The Fort Collins Fringe Festival returned June 11-14, 2026, after a long hiatus due to Covid.
The 2026 festival featured 25+ artists with 50+ performances across 6 venues. Each venue had a flyer with a QR code asking audience members to nominate their favorite show for the Audience Choice Awards.
At the end of the weekend, we had received over 200 nominations. Here are a few fun facts about the return of the Fringe:
- 1,623 tickets sold across 50+ performances
- $15,000+ going directly to artists from ticket sales
- 40+ volunteers helped make the magic happen
The 2026 winners are:
Most likely to be talked about at Dinner: Synergy, A dance performance collaboration
Most original: What Ails Adelaide
Most likely to come back: Plastered Peter Pan
Best Solo show: Dreamer After Midnight
Best ensemble show: Monster Story
Audience Choice Award: The Greatest ShowWoman
winner: Most likely to be talked about at Dinner
Synergy, A Dance Performance Collaboration
“It was a wonderful mix of movement and storytelling.”
“It was wonderful! Great display of human connection.”
Genre: Dance & Physical Theatre
Venue: Bas Bleu Theatre
Produced By: Collaboration of NoCo Artists
winner: Most original
what Ails Adelaide
“Poetic and funny and beautifully composed. The way the cast comes together in this is pure chemistry. I want to see it again!!!”
“I cried and felt like it was therapy, but entertaining.”
Genre: Dance & Physical Theatre
Venue: Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center
Produced By: Heather Ostberg Johnson / Jess MacMaster
winner: most likely to come back
Plastered Peter Pan
“A hilarious performance with an incredible group of performers. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each play I’ve seen from them!”
“Great story awesome cast great audience participation, want to come see more Fort Collins theatre because of acting tipsy”
Genre: Theatre
Venue: Bas Bleu Theatre
Produced By: Acting Tipsy Theatre Co.
winner: Best Solo Show
Dreamer After Midnight
“This show is deep, honest, funny, relatable, and so creative while staying grounded in reality.”
“The passion, honesty and acting is powerfully engaging. Jesus’s acting range and ability to transition from serious topics to hilarious moments was breathtaking.”
Genre: Theatre
Venue: Sound Bar Main Stage
Produced By: Teatro Latino FoCo
winner: Best ensemble show
Monster Story
“The show was jam packed of fun, cool, and athletic pieces. The storyline was enchanting and very thought out.”
“Monster story is creative, immersive and a whole lot of heart.”
Genre: Circus
Venue: Fort Collins Circus Center
Produced By: Highly Classified
winner: Audience Choice Award
The Greatest ShowWoman
“Because these women are so talented and amazing! The show was spectacular in every way!”
“From start to finish, the show was INCREDIBLE!!! We learned, we laughed, we cried! It was amazing!!”
Genre: Circus
Venue: Bas Bleu Theatre
Produced By: The Greatest ShowWoman
Congratulations to all the winners! And most of all, thank you. FoCo Fringe wouldn’t be possible without the bold creativity of our artists and performers.
We hope you’ll join us in 2027: please save the date for next year’s festival: June 9 – 13, 2027. Artist applications will open in the fall.
Learn more about the Fringe here: https://focofringe.org/about/
