Tauranga Fringe Festival 2026 — Performer Registrations

Tauranga Fringe Festival is a one-day grassroots arts extravaganza held at the Historic Village, Tauranga, on Saturday 24 October 2026 (Labour Weekend), 10am–4pm. Presented by The Incubator Creative Hub, the festival spans seven stages and welcomes performers of every genre — musicians, poets, puppeteers, dancers, circus acts, comedians, fashion designers, magicians, DJs, buskers, beatboxers, street artists, and the gloriously unclassifiable.

Registrations are open across three streams

General Performer Registrations — All genres welcome. This is an open-access, not-for-profit festival built on community participation. Performers receive a warm, enthusiastic audience, free entry to the full day, manaakitanga from the wider Fringe whānau, and a share of any gate surplus if funding targets aren't met — distributed fairly and transparently.

Cringe Fest Poetry — A dedicated poetry showcase. Register your interest via the Cringe Fest Poetry form on the festival website.

The Midday Fringe Catwalk — Tauranga's most gloriously unhinged runway is calling for fashion designers, wearable art creators, costumiers, textile artists, and makers of the magnificent and monstrous. Avant-garde, conceptual, theatrical, sustainable, Pasifika, punk, fantastical, sculptural — if it makes people stop and feel something, it belongs on this catwalk. Open to designers at any career stage, including students and collectives.

The festival also features visual art exhibitions, Pasifika performance, markets, makers, and the Garden of Earthly Delights outdoor licensed bar. This is grassroots arts at its most alive — built by Tauranga, for Tauranga, with every dollar going back into the artists and community that make it happen.

To register as a performer, submit via the forms on the festival website. Volunteers and accommodation hosts can also register online. For sponsorship and partnership enquiries, contact The Incubator Creative Hub directly.