What is CAFF?
The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) is an arts service organization formed to support Fringe Festivals. Its membership is comprised of 34 Fringe Festivals that have a similar structure based on its guiding principles. The Association provides mentorship, professional development, and support for its members.
History
The first Canadian Fringe was the Edmonton Fringe Festival (est. 1982). Inspired by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (est. 1947), the success and growth of Edmonton’s adapted formula soon led to the creation of Fringe Festivals across Canada and the United States. Each festival evolved its own flavour to match the distinct personality of its home city, yet each dedicated to the Fringe philosophy of accessible, inexpensive and fun theatre-going.
Ideals
The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals was formed to protect these five guiding principles:
- Participants will be selected on a non-juried basis, through a first-come, first-served process, a lottery, or other method approved by the Association.
- Artists will receive 100% of the tickets and pass price, as agreed upon between the artists and festivals (less any applicable government taxes). Festivals may add a surcharge to tickets and passes.
- Fringe festival producers do not interfere with artistic content of each performance.
- Festivals must provide an easily accessible opportunity for all audiences and all artists to participate in Fringe Festivals.
- Festivals will promote and model inclusivity, diversity and multiculturalism, and will endeavour to incorporate them into all aspects of our organizations including our boards, staff, and volunteers.
Mandate
In 1994, the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals was officially registered as a non-profit organization with the following mandate:
- To safeguard the integrity of Fringe Festivals as outlined in the five Guiding Principles.
- To recognize that the health of all member Festivals is important to the Circuit and therefore the artists’ health as a whole.
- To encourage communication and cooperation between member Festivals thereby fostering the continuity of our guiding principles.
Mission
The mission of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals is to unite, support, empower and strengthen member festivals in order to cultivate and foster independent artistic exploration for artists and audiences across North America
Fringe and Fringe Festival are registered trademarks of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) and cannot be used without expressed written permission from the Association. This trademark allows CAFF to ensure that any theatre festival in Canada that wishes to call itself “Fringe” must abide by the CAFF mandate and the four guiding principles.
CAFF Today
There are currently 34 members of The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals including 11 members in the United States. Canada now enjoys more Fringe Festivals than any other country in the world and each festival is a leader in the development of theatre artists and audiences in its community.
Collectively, CAFF festival audiences are a boon for independent artists. In the last 3 years alone, they have generated more than $10,000,000 in box office revenues, returned directly to our artists.
For Artists
The Fringe provides an unequaled opportunity to bring to light new and innovative works or rarely staged classics. It is also a forum for local artists to mingle and exchange ideas with members of the national and international theatre community. For many groups, the Fringe has brought overnight success with productions being scouted and remounted by numerous established companies such as Mirvish Productions, The World Stage Festival, Magnetic North, and the High Performance Rodeo. Fringe artists have also gone on to win numerous prestigious awards such as the Chalmers Award, the Governor General’s Award for Theatre and Tony Awards.
For Audiences
The Fringe is a unique and exciting menagerie of drama, comedy, musical theatre, clown, dance, and multi-media works… A place of discovery and invention. Fringe audiences also have the unique opportunity to interact with Fringe artists and to share their thoughts about the performances while on the festival site. Fringe audiences are encouraged to spread the word about the great shows they have discovered and post reviews for others to read and consider when planning what shows to see. Typically, it is the audience’s positive word of mouth that has propelled productions to sold-out runs at Fringe Festivals across the continent.
Want to know more? Visit our CAFF Updates.
Jobs & Opportunities
Job Posting: CAFF Administrator
| Term | Part-time contract (5 months until Dec 2025), with aim to offer annual renewal. |
| Hours | This is a part-time contract position to carry out specific deliverables consistently on an ongoing, year-round basis. During the annual conference dates, the position is scheduled daily to oversee facilitation of member attendance. |
| Location | CAFF operates remotely. The annual November conference is held in alternating locations in Canada and the US, which is determined 1-3 years in advance. |
| Compensation | $25 hourly rate, approximately 40 hours a month |
| Deadline to apply | Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled as soon as possible. |
| Start date | July 2025 |
| End date | December 31, 2025 with possibility to renew |
POSITION DESCRIPTION AND OVERVIEW
The Administrator is responsible for organizing and executing the administrative duties of CAFF, in collaboration with the Board of Directors. This support role helps the organization achieve its member-management, development, marketing, and advocacy goals.
The Administrator works closely with and reports to the CAFF Board of Directors.
KEY TASKS
MEMBERSHIP ADMIN
- Maintain regular and organized internal communications with member festivals, including a monthly newsletter.
- Support CAFF in the organization, creation, and distribution of resources for member festivals, maintaining CAFF shared drives and managing member access to files and documents.
- Coordinate and support facilitation of membership-wide virtual Town Hall meetings or other ad-hoc special meetings.
- Liaise with the CAFF board of directors and host festival to support planning, coordination, and execution of the annual CAFF Conference (typically held in November each year)
- Support facilitation of Annual General Meeting, including preparing and distributing AGM packages, setting up secure virtual conference platform, meeting presentations etc. and coordinate virtual attendance of members at AGM (held in January 2026 virtually)
DEVELOPMENT
- Research public and private funding options for CAFF, support preparation of applications and grant management, including preparing and filing reports
- Manage application, execution, and reporting process of Ontario Arts Council grants
- Manage application, execution, and reporting process of Canadian Heritage grants
COMMUNICATIONS
- Manage CAFF website and content, and coordinate messaging and design
- Manage social media channels, create consistent and on-brand content that promotes the mission and values of CAFF
- Support execution of specific communications and outreach strategies in coordination with the Board of Directors, specifically with the Communications and Advocacy Committee.
- Facilitate all other external communications (e-newsletter, media releases, respond to or forward queries to general info email inbox) as required.
OTHER
- Support administration of CAFF Touring Lottery in coordination with the Touring and Artists Relations Committee (late summer/fall)
- Support strategic planning process as required, supporting facilitation of member participation as required.
- Basic secretarial duties at board and committee meetings as required.
To apply, please send a resume and one-page cover letter to admin@fringefestivals.com with the subject line “CAFF Administrator Application”. Please apply by July 10th, 2025. 11:59 PM EST.