It has brought some wonderful scenes to Dunedin over the past fortnight.
Jesters of old would have enjoyed the sight of Port Chalmers man Chris Meech riding around on his giant snail. It was the perfect example of what the Fringe is all about.
Fleur Kelsey also summed up the spirit of the festival. The arts graduate works at Public Health South promoting the breast screening programme.
‘‘But I want to keep art in my life and thought the Fringe would be a good opportunity to put something out there,'' she said.
Her project, to test the claims of Bic's 10km pencil in a drawing around the former Dunedin North Post Office, captured the imagination of young and old.
However, it has to be said, the festival has struggled in its new finery. Small crowds, the end of a golden summer and an underwhelmed public have greeted the first annual festival. Russell Pickering, of Auckland act the Morrisons, was despondent after having to cancel the group's Huntly, High and Low gig on Wednesday night when nobody showed up.
He was little more enthused when only eight people attended the Thursday night show.
The takings: $39.
‘‘When we get back home, people are going to ask us how it went down here. Well, we'll probably lose $1000,'' he said. ‘‘That's nothing, man,'' Irish comedian Aindrias de Staic said. ‘‘I've lost 800 quid doing the Edinburgh Festival.
That's 800 quid. ‘‘I've been put on at 1pm there and you can't get anyone to come. '' After being named the best solo act in Wellington, de Staic said he hoped to get big enough houses in Dunedin to break even.
But de Staic has spent the week wandering around campus offering students two-for-one deals on his tickets, to boost his houses.
‘‘I'd rather have a paper audience [free seats] than no audience,'' he said. He suggested the Morrisons do the same thing.
‘‘We tried that. It made no difference,'' Pickering replied glumly. ‘‘There just hasn't been the vibe or buzz here that you usually get with festivals.''
‘‘The words Dunedin Fringe Festival scream alternative audience, but we're just not seeing them,'' London-based comedian James Nokise says.
Creative New Zealand funding of $23,500 was divvied up among the performers and they have been billeted during their Dunedin stay.
‘‘We make enough to keep us in beer and burgers and that's about it,'' Nokise says. Other performers have had other concerns.
Christchurch comedian Shay Horay was initially shocked when he saw the Fringe Lounge tent in the museum reserve, where he was booked to run his show Golden Goose - The Comedy Bingo Show.
‘‘Let's just say it's not what we were lead to believe it would be,'' he said. To combat the small houses, the performers have been supporting each other. Up to 50% of audiences have comprised other Fringe artists. Paper seats.
Why the malaise?
The timing of the festival, so soon after Orientation and at a time when students are starting to knuckle down to their studies, has to be questioned.
The student presence was non existent at the shows I attended.
For me, where the festival fell down was in its lack of presence in Dunedin streets. Previous festivals have brought vibrancy and fun to town.
‘‘I really encouraged them to get out on the streets,'' festival director Pau Smith said wearily.
The injection of the bizarre and burlesque into our routine lives is one of the best things about the Fringe; a welcome reminder that life is a laugh and that we usually take things too seriously.
We are looking to the Fringe for the stuff that makes us feel like children again. It is a point of difference no other festival has, and it should be shamelessly exploited.
The artists, too, have a responsibility here and should consider it part of their act to get out in the streets and promote themselves. P.T. Barnum knew this a century ago.
Corporate sponsors have also been slow to embrace the festival and Smith says one of his main jobs is raising sponsorship money.
A notable exception is Polson Higgs which sponsored the Hutton Theatre comedy club.
It was also encouraging to see long time arts supporters like Dunedin City councillor Neil Collins and Dunedin television personality Dougal Stevenson at Fringe shows.
There is every reason that Dunedin with its town-gown dynamic, should be home to the best Fringe Festival in New Zealand.
Fringe activities look fantastic in our Victorian city; like colourful urchins scampering around the streets.
Smith is, predictably, all optimism but he will be a little disappointed.
There have been successes. West African kora musician Jali Buba Kuyateh sold out his sole performance at the Otago Settlers Museum last weekend. Arthur Meek's On The Conditions And Possibilities Of Helen Clark Taking Me As Her Young Lover also did well, as, too, did Liana Yew and Claire Lissaman's stunning dance piece, Here, Now.
The Dunedin Fringe Festival is on the calendar. But it is to be hoped the Dunedin tribal elders and community put a lot more energy into the festival next year.
A successful annual Fringe Festival would be a wonderful asset for this city
