THE CAFF TOURING LOTTERY IS BACK AND IS NOW OPEN!
Please read the information below before proceeding to the application button at the bottom of the page.
The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals is pleased to announce that the CAFF Touring lottery is back for another year. Please find all information regarding the lottery, this year’s available tour stops, dates and how to apply below.
Dates:
| October 17th at 12:00pm, EDT | CAFF Touring Lottery opens for applications |
| October 29th at 7pm EDT | Touring Lottery Info Session with Touring Artist Relations Committee Co-Chairs Kenny Streule (Montreal Fringe) and Suzanne Wilkie (Toronto Fringe) To register, please fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/Tih8w5cGXcRUwUsb9 |
| November 3rd at 11:59pm PST | CAFF Touring Lottery applications close |
| November 5th | CAFF Touring Lottery Draw |
Eligibility and Guidelines
- Applicants (company or primary contact) must have previously participated in a Fringe Festival to be eligible
- Applicants must submit a $35.00 (CAD) non-refundable application processing fee
- All applicants must agree to abide by both the CAFF Safer Spaces Policy and Member Festivals’ Codes of Conduct.
- .Applicants must select a minimum of THREE CAFF member festivals.
- Only one application per individual/company will be accepted.
How does the lottery/application work?
Selecting your application stream/identifiers.
The number of available touring slots is determined by the number of slots each festival is able to offer.
As a response to current cultural inequity on festival stages, the CAFF Touring Lottery has a priority draw that reserves 50% of available slots in each of the three categories for Indigenous artists, Black artists, and other artists of colour. This category will be self identified. Artists identified in this category will be selected first. Those not selected will be added to the general lottery for the remaining slots.
Each applicant will apply to one of the following categories: Canadian, American, or International.
- Canadian: My permanent address is in Canada. While I may spend time elsewhere, I am a Canadian resident.
- American: My permanent address is in the United States. While I may spend time elsewhere, I am an American resident.
- International: My permanent address is not in Canada or the US. I am not a Canadian or US resident
And self identify as BIPOC (if applicable).
Choosing your number of slots and selecting your festivals
Each applicant must select a minimum of three festivals. In an effort to promote more regional touring and to respond to some of the financial and time pressures associated with extended touring, in 2023 we lowered the minimum number of festivals an applicant must select to three.
Examples of smaller regional tours:
- Florida – 1) Orlando Fringe, 2) Fringe Fort Myers, 3) Tampa Fringe
- Northeast Tour – 1) Montreal, 2) Ottawa, 3) Toronto
- Ontario – 1) Ottawa, 2) Toronto 3) Hamilton 5) Kingston or Guelph, 6) London
When applying, we encourage artists to provide first and second choices. Many festivals have overlapping dates due to a short festival season and applicants will have the opportunity to select a first and second festival choice when two or more festivals have overlapping dates. The selection of a second festival choice is totally optional, and companies can utilize this feature if they are interested in performing in either festival on their tour.
CAFF will determine your best tour based on availability of slots at each festival.
Researching your festival selections
IMPORTANT NOTE: Every CAFF member festival is unique and has its own policies and procedures when it comes to a maximum ticket price, number of performances, scheduling, venue sizes etc. It is the responsibility of the applicant to fully research and understand all of the policies for each festival they plan on applying to.
The list of participating CAFF member festivals and the basic information for each can be found below.
To consult this year’s available slots, click the button below!
More Information: CAFF’s 50% BIPOC Lottery Priority
The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals recognizes that festival stages in Canada and the United States have historically been dominated by artists of European/colonial descent, and we acknowledge that a broader cultural representation of our community should be represented in Fringe Festival spaces. CAFF is committed to prioritizing and working to eliminate barriers to artists who are underrepresented on Fringe Festival stages in Canada and the United States, including (but not limited to): Indigenous Artists, Black Artists, and Artists of Colour.
BIPOC DEFINITION – For the purpose of the CAFF Touring Lottery, the term ‘BIPOC,’ in a North American context, refers to Indigenous peoples (those whose ancestors inhabited a country or region at the time when European colonizers/settlers arrived), Black, People of Colour (racialized people). Also see the ‘Global Majority’ as defined by Rosemary Campbell-Stephens: “Global majority is a collective term that encourages those of African, Asian, Latin American, and Arab descent to recognize that together they comprise the vast majority (around 80 per cent) of people in the world. Understanding the truth that whiteness is not the global norm has the power to disrupt and reframe our conversations on race.”
Please note that CAFF recognizes that there are equity-seeking artists who face systemic barriers that are not included in this defined category. We will continually evaluate the parameters of this category to ensure it remains relevant in response to the inequities on festival stages.
CAFF Safer Spaces Policy and Codes of Conduct
All CAFF Member Fringe Festivals have adopted policies on harassment, discrimination, bullying and violence, as part of our approach and commitment to providing festival environments in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.
All artists/collectives participating in a CAFF Member Fringe Festival are expected to abide by these policies during their participation including leading up to and during festivals. Applicants are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the policies and reporting structures of each festival on your tour. The primary contact of the applicant company is responsible for informing all company members of these policies and structures.
If CAFF receives any information regarding a CAFF Touring Lottery performing company, or any of its associated artists, being in violation of a Member Fringe Festival’s Safer Spaces Policy and/or Code of Conduct, these issues will be taken seriously and reviewed.
Questions?
The CAFF Touring lottery is administered by the Touring Artist Committee (tarc@fringefestivals.com ) and the CAFF Administrator (admin@fringefestivals.com). Questions can be directed to both of these email addresses.