Volunteers, including from Dunedin School of Art, help make the festival a success.
The Dunedin Fringe Festival aims to bring experimental contemporary art to a wider audience and to support the work of emerging artists. Dunedin Fringe is an annual event which happens every March. The Dunedin Fringe Festival attracts established and emerging artists from throughout New Zealand and overseas; independent artist events form the backbone of the Festival. Dunedin embraced the 2018 Dunedin Fringe Festival with over 27,000 people attending 90 artist and festival-produced events.
Volunteers are essential members of the Festival team, with a team of over 50 who perform a range of roles prior to and during the Festival. The volunteers include students from the Dunedin School of Art, including some doing their course placement. Volunteers' tasks include distributing programmes, administration, and helping backstage and front of house.
2018 festival administrator Katrina Thomson says:
"It's very important to have volunteers because there's a really big workload to put on the festival. Funding is limited, so we rely on the support given by volunteers in the community to make it a great experience for Dunedin."