The Euregio Fringe Festival is a new space where performing arts break out of their mould, cross one border after another and slip into the streets, courtyards, cellars and real places where we live. It is the first festival entirely dedicated to the fringe model in the entire Euregio: Trentino – South Tyrol – Tyrol. A macro-region that unites three territories, three languages and a shared history in the heart of Europe.

If you are a company, a collective, a performer or a young artist who loves to experiment, this is where you can put yourself to the test without filters.

 

What is a fringe (in simple terms)

In the world of festivals, the fringe is the free zone:

- no institutional programming,

- no hyper-selective line-ups,

- lots of freedom.

Traditionally, a Fringe Festival is multidisciplinary (theatre, dance, music, contemporary circus, performance, performance poetry, visual arts, street and urban art, hybrids of all kinds) and was created to give space to those who usually remain on the margins of the official circuits. It is a context where you can test new languages, short formats, projects in progress, immersive devices, site-specific works, low-budget but highly creative works. The audience is not “accompanied into the theatre”: it meets you on the street, in a courtyard, in a cellar, in a gym, in a library, in a warehouse, in a vineyard.

 

Why a fringe festival in the Euregio

The Euregio connects Trentino, South Tyrol and Tyrol, a European region that shares a great deal: Habsburg history, culture, daily cross-border mobility, multilingual identity, a strong festival tradition and a vibrant arts scene. What was still missing was an explicitly “fringe” festival: a place where independent companies from across the area could meet, influence each other and work closely with the community, landscape and social fabric, outside the logic of large established theatres.

The Euregio Fringe Festival was created precisely for this purpose:

- to open a gateway in an area that does not yet have its own structured Fringe;

- to connect the independent scenes of the three territories and internationally;

- to bring different languages, aesthetics and generations into dialogue in a single shared experiment.

 

An open-air laboratory in the Rotaliana Plain

The first edition of the Euregio Fringe Festival takes place in the Rotaliana Plain - Königsberg, in the heart of Trentino, a plain crossed by rivers, surrounded by vertical mountains and covered with vineyards as far as the eye can see.

The Rotaliana Plain was described by Goethe as “the most beautiful vineyard in Europe”.

Here, the idea of a crossroads is not a metaphor:

- the Roman Via Claudia Augusta passed through here;

- trains connecting Italy, Austria and Germany pass through here;

- for centuries, this plain has been a point of exchange between north and south, between cultures, goods and people.

Bringing Fringe here means working in a place that, by its very nature, brings people together: perfect for testing projects that deal with borders, identity, migration, landscape, work and the future.

 

Mezzolombardo: the village that becomes a stage

Mezzolombardo is the main urban centre of the Piana Rotaliana. A village made up of narrow streets, buildings, and old artisan workshops that have become shops and bars, nestled between the rocks and vineyards. For centuries, it has been a commercial hub between the Adige Valley and the Val di Non; today, it brings together agricultural production, small businesses, daily life, schools, associations, and new communities.

During the Euregio Fringe Festival:

- the historic centre becomes a widespread theatre;

- internal courtyards, wine cellars, multi-purpose rooms, gyms, libraries, squares, warehouses and unconventional spaces are transformed into performance venues;

- those who live here are not just “audience”, but partners, volunteers, co-authors of situations, encounters and after-shows.

For you, as an artist, this means working on a 1:1 scale with a real territory, with real people, in places that are not designed for performance – and precisely for this reason can change the way you do it.

 

What the Euregio Fringe Festival offers companies and young artists

Taking its cue from the global Fringe model, the Euregio Fringe Festival sees itself as a laboratory of cultural, social and economic innovation for the territory and for those who work with art.

 

1. A truly multidisciplinary context

Theatre, dance, contemporary circus, music, live sets, performance, visual arts, performance poetry, installations, site-specific projects, street and urban art, hybrid formats. If your work does not “fit” into a category, you are in the right place.

 

2. Unconventional spaces

We ask you to think in terms of places:

- a communal courtyard,

- a historic cellar,

- a vineyard at sunset,

- a school gym,

- a parish hall,

- a warehouse in an industrial area.

Not expensive sets, but concrete relationships between body, space and community.

 

3. A mixed and curious audience

The festival works with schools, associations, youth organisations, tour operators, businesses and citizens.

This means that in the audience you may find:

- students,

- people who don't usually go to the theatre,

- cultural operators,

- local people who leave their homes “to see what's going on”.

 

4. A cross-border network

Working in a Euregio festival means coming into contact with:

- companies and artists from Trentino, South Tyrol, Tyrol and internationally;

- circuits, institutions and independent spaces;

- mobility projects already active in the area (residencies, co-productions, exchanges).

It is a concrete opportunity to start working beyond your own piece of border.

 

5. An accessible and participatory approach

The heart of the fringe model is accessibility: bringing art to where people live and breaking down economic and social barriers.

This translates into:

- widespread programming at affordable prices;

- a strong presence in the public space;

- meetings, workshops, open discussions.

 

What we are looking for (in summary)

- Live works: ready to get dirty with the venue and the audience.

- Research and risk: new formats, contemporary dramaturgy, mixtures of languages.

- Perspectives on the present: bodies, ecology, work, migration, identity, memory, the future... as long as they are not treated as slogans.

- Willingness to play with spaces: adapt, reduce, expand, reimagine.

- Collaborative attitude: desire to be part of a temporary community of artists and residents.

 

Why it is worth applying

Because here you can:

- test your projects in a protected but not self-referential context;

- engage with other independent scenes in the Alpine region, not only Italian ones;

- work in one of Europe's most unique landscapes, among vineyards, mountains and a history of centuries-long exchanges;

- build networks and contacts that continue beyond the days of the festival.

In practice

If you feel that your work could be on the edge – between genres, languages, formats, audiences – the Euregio Fringe Festival is for you.

The call for applications is open to:

- emerging and independent companies,

- informal collectives,

- individual performers,

- artists from anywhere in the world.

 

Bring your project to Piana Rotaliana, in Mezzolombardo, in the heart of the Euregio.

Let's make something happen that has never happened here before.