STREB Extreme Action Company, Patton Oswalt, Pandora Boxx

ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 13, 2016 — (PRNewswire) — For 10 days from Thursday, September 15 through Saturday, September 24, the 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival will draw thousands of visitors to downtown Rochester, NY to celebrate artistic expression in all of its forms. Yesterday, Fringe organizers announced the entire lineup of more than 500 performances and events – over 100 of which are free – at 20+ venues. The full schedule is available and all tickets are on sale at rochesterfringe.com.

"We're so proud to be announcing our fifth Fringe," said Producer Erica Fee, noting that the non-profit festival – now one of the top three most-attended fringe festivals in the U.S. – grew from 30,000 to more than 63,000 attendees in its first four years.

One key to its success is an annual, free, outdoor spectacle, and 2016's will feature world-renowned STREB Extreme Action Company. Founder Elizabeth Streb, a Rochester native, will celebrate the company's 30th anniversary with this homecoming. STREB will amaze with its latest breathtaking show, SEA (Singular Extreme Actions), a fusion of slam dancing, wild action sport, and falling from height. Bodies will careen through, around and above invented hardware – all to the latest beats from a live DJ.

Comedian, actor and best-selling author Patton Oswalt played Rochester's first Fringe in 2012 and he'll return for a rare 2016 performance in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.

Remote Rochester, the sold-out, site-specific theatre piece commissioned by Fringe from Berlin's ground-breaking Rimini Protokoll last year, will again guide audiences on an immersive city journey like no other. 

The Spiegeltent – that wondrous velvet and stained-glass jewel box of a venue – will also reappear, with a world-premiere variety show called Cirque du Fringe: MIRACLE CURE, co-hosted by comedians Matthew Morgan and  Mark Gindick. 

World-famous drag queen, RuPaul's Drag Race favorite, and Rochester-area native Pandora Boxx will bring her bawdy, one-"woman" cabaret show, The Worst Show Ever, to the Spiegeltent, where comedian Jamie Lissow – fresh from his Netflix show, Real Rob – will also perform. 

The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival curates its headliners and all free outdoor entertainment, but the vast majority of shows are programmed by the venues themselves from artist submissions. This multi-genre arts festival includes Children's, Comedy, Dance, Multidisciplinary, Music, Spoken Word, Theatre, and Visual Arts & Film. 

High-resolution photos and other press materials are available at rochesterfringe.com/press.

Media Contact: Sally Cohen, (585) 749-1795, Email Contact

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fifth-rochester-fringe-features-500-shows-300297747.html

SOURCE First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival

Contact:

First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival Web: http://rochesterfringe.com