatre in the historic Distillery District.
The location will allow the festival, which takes place July 2 to 13, to host five performance venues in one building.
These spaces include Soulpepper’s Michael Young Theatre, Tank House Theatre, Cabaret, TD Studio and RBC Studio.
Meanwhile, the atrium will be used for the Fringe patio, festival box office and to advertise free ancillary programming, according to a press release.
In 2025 the festival expects to host more than 75 shows in venues that will also include Alumnae Theatre, Native Earth’s Aki Studio and more yet to be announced.
Executive director Rachel Kennedy and managing director Laura Paduch, co-leads of Toronto Fringe, said artists and audiences have asked for venues to be closer together so they can maximize the number of shows they see in a day.
"We are thrilled to have found a way to make this dream a reality," they said. "We have seen this hub model thrive in internationally acclaimed fringe festivals in cities like Edinburgh and Edmonton, and can’t wait to bring that same energy here.”
"Many shows on Soulpepper’s stages in the last two years got their start at the Toronto Fringe Festival," added Soulpepper's executive director Gideon Arthurs, who said the festival hub will build a stronger future for theatre artists in the city.
Toronto Fringe said the festival brought more than $2 million in tourist spending to the city this year. Organizers are looking forward to expanding the Fringe Festival to the east side of downtown.
Applications are now open for the 2025 version of the grassroots festival's main venue lottery. Find more information here.
